Re: Ben Flower : Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:44 pm  

The courts would not want to get involved in this.

Otherwise there are some 70 years of footage for GBH to trawl through.

Re: Ben Flower : Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:46 pm  

Did Craig Fitzgibbon get put through the courts when he dropped his elbow on a prone Paul Sculthorpe in an Ashes Test? All this court talk is just hot air.

Re: Ben Flower : Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:48 pm  

Wigg'n wrote:

If you start going down that route where does it stop?

Should every fight in RL be dealt with through the courts? A 1v1 fight in the street is also a criminal offence.

It does have precedent. There have been civil cases won based on events that have taken place on the field of play.

As you rightly point out, though, it's a bit of a minefield.

On one hand, you do not have the right to break the law simply because you are taking part in a sporting event.

Most of the "fights" that take place on the field of play would be considered very minor offences if they happened outside the field of play anyway and it would be difficult to prove intention.

However it is clear that Flower punched a defenceless man in the head, and if this has caused injury it will be hard to defend that he was either a) acting in self defence or b) not intending to cause injury.

Re: Ben Flower : Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:50 pm  

I'm more annoyed at the justification going on than the punch on the floor if I'm honest. We know that Wanes riles his players, so someone was bound to get OTT. The punch was a bad one, but check the black and white RL games. Some truely criminal acts in those.

I would not hold with the game going through the courts.

There are spinal injuries and broken necks this year. We are talking about hitting a prone player, not an ax murder

Re: Ben Flower : Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:51 pm  

It's true that there are 100 incidents in every game of Rugby that would be criminal offences if they happened on the street, not to mention boxing, MME etc.

But sometimes there are incidents in sports that go far enough beyond the licensed rules that the courts get involved. It's happened before in football (Chris Kamara is one who got an ABH conviction, Duncan Ferguson another), and there was a story a few years ago of a Welsh RU player who got jailed for ear biting.

It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. This was a bad enough incident to think that it's not impossible that it could happen here.

Re: Ben Flower : Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:52 pm  

That last paragraph substitute Flower for Westwood last year and with more damage to Green's face too. From what I've read it seems the new concussion rules were the only reason Hoahia didn't make it back on.

Re: Ben Flower : Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:52 pm  

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.

Re: Ben Flower : Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:52 pm  

meast wrote:

not every fight in RL involves a player punching another, who is unconscious and defenceless.
thats the thing here,that some wigan fans just don't get.

I've seen plenty of defenceless punches throughout the years and also players getting kicked in the head which is always more damaging.

The point is you can't just single one incident out because the player was unconscious. It was a shocking attack by Flower yes, but it will be dealt with within the Sport.

Re: Ben Flower : Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:56 pm  

headhunter wrote:

Stop this nonsense. Flower would not be prosecuted even if this happened in the street, he was attacked after cowardly attacking lance from behind in the head and would be deemed to have been reacting to the reaction 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.

HTH

Re: Ben Flower : Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:57 pm  

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. The most that would happen in everyday life would be that Flower would be locked up for the night and released with a warning.

You have little experience of the law.
As much as Flower could put forward an argument for self-defence relating to the first punch (and even that would be pushing it), he certainly did not have the legal right to inflict further injury once his "attacker" was lying on the floor unconscious.
There are numerous similar cases tried in the courts every week.