I am in the minority here, but I think 8 games would be incredibly harsh. I agree that charging him is appropriate to send out the message, but Ferres nearly broke Lomax's neck and only got 5 games?
It was a poor choice of insult, certainly, but it was said in the heat of the moment. Hardaker has also come out and apologised. The word he used does have certain connotations (of course), but I find it hard to believe he was being homophobic by using the term - in the sense that he was directly attacking someone's sexuality.
I'm not saying that it was right, either.