Quote: Pie Eyed "Unfortunately, therein lies the entire problem with the disciplinary in this country - They tend to take that same, skewed view.
"Mistake or not, this was the show piece of the British game............"
So fecking what ????
What you appear to be saying is that if he had done that in a non-televised match, he should receive only a standard punishment, but simply because of the match it took place in, he should be both sacked and banned for at least 6 months ???
Utter garbage.
Sadly, the RFL have been seen to take such things in to account before. ("It's a big occasion, so we'll apply a ban in months, rather than matches"icon_wink.gif.
Or, the complete opposite - "It was REALLY bad, but we need him to play for England". (Yes Mr Westwood, I'm looking at you).
For me, he should receive 1-2 matches for the first punch, plus 4-8 for the second. (Based on the Sonny Nickle ban a few years back - 9 matches for broken jaw)
Hohaia should also receive 1-2 for the elbow.
That's still a substantial (2-3 month) ban, but is more in line with the guidelines set out for striking.
IF he gets more FOR THE ACT, then that's fine, but anyone calling for him to be sacked or banned, simply because it was a big occasion needs to give their head a wobble.'"
I understand what you are saying regarding punishments should not be different dependant on it being a showpiece event.
But this thing is in danger of being made into a witch hunt of Wane and the Wigan club as well as Flower when the RFL read the article in todays Daily Express.
It has a column on the back page as well as a double page spread inside, one page deals with the match and the other really tears into Wane regarding his get out and give it to them pre match talks in which his NZ video is given as proof.