What suspension will Ben get?

[Jules]

I hate to say it, but Ben is in for a long one IMO
I love the guy personally, and he knows he has stuffed up. He is a genuine professional with a decent record, but this is the wrong incident at the wrong time.

Lets look at the incident, and what the RFL will consider.

1) He punched an opponent, and had to move some distance (ie, a few paces) to throw the punch
2) He knocked out the opponent with the first punch
3) Second blow to a prone opponent - this is the big one
4) All of the above done on the biggest stage, live TV and a big audience, the national advert for the game.

Mitigation
1) Retaliation after clear assault from player he punched

The RFL will take into consideration the impact on the game from a public perspective, and that was bad. Nigel Wood on radio 5 this morning brought up the fact that the max suspension of 8 matches can be exceeded.

IMO, he will get 8, but I have a lot of sympathy for him on this, as 3 games of any suspension will be down to the bad publicity given to the game as opposed to what he actually did.

[cpwigan]

The RFL will go to town on Ben. Anywhere between 4-8 matches, probably the upper end. If they do, our club must hold the RFL to account every time similar incidents occur. A tough stance is fine provided it comes with consistency. Sadly, the RFL has shown throughout recent times to be anything but consistent.

[John Ferguson]

5 games and that's with taking the provocation into account.

[thegimble]

8 game ban.

Takes EGP if available will get rid of 3 games by missing Wales games and i think he can miss 1 friendly game as well.

If its more than that i would expect IL to throw his toys out of the pram given the ban Westwood got last season.

[wildbeast]

He will be hammered -8 matches -the initial punch was just reataliation against the forearm challenge by LH as both players squared up-should have just left it there. The second - well no excuse just insane.

[Wiganer Ted]

A very high profile incident and the RFL will charge him with a high grade.
I think he'll get around 5 matches but as has been said take three Welsh games and a friendly then that's four written off.
Not intending to derail this but I'm also interested to see what action if any the RFL take against Hohaia.

[thegimble]

A very high profile incident and the RFL will charge him with a high grade.
I think he'll get around 5 matches but as has been said take three Welsh games and a friendly then that's four written off.
Not intending to derail this but I'm also interested to see what action if any the RFL take against Hohaia.

And me.

Will they defend Bentham thats the bigger question. If Hohaia is charged it basically says they got it wrong.

[cpwigan]

Big call BUT Wigan RLFC should cite LH. It puts his involvement on the agenda and offers a possible defence for Ben Flower.

[Nezza Faz]

I don't think he made himself available to play for Wales?

Probably Grade E or F charge, so could be about 8 matches, so would miss the first two months of 2015.

In fairness to Nigel Wood on Radio 5 this morning, that top pratt Gary Richardson was trying to get him to go to the maximum punishment because of the bad publicity it brought to RL on peak TV on a weekend where there was no Premier football. Big Nige said this incident was very rare and would just be dealt with as normal league matches were looked at on a Monday to review the matter, which would then go to an independent disciplinary panel.

In no way did he infer Flower was for the "high jump" on national radio.

[cpwigan]

Fat Bar Steward Woo is talking about going beyond the 8 matches