Re: Ben Flower : Sun Oct 12, 2014 3:21 am  

I thought the Saints Orange jersey was gonna hit Flower. But he pointed him out to the rest of the team.

Re: Ben Flower : Sun Oct 12, 2014 3:49 am  

the artist wrote:

as anyone who is on twitter will know, this has gone around the world. there are growing calls for a prosecution over and above the sport which will only intensify tomorrow.

not good for the sport at all. not good

Neither is the Bianchi crash in F1, or Suarez biting in the football WC, or the blood gate scandal in RU, or horses dying at the Grand National, or drug cheats in athletics, or Lance Armstrong in cycling, or spot fixing and Kevin Pietersen's book in cricket, or American football players off-field behaviour.......and so forth you get the drift. It's a real bad one from Flower but often I see on here people worried about how bad incidents make us look to the rest of the sporting world, but in fairness the rest of the sporting world all have their own issues that they can't exactly sit in an ivory tower about.

Re: Ben Flower : Sun Oct 12, 2014 6:20 am  

headhunter wrote:

Stop this nonsense. Flower would not be prosecuted even if this happened in the street, he was attacked without warning and would be deemed to have been protecting himself. Watch the actual incident and not the slow-motion replay and there was maybe one second between punches, yes he hit him on the ground but it wasn't a 'pre-meditated assault on an unconscious man'. The most that would happen in everyday life would be that Flower would be locked up for the night and released with a warning.

The punch on the ground is no way self defence. When the player is clearly down you cannot claim self defence standing over them and slotting them. The first punch he might getaway with self defence the second no chance.

Re: Ben Flower : Sun Oct 12, 2014 6:26 am  

Embarrassing that there are some on here are are seeking to justify Flower's actions as retaliation so therefore acceptable.

Even if it was a retaliation, so what, how does it make it ok? In real life, or on the pitch?

But well done Mr Flower, rugby league finally has front pages all around the world, phone ins on the radio, the lot.

And Mr Wane's failure to condemn Flower's actions speaks volumes.

Re: Ben Flower : Sun Oct 12, 2014 6:29 am  

Cronus wrote:

Perhaps Hohaia shouldn't have made it his goal to obstruct Flower. None of this would have happened.

All I see in the kick chase is Hohaia watch Flower and then deliberately and cynically step into his path. Flower shoves him to the ground, albeit aggressively, perhaps with a bit of a whack but but not particularly bad by any measure, despite the howls of outrage by a desperate few. Hohaia then pursues Flower and flies in with an elbow to the face.

Hohaia picked a fight he lost. Flower went too far with the final punch, but he was hardly unprovoked.

End of. Night. Woteva. Tool.

Call me what ever name you like if it makes you feel good or big, point is if I came at you from behind and stiff armed you in the head, there is no way you would hit the deck and not react.

Lance reacted to getting a strike to the head from behind. He should not have done that, but using his reaction to the initial strike to his head that to justify the final punch is pushing the limits.

I'm not in favour of the calls for a court case as it would open a can of worms. What about all the years and years of footage. There are some players now coaches who have done some actions that would now be deemed illegal, others have done sickening things. There are those no longer around to defend their actions. Take a look at some black and white RL matches and there are things going on that would make your stomach turn today.

For me it's

Punching – sustained, repeated, violent &
aggressive

Grade E offense - 4 - 8 Games.

He's been cited 5 times already this year, but each time it was no charge. So I would think 6 games would be the likely outcome. As his record would indicate no previous charge in the year.

Re: Ben Flower : Sun Oct 12, 2014 6:29 am  

I am at pains to explain why the inane Shaun Wane didn't deign to complain about the stain his insane player has inflicted on the game. Wane's reign is in the main a source of shame.

Re: Ben Flower : Sun Oct 12, 2014 6:54 am  

Cronus wrote:

Killed him?? Deary me.

Yes, it could have. There are many incidents where a punch such as this has killed.
The reason is that if the victim's head is unable to move and therefore absorb some of the impact of the punch (in this case because he was in contact with the floor), significant brain injury can be the result as the brain absorbs the full impact of the punch. This can cause movement of the brain within the skull or the brain to swell, both of which can ultimately lead to death.
It has to be said that ANY punch to the head can kill if the victim is unlucky enough. However, the chances of this happened are increased dramatically when the head is unable to move to absorb impact of the punch.

Re: Ben Flower : Sun Oct 12, 2014 7:03 am  

He should be done for attempted murder!

Re: Ben Flower : Sun Oct 12, 2014 7:13 am  

Cronus wrote:

a complete load of garbage

Love it when moderators lose it.

Posting when drink - bad times.

Re: Ben Flower : Sun Oct 12, 2014 7:14 am  

TheElectricGlidingWarrior wrote:

He should be done for attempted murder!

I'm not sure you could prove he intended to kill him.
The level of charge would very much depend on the injury that was caused.
GBH - a serious and possible lifelong injury was caused intentionally.
ABH - causes physical harm as a result of unlawful force, even if the resulting injury was not intended.
Battery - unlawful force is used but leads to no injury.
Common Assault - actions that cause an individual to fear that force will be used against them

Of the list, I'd plump for ABH. An injury was clearly caused as Hohaia had to leave the field.