Wigan RLFC must fight hard for Ben

[Jules]

If they don't fight, Ben will get done over. Wigan must get their lawyers into this argument and put it where it should be. Yes Ben went way over the line, but lets not get done over due to the publicity.

Turn up with a photo of the elbow Ben got hit with, and go from there.

[jobo]

http://www.sportinglife.com/rugby-leagu ... -s-actions

Ben is being fed to the wolves

You can tell IL has never played sport in his life

As tight as he seems/is, think IL will fight like hell for Flower and not only from a pragmatic point of view. Whatever ban Ben gets, every mitigating circumstance will be picked over piece by piece.

[cpwigan]

NORMALLY, The RFL include the send off in the punishment. Throw in the loss of a GF and Ben Flower has already been punished heavily.

It will also be interesting to see what happens re players running in, creating a potential brawl. NORMALLY, the RFL punishes the 3rd man in very heavily. It seems like that will not happen in this case. So next season when they try to cite punish players for 3rd man in then they look incredibly silly.

[Mike]

It doesn't matter to the club what ban he gets. We take it, we don't argue and we move on. Anything else and we look even worse.

The damage has been done. The only thing i can see that we might complain about would be a life ban. The RFL might do that given the high profile of the incident and its continuing coverage. They may view it as free publicity. I very much doubt it though.

A ban of any length is fair enough as far as I'm concerned. It was an incredibly damaging thing to do in the GF for the club. Hopefully increasing the profile of RL in general has been a good thing despite the negative coverage. All press is good press.

[GBH]

Why is what he did any worse than what Rangi Chase did he got 3 match ban a game is a game the rules dont change because of where the game is?

[Kaii]

The media circus surrounding this case is the main concern.

No one disagrees with the guilt of BF but the RFL need to show that they are not being unduly influenced by the media and the so called experts,

A fair hearing is still required not a public execution !

They need to be strong with their punishment (TBH rightly so) for teh good of the future game, if Ben wouldn't of thrown that second punch while he was on the floor no one would of cared.

IMO he'll get the ban then we'll sell/release him to join Salford with Harris, it's not going to end with just a ban

[KaylaRobbo]

Does the fact that he has a clean history not get considered in the punishment assessment?
Has Ben got a clean history?
He's always been one of those players that hasn't been in the limelight in the past (as he isn't a repeat offender as far as I'm concerned) so I can't remember!

[GBH]

The media circus surrounding this case is the main concern.

No one disagrees with the guilt of BF but the RFL need to show that they are not being unduly influenced by the media and the so called experts,

A fair hearing is still required not a public execution !

They need to be strong with their punishment (TBH rightly so) for teh good of the future game, if Ben wouldn't of thrown that second punch while he was on the floor no one would of cared.

IMO he'll get the ban then we'll sell/release him to join Salford with Harris, it's not going to end with just a ban

Why on earth would we sell him or let him go he made a mistake get over it, hes a great player and fans should have some back bone and stand by him!

[Wandering Warrior]

The media circus surrounding this case is the main concern.

No one disagrees with the guilt of BF but the RFL need to show that they are not being unduly influenced by the media and the so called experts,

A fair hearing is still required not a public execution !

They need to be strong with their punishment (TBH rightly so) for teh good of the future game, if Ben wouldn't of thrown that second punch while he was on the floor no one would of cared.

IMO he'll get the ban then we'll sell/release him to join Salford with Harris, it's not going to end with just a ban

Let's hope your opinion is wrong re. the Salford bit. If consistency is anything to go by it will be.
Until I thought about I didn't want him pulling a Wigan shirt on again. However the amount of media and public attention this incident has brought has made me change my mind.
Folk who don't know the difference between a rugby ball and a jock strap are ballooning on with their holier than though attitude.
Perhaps if Benn had given the little shit a medical before he hit him the second time then then the outcry would have been less significant.
Ffs we've all made mistakes, get the ban sorted and let's move on.
#bennyflowerdecenthumanbeing

[sheepsteeth]

It doesn't matter to the club what ban he gets. We take it, we don't argue and we move on. Anything else and we look even worse.

The damage has been done. The only thing i can see that we might complain about would be a life ban. The RFL might do that given the high profile of the incident and its continuing coverage. They may view it as free publicity. I very much doubt it though.

A ban of any length is fair enough as far as I'm concerned. It was an incredibly damaging thing to do in the GF for the club. Hopefully increasing the profile of RL in general has been a good thing despite the negative coverage. All press is good press.

I agree with this. Look at Liverpool with Suarez, their player had done wrong and they backed him and it made Daglish and the whole club look silly.

Ben does have mitigation, but I feel we'll just take his ban and move on as long as the ban isn't completely OTT.

By making a fuss and dragging this on the club will be accused of condoning what he did.