Maybe the injury he received has caused him to retire.

Kurt Gidley his replacement?

Just from Twitter..

@BeccyMeehan
@Saints1890 player Lance Hohaia blames surprise retirement on "recurrent post match concussion type symptoms". Hohaia, 32, was punched twice by Wigan's Ben Flower in last year's Super League Grand Final. Flower recently returned after a 6-month ban.

Sorry state of affairs all round that will only be amplified by the ridiculous comments from both sides that will inevitably follow.

This is a silly comment after what has now emerged from Hohaia himself.

Very true. Playing Rugby League is a short career and a player having to retire through any injury is a sad event. Let's hope the emotion behind the Flower/Hohaia incident and the subsequent consequences (or potential consequences) doesn't lead to fans manipulating a sad scenario to forward their own respective agendas.

This is gonna get nasty.

Says a lot about him as a person not to take Saints for a ride.

I just can't wait for the sensible discussion that is undoubtedly incoming...

To second row saint,where did i say its funny that he had to retire,if you were to read my post correctly i said i thought it was funny that talk sport were saying he would be rembered not for his playing career but being knocked out,i have nothing but total respect for all players that cross the white line you need to be very careful what you write.....EDIT - you need to listen to your own advice. If you can't post without personal insults don't bother.!!!!.

I think Saints could never be criticised for the way they handled the situation post GF.

I think Hohaia may now follow his own agenda and Flower may not have heard the last of it.

Bloody hell. I didn't see this coming, I have to say.

Comments like that and similar headlines we are already seeing are deliberately chosen to imply Flower is the cause. They don't actually say it but they imply it and everybody knows that is what is going on. It is ridiculous.

You may as well say Muhammad Ali ended up a basket case because Henry Cooper knocked him the down once.

It's said for Hohaia but at 32 he's been going to have been banged about plenty of times in his career so the clear implication it's Flower's fault is sensationalism.

Seriously? There is a slight difference between taking a shoulder charge ,and being punched in the head whilst lying prone and unconscious on the floor...