Chris22

Even though the venues are public knowledge (in RL circles) they have not been officially announced, and won't be for another month. I doubt this will be public knowledge for fans of Coventry and Liverpool football teams for some time, meaning there is less time for promoting the matches. We cannot start marketing (if the RFL choose to) in Coventry, London and Liverpool respectively until some kind of official announcement and ticket sales starting, which looks like being early May. What kind of major event puts tickets on sale 6 months before the event?

You could make an argument either for or against that point. However, it's a moot point as Hohaia has said he isn't contemplating any action against Flower or Wigan.

Correct, but if Wigan have been encouraged to knock players out in the past, and later this occurs, questions do have to be asked. Wane may never have repeated these statements, but he has said them in the past. As the legal responsibility: "In a workplace context, an employer can be liable for the acts or omissions of its employees, provided it can be shown that they took place in the course of their employment" Source: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3715

Legally, they are responsible for the actions of their employees. I would also ask whether this sort of action is encouraged. After all, the head coach Shaun Wane was filmed in early 2014, in the dressing room saying to his players "knock people out, I cant give you more of a free reign that that." I'm glad that it has been pointed out that Flower started the incident, which Hohaia then retaliated to, which Flower then retaliated further. As for the statement from St Helens, I'm staggered that we have released that. It reads like something Derek Beaumont or Marwan Koukash would say. It's almost like a transcript of what was said when we heard the story, as opposed to carefully drafted legal statement. It appears rushed. Firstly, we put the words concussion symptoms in speech marks, implying that Lance Hohaia is either lying or exaggerating his symptoms. Since St Helens (I assume) have had no medical dealings with Hohaia since his retirement, I'm not sure how they are aware of his symptoms. Secondly, we disclose that this matter has already been in the hands of lawyers, which is unprofessional to disclose. When Saints usually release statements, they are calm, reasoned and well-thought through. And that's because they are usually attributed to Eamonn McManus, who is a very bright individual. I would be surprised if that statement was written by Eamonn McManus, as it varies so far from our usual stance. I would also be surprised if a lawyer had written that statement. We have hardly played our cards close to our chest, it appears as though we have revealed our full hand at this early stage, which is foolish. The statement should have been brief. It should have merely stated that we refute his allegations, pride ourselves on care offered to our players, and will seek redress. That's all that needed to be said at this moment. As I said earlier, we come out of this looking very bad. Hohaia and Shaun Briscoe have now both alleged that they have been pressurised to play, when they do not feel medically able. Surely this should warrant a wide-ranging investigation from the RFL.

Ben Flower's actions caused, Lance Hohaia to suffer from: memory loss, headaches, a broken nose, sensitivity to light, sleeplessness and blackouts. Let's not forget he is the primary cause of this. His career carries on, Lance Hohaia's does not. Hardly seems fair. Is a ten match ban appropriate for this? No. Admittedly, the RFL would not have known of all of Hohaia's symptoms at the time, but they were certainly not unforeseeable. Ben Flower, St Helens, Wigan and The RFL (blame in that order) look terrible as a result of this and that impression is accurate. If the national press get hold of it, our sport will look pathetic. We deserve a lot of criticism all round for this incident. St Helens statement after the Grand Final talked about supporting Flower, but not Lance Hohaia. Hohaia's wellbeing is, or should have been St Helens concern. Should Hohaia's accusations be correct, St Helens completely failed in their duty of care, I can scarcely recall being as ashamed of my club. We should investigate it, and guilty parties at St Helens, who pressurised him to play should be dismissed.

Super League has had two "Leicester" moments in the last few years. The first came in 2013, when Huddersfield finished top of the league. The even bigger moment came in 2014, when Castleford came within one win of finishing top. But because of the huge focus on the play offs, the attention shifts away from them and back to the top sides. If the Premier League had a play off system, Leicester's chances of winning would reduce. For what it's worth, Widnes will be aiming for the top 8, and are now in a great position to get it.

I'd like to see Carney moved away from a presenter role. It's not that difficult to come across a competent presenter. Carney is probably Sky's best commentator and pundit, and should stick to that role. Phil Clarke was good when he started on Sky, but has been dragged down over recent years. Jon Wells' role is good too. Sky made big mistakes in getting rid of John Kear and Tony Rea, who were 2 great pundits. There's also no need for 5 people in the commentary box. One commentator and one co-commentator (two at a push) is sufficient. It's been better recently when Sky have started using a separate studio and commentary team. As for Barrie, Terry and Stuart Cummings. Don't think there's much need for them, they don't add a great deal.

Can't blame the RFL for this one. We can't schedule a whole season because Wigan aren't allowed to play 24 hours before a football game. If they can't fulfil a fixture on a certain week, that is their problem!

If the RFL are being consistent, you do wonder why this tackle was not considered worthy of a ban https://vine.co/v/i1dTt9Q6tEA

I'm not accusing any specific team of this, as many were guilty last year, but I agree that this did happen. Usually, a player would get a slightly high shot and not get a penalty. Then, the player would stay on the floor and feign injury, instead of playing the ball. The ref would stop the clock and Sky would show a replay, so that they can justify Stuart Cummings salary. The replay would show a marginally high shot and a penalty would be awarded. Another instance would be if a knock on was awarded. A player would stay down and the physio would come on (always holding the head, regardless of where the injury was), to ensure the referee stops play. Because of the break in play, the decision would be forensically examined to see whether there was a ball steal. Ironically, this backfired on St Helens last year against Castleford in June. We got the ball back after we had dropped out from our own sticks at a crucial point of the game. LMS decided to slowly play the ball to waste time, the ref stopped the clock and then overturned his decision following a consultation with the VR, and correctly awarded Castleford a penalty as LMS had taken out the Cas player who attempted to collect the ball. Cas kicked the 2 points, and won the game in the final seconds.

I'd keep the video referee, but only allow them to look at what is asked for by the referee. In Thursday's game for Kevin Penny's try, the video referee was asked to look at the onside, yet he checked the grounding too. Why? The referee didn't ask for this or need clarification!

This advert is far better than previous heavy rock music and big hits promos that have been done in the past. As many have said, interspersing some highlights from the previous season such as that Ryan Hall try, one of the great tries Cas scored against Leeds in the Super 8's, Joe Burgess' try in the WCS, would have made it even better.

A baseless story which deals in speculation and guess work, in the absence of any evidence. I dislike the Marc Green has been painted as a villain, when he didn't want this to be leaked in to the public domain. And, yet again, the League Express drum up a false storm in a laughable attempt to sell more papers. Maybe the journalists should look up the definitions of the phrases "rock to its core" and "meltdown", which inevitably leads to slanderous speculation.

I'm slightly cautious about this, and doubt it's anything that massive. League Express have probably put this out there with the intention of boosting sales during the off season. At a guess, the Challenge Cup Final may be moving back to May from 2017, or the RFL sacking McNamara possibly?

It's the manner in which he conducts himself. Such as after the million pound game when he publically (incorrectly) stated that Bradford may have to go part time. Even if this was true, it is not his place to announce this. That episode embarrassed Bradford, and many fans may have held back on buying season tickets for 2016 as a result.