Flower's retaliation may have been the straw that broke the camel's back. But in all logic it cannot be the only cause of whatever's now transpired. Unless someone's got CT scans of before & after that definitively prove otherwise.

As for the "thug" moniker, I'm pretty sure I'd respond in like fashion if someone ran at full pelt into the back of me leading with an elbow.

Swivel-eyed pie-haters indeed.

He is now seeking expert medical advice. Shouldn't that have been done sooner?

I hope it is the saints medical staff who get the praise for putting the players welfare first and foremost and making Lance realise that with the repeated problems he is stating then it was clearly a decision that needed to be taken out of his hands or at the very least all the evidence being put before lance for him to make a tough but informed decision about his own career and ultimately is own health.

Concussion in both codes of Rugby is a massively hot topic and i would hope this has set some standard to ensure clubs follow suit and dont leave themselves open to litigation.

The idiots at BBC have put 2 and 2 together and got 5 and tried to put something together where they can continue to drag the GF incident up and justify there own inept reporting of Rugby League in general.

The Bods at the RFL need to grow a pair of balls and issue some sort of retort to the reporting and get there facts right instead of letting the clowns at the BBC constantly tread all over the sport

Of course you would. Except your swivel eyedness is ignoring the frame by frame depiction of Lance being hit first. But it's ok, I expected no less.

Slightly irrelevant in anyway as whoever started it the assault of an unconscious man was beneath any form of contempt and can't be condoned by whoever you support. Right?

Agree entirely. If this has been going on in the background then the Saints medical staff do deserve some praise. However it still does raise the question if the decision should have been made sooner, but I suppose hindsight is a wonderful thing.

How do you know he hasn't? Would he have retired without taking it?

There appears to be an awful lot (you might even say "the usual"icon_wink.gif knee-jerking going on here. It's my understanding that post concussive syndrome is not a career ending problem. It's a temporary condition that, in most cases, clears up within a few weeks. On very rare occasions it can extend beyond this into a few months. On very, very rare occasions (read: almost never) it may last for a year or so. What it isn't, however, is permanent. If Lance has chosen this time to retire then, I would suggest, it's probably most likely a case of the timing being most suited to his circumstance. I wish him well.

I meant pre-season. In his statement he has said "I am currently seeking expert medical advice to understand any potential effects to my long-term health."

Going to have to pick you up on this post..

Firstly you aren't being literal at all. You, like most people, are being opinionated. There's a big difference.

Convicted thug? What has he been convicted of? Do you mean the ban he received for the incident in question? If so, you do realise that Lance received a ban for his part in the same incident don't you? Therefore, by your terminology, anything you post is also in defence of a "convicted thug". Of course, both instances are nonsense.

As a matter of fact you DO need to be medically qualified to look at the chronology in this instance. I can tell you from personal experience that this is the case. I'll give you chapter and verse if you like but, if you agree to stop posting ill thought out, self-righteous nonsense, I promise not to bore you with the details.

On the third point I think we all agree.

Back?

RG, I dont disagree i can only assume the symptoms have either progressively got worse and lance will have failed the checks that players have to go through or the medical staff have picked up on a steadily declining performance stats.

I hope for the players sake it has been picked up on quick enough so serious long term damage is avoided.

Why are you so insistent on putting some blame on Saints. You literally never stop trying to get your pathetic little digs in. Very sad.

poor ben. the sport needs to do a lot to protect him even more now, but can be congratulated (for once) for the saints clubs' handling of lances welfare.

the sport also needs to knuckle down on all of the media hype surrounding this. we can't help the forum banter and arguments over who is to blame, but that is what forums are for.

I may be a wiganer and want the best for ben wearing my cherry and white tinted glasses, but if lance were to take matters further regarding the GF incident then I'd lose a lot of respect for him.... I bumped my car and hurt my back in 1999, so therefore I'm now going to consider suing Vauxhall, the dvla, wigan council and the petrol station I used that day as they were clearly to blame. oh and work, as it was a Saturday and I don't work Saturdays, so if my employer did make me work Saturdays then it wouldn't have happened. also my dad for paying for my driving lessons.

BUT having said all that I think over the next few weeks a bit more clarity will come out about all of this so hopefully we can put some of the matter to bed.

either way, I wish the best for both lance and ben (and the sport!)

I'm not. They are genuine questions, to which none of us know the definite answers.

As a gesture of good will, Wigan should pay the remainder of Lances contract out. Half a season he had left so it wont be huge.