the whole incident, backlash and media coverage has really annoyed me, including the statements about the police getting involved.

why aren't the police involved when sports persons from any sport, clubs or even sporting governing bodies cheat using recreational or performance drugs, financial cover ups etc, and why aren't those incidents so violently discussed?

i'm so livid with ben as we clearly had a good chance otherwise, just as saints did, but he did what he did and it cost us the game, which in turn meant he let himself, his club, teammates and friends, family and more importantly fans down. by far the greater of any punishment that is to follow.

people really need to get a grip and come back to the real world. the sport will deal with it and that will be the end of it.

the man will be handed a hefty ban and that should be the end of it. there's so much more going on in the world at the moment yet people are going on about this like he made a terrorist threat on live national tv and anything of actual relevance to the world fades into insignificance!

I just do not buy the" string him up because it was a showcase event line." Any legal challenge would have that laughed out of court. The length of any ban can only relate to the incident, the rules governing disciplinary matters and any precedent already set. The number of spectators does not make the incident worse unless there is a charge of bringing the game into disrepute. As other players have committed similar offences then we should already know the likely outcome.

I can't wait to see the reaction tonight if the RFL hand out anything other than a public hanging to Ben Flower.

The inane ramblings of our friends from over the hill will get to levels never before seen.

Bring it on.

I agree with your post, well argued. I find it galling in the extreme having to listen to idiots in the national media pontificate on about rugby league when they show no interest in it whatsoever unless something bad happens. A few things occur to me -

- Ben Westwood got a pat on the back and was playing for England within a month after last years' final. Ben's assault looked a lot worse because it was out in the open, but I'm not convinced that it was that much different.

- Shaun Wane must take some share of the blame. I love SW and think he is a great coach. But as he said himself he has made mistakes. In hindsight the Sky documentary was a big mistake from the club and it came back to bite us in a big way. Now SW didn't invent foul play in rugby league, so let's not exaggerate things too much, but the comments about 'hating' Saints were bad. I don't hate Saints fans, some of my best mates are Saints fans. There was no need for it.

- After the media frenzy and former players calling for year long bans etc it is absolutely vital that Wigan support Ben this evening. He mustn't be allowed to be thrown to the wolves (no pun). James Graham got 8 games after biting Billy Slater. I think this may be comparable.

- Wigan need to stand up for themselves too. Hetherington never fails to speak out when he perceives injustice against Leeds. In my view Ben knows he has cost us the GF and that in itself is worse than any ban. For example, the RFL need Wigan to participate to give the limping dog that is the World Club Challenge series any credence. A meaningless friendly with the Broncos should be treated as just that unless the RFL treat Ben with the same 'fairness' they treated the other Ben last year.

- If people want to bring the Police into sport where will that lead us? It's a complete non starter. Haven't the Police got more important things to investigate? Unsolved murders, paedophilia, tax fraud etc. I can't believe the hypocrite Jamie Peacock of all people saying if it had been done outside the ground he would be in prison!!! (Et tu Jamie...)

- A possible spin off could be that we keep Taylor to his final year instead of letting him go to Hull. That might be a good thing. Every cloud and all that...

Did Peacock really say that? I always find it difficult to tell what he is saying as his elbows are permanently up around his gob.

1 game ban for the punch bag from saints

It seems that Danny Sculthorpe is on the disciplinary bench. As he's one of the regular speakers for 'State of Mind' you'd like to think that some consideration for the treatment of the offending party would figure in any judgement made.

surprised nobody has mentioned Masoe running in and trying to hit flower from behind, aka a 'King hit" in Australia and the last player to do that (but did make connection) was suspended for 18months. but hey saints players do have a rep for running in and trying to hit players when the players isn't looking which people are conveniently forgetting.

I agree with this. Immediately after the event I was totally fuming because he handed the GF to Saints but now I've cooled down a bit I hope he serves his time and comes back better than ever. The extra pressure heaped on players these days through various media types can be ugly in the extreme. You would have hoped that someone like Peacock (who's thrown plenty punches in his time) would have known better.

After witnessing the viscious attack on hohaia who was already out on the deck, I'm not suprised masoe charged in and tryed to do flower. Any red blooded male would run if they saw their mate done like that when they were out cold. He can't exactly tap him on the shoulder so they are face to face in that situation. There was players flying in left and right, all hell was breaking loose.

Known better, what than to state the truth? Who really cares if peacock has thrown plenty of punches, he's never knelt down on top of someone who's out, put his forearm across them and smashed them in the face again so it's irelevant.

" surprised nobody has mentioned Masoe running in and trying to hit flower from behind"
Especially when the norm seems to be that any retaliation is treated more harshly that of the perpetrator. I.E. Pettybourne defending himself at the wire game. But,hey, Mr.Bentham had a good unbiased game?

Masoe couldn't charge in anywhere if his life depended on it.

He may have lumbered on over, and got there as fast as he could.

Why do you persist in telling us all what he did? I saw it, OK? That is why he is rightly being charged with the most severe grade of offence possible. How does the fact that Peacock hasn't done something as bad make his comments any more sensible in such an inflamed situation? The fact is, any player trying to make things worse for Flower needs to keep his mouth shut, particularly one who knows damn well he's got away with more than his own fair share in the past. Isn't there also a possibility that an attempted forearm smash to the face is a criminal offence? Strange that Peacock missed that.....