Quite right to..puts Mr H Lector/Mr M Tyson to shame.. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/19831197

Quite right to..puts Mr H Lector/Mr M Tyson to shame.. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/19831197

That's half the NRL season. The ban is appropriate, but I've always wondered which is worse, biting or gouging, bearing in mind Mr Hock only got 4 games last year. I would say gouging is the more serious offence, bearing in mind the immediate permanent damage it could cause.

Hock should have a got a LOT longer..IMO

he gets to use almost half of it in pointless england/pre season games it should just be nrl games

Your example Teeside shows our judiciary is a lot more lenient on foul play than the NRL. See the McIllorum case as an example. Deliberately late, high, off the ball, swinging arm challenge on a blindsided player gets you only 3 games. How many did GI get for a shoulder charge that connected with the head? Think it was double that.

to be honest.... i dont see any evidence that he has bitten him. The pictures don't prove anything... and slater certainly doesn't seem have a bit mark on his ear. I never had Graham down as being a dirty player. Why would you bite someone in a grand final? Doesn't add up for me. Looks like they think he 'probably' did it, so gave him 12 matches..... It all seems very much like a case of 'lets get the pome in trouble'.... I think slater said it to get him sent off in the grand final, and now he isnt man enough to come forward and say he made the bite up.... that's what i think anyway.

Let's see if he appeals it...

It's true that we didn't really see clear evidence for it, but during the match I heard the referee tell the VR that there was blood present. He sounded pretty sure as well, so I assume he saw it rather than just taking Slater's word for it, and that's a pretty big indicator that Graham did it.

It goes against every fiber of my being, but I can't help feeling sorry for him. I have always maintained that James Graham is many, many things, but never one to bite someone. It's not in his nature (usually) for such a tough competitor like him. He's not a wreckless hardman like some front rowers, he strikes me as more honest than that. I can't recall him throwing a punch, which is rare really for a guy who no one likes, who invariably plays 60+ minutes in a minimum of 95% of the games in a season. I know he had a wobble at Ryan Bailey, but who wouldn't?

Maybe all the hype and the pressure of the Grand Final, the homesickness he was talking about in the press in the build up and the losing run of GF's all came to a head and he fell off his perch for a split second.

I just hope the press don't chew him up and spit him out (pardon the pun) like Aussie press can do to people, the last thing we want, with the England cap on, is another 'Stuart Fielden' who hasn't pulled his pants up since getting his backside smacked in Aus. He's a top class player, and has shown that in every game he has played down under, but one blemish could really rattle him. Personally, I hope he plays it wisely, keeps his head down and rips in again next year and leads us to the World Cup.

Agreed, I also feel that Graham should have been banned for a season.

The bite was clear to see on the slo-mo of the melee as was the puncture mark and blood on his ear.

Sorry, was I watching a different game to some of the above?! Slater is involved in a fracas (started by the Dogs), where he is clearly targeted. As it all calms down he points out to his captain he thinks he was bitten; skipper tells ref who puts it on report, noting that there's blood on his ear (an odd place to pick up a wound given the nature of the incident). Immediate replays show Graham's mouth, open, next to Slater's ear-his face with a look like a fat kid at McDonalds. Photos the next day show Slater with a bite like mark on his ear.

Now I've always thought Slater one of those players who you can watch and think he has some kind of sixth sense (see his 'no look' tip back in the same game), but to sense that a blindsided player was looking like he was biting him...