Ben Flower Suspended For Six Month, Most Of Which Will Be Served During The Off Season…
The Rugby Football League have suspended Wigan forward Ben Flower for 6 months for his vicious assault on St Helens playmaker Lance Hohaia in the opening minutes of the 2014 Super League Grand Final.
The majority of this 6 month suspension will be served during the off season, meaning Flower looks like he will miss, at most, around 12 matches.
When you consider the world wide attention this assault has gained, with news agencies around the world carrying footage of the attack, the RFL’s suspension is completely inadequate. The RFL have once again failed to protect the integrity of the sport. After 48 hours of the game in the UK being attacked because of this blatant act of thuggery the RFL have come up with a trumped up suspension that even when considered over a 6 month period is simply not harsh enough.
I am not surprised by any of this. This type of pathetic display by the RFL is just par for the course as this stage.
Just last week the RFL fined Leeds Rhinos chairman Gary Hetherington £1,000 for comments he made about the way the RFL handled the Zak Hardaker discrimination case. They fined a millionaire £1,000….
Ben Flower will be back playing for Wigan in April 2015. Another black eye for Rugby League.
St Helens have announced that they will not be looking to take the matter any further which means police will not be involved as had been talked about quite a bit over the last 48 hours.
A lot of Rugby League supporters in Great Britain believe the media has it in for the sport. They believe media companies do their best to hold the sport back. They believe Rugby Union and Soccer go out of their way to prevent Rugby League from expanding.
The truth of the matter is that Rugby League in Great Britain doesn’t need any help. The Rugby Football League does an outstanding job at hurting the game through terrible decisions like this on a month to month basis.
To think that it was only a couple of weeks ago that Super League clubs were concerned about the impact Todd Carney’s signing would have on the competition….
Unbelievable…
League Freak
A well known Rugby League writer, League Freak has established a reputation among supporters of the game for his fearless commentary and unmatched insight. With a reach that spans both sides of the globe, League Freak has produced an independent network that allows him to distribute content to his many thousands of followers. He is the owner and main author of LeagueFreak.com
Related articles
One thought on “Ben Flower Suspended For Six Month, Most Of Which Will Be Served During The Off Season…”
You must log in to post a comment.
Fergo and The Freak Podcast
- The 1994 Season
- The First Referee
- The 2019 King Of Rugby League
- 1917 And One Little Lie
- Should The NRL Buy Rugby Union In Australia, Ralf Rimmer Quadruples Down And Thunder And Lightning
- Paul McGregor Wants To Forget 2019, A Semi, Gold Coast Hookers And A Possible Amputee
- Michael Carbone From The International Rugby League Podcast Joins Us For A Chat
- Israel Folau Is A Moron, The Golden/Silver/Bronze Boot Winner And Celebrity Boxing
- The Postmortem To The Great Britain Rugby League Lions 2019 Invisibles Tour
- A Podcast For Julie!
- The Disastrous British Lions Tour And Fiji And Papua New Guinea Play Out A Classic!
- The Media Vs Latrell Mitchell - Defending A Young Man Who Has Done Nothing Wrong
- Richard Shaw-Wright Joins Us To Talk Lions Tour, Expansion in Super League And The 2021 World Cup
- Tonga Beats Australia, Great Britain Lose To A Poor New Zealand Team And International Footy Wrap
- International Rugby League Preview And Peter V'landys Steps Into The Big Job
Loading ...
It’s the first ban of Ben Flower’s entire professional career, but it was a horrible act and a ban of around 12 games would have been sufficient. Making it 6 months starting immediately satisfies the media, whose coverage has been at times hysterical. Most of those commenting know nothing about the sport anyway and will forget about it again within a month at most.
The incident wasn’t as bad as Duncan McRae’s infamous assault on Ronan O’Gara, which somehow only got him a 7 week ban in rugby.
All parties have dealt with the incident in the right way.