No, he didn't punch a man on the ground (whom he didn't realize to be unconscious as a result of real life happening in real time, not in TV slow-mo time). He jumped into the crowd and assaulted a spectator if you remember. Imagine an RL player had done the latter. Stop, now imagine it again. Had time to think about it? Right. Bit worse isn't it?

Bit worse? Let me think, would I rather Eric Cantona grazed me with a boot or Ben Flower punched me on the ground whilst I was unconcscious.



Tough one, really!



Cantona's was incredibly stupid and damaging for him, his lcub and the sport but there was no danger of him killing anyone.

We as rugby league fans will move on, a day the game itself will, of course it will.



However I have just come into work in Manchester and lads who aren't even remotely interested in RL know about this and are appalled.



Like it or not this kind of thing has the danger of parents not letting their children participate in RL.



RL has one a long way to changing the perception that we are all Northern louts playing British bulldogs.



Imo the RFU must hand down a serious ban. 12 matches plus.



Having read the disciplinary page on the RFU website, most of the possible aggravating factors are present in this incident.

For someone who lives '10 minutes from Suncorp', you haven't read a lot of the local media then. Plenty of stuff over the last week about it being a deliberate technique.

The 'local media' here consists of two News Ltd tabloids. No-one in their right mind reads that trash.

The RFL has charged Flower with an F, so 8+ is on the cards.



To me it needs to be at least 12 to reflect the aggravating factors and the negative impact on the game of RL.



To Ian Lenagans credit i thought his interview with the BBC was sensible, and he didn't attempt to defend flower, whilst he managed to play down the negative effect on RL.



All that remains is for the RFL to hand down a punishment that clearly sets this incident apart from the norm and we can all move on.



Assuming the police don't get involved, which i believe they won't if the right message is sent by our game.

Despite the damage done to the game's image in Australia by James Graham gnawing at the ear of William Slater in the 2012 Grand Final, the NRL is thriving in Australia. So too is James Graham.

I live 20 mins away from Suncorp and I hadn't seen this either. Everyone hates the Bulldogs though hey?

Agreed. Please give us a list of these multiple sources in the mdeia claiming Graham's actions were deliberate.

Jesus....it must be bad when another sports governing body are getting involved

You mean the made up nonsense because a Pommy Bast'd had owned their blue-eyed boy so decided to stitch him up with not a shred of evidence to support it. Even dental experts stated it wasn't/couldn't be from a bite..but..yeah whatever