Lance Hohaia retires

[steef]

best of luck to him for the future. Sad when a player doesn't get to retire on his own terms.

[Wellsy4HullFC]

St Helens half-back Lance Hohaia says he is retiring from rugby league because of "recurrent post-match concussion-type symptoms".

Neil Hudgell just got £££££-signs in his eyes.

[redjonn]

A snippet from the Sky Sports web site:

 

St Helens half-back Lance Hohaia has announced his retirement from rugby league with immediate effect due to health concerns.

The New Zealand international has revealed he decided to quit due to the after-effects of his Grand Final knockout after he was punched unconscious by Ben Flower in Saints’ 14-6 victory over Wigan Warriors at Old Trafford.

[Gates1]

Yep, McDonnell cant get a 1st team game at Wests so has been playing in the Holden cup. Did okay for us last season until getting his broken jaw and with Lomax out for the season and Wellens struggling with injury Saints desperately needed another full back for the rest of the season

Bloody hell I didn't realise I would have nipped down to Wheldon Road and tried to broker a deal for Jordan Tansey.

[bewareshadows]

I thought the statement from Saints lacked a little something.  

 

But given the information that has come out since, legally if they said more it could have been an issue.

 

Sad end.

[MamaKangaroo]

Poor Lance. What a horrid way for a career to end.

And I hope that Flower has good people around him right now - I'm sure this outcome will have shocked him and would have been the last thing he would have wanted.

[Bod]

Poor Lance. What a horrid way for a career to end.

And I hope that Flower has good people around him right now - I'm sure this outcome will have shocked him and would have been the last thing he would have wanted.

Which is why I think the Saints statement was so brief.

[Futtocks]

Poor Lance. What a horrid way for a career to end.

And I hope that Flower has good people around him right now - I'm sure this outcome will have shocked him and would have been the last thing he would have wanted.

BTW, Hohaia apparently sent Ben Flower a 'Good Luck' message ahead of his return to competitive Rugby. Big of him.

[MamaKangaroo]

BTW, Hohaia apparently sent Ben Flower a 'Good Luck' message ahead of his return to competitive Rugby. Big of him.

Yes it was. I think he handled the whole thing with dignity and I think it spoke volumes of him as a person.

I didn't have an optinion of him really before that, but I have gained huge respect for him since. I hope he enjoys his retirement - he deserves to.

[Futtocks]

I first saw Hohaia in action when he was drafted in at short notice for the Kiwis when Stacy Jones had his unfortunate collision with Joe Vagana (how he couldn't see someone that big in his way is a puzzle), and Lance had a rough international baptism, making inexperienced decisions and kicking poorly.

 

Then he became better known as a fullback and looked like he'd bulked up a little to become a more powerful runner, also scoring opportunist hooker-like short-range tries and making plenty chances with his boot in the NRL.

 

Then the pinnacle - two tries in the Kiwis' first ever Rugby World Cup win. But he always looked iffy under the high ball in that tournament. With St Helens, he did a lot of hard, unglamorous work after a slow start (when it came to integrating with the team), while being criticised by fans who were expecting a superstar.

 

He was never a superstar type, but whenever one of his teams did well, you could see him deeply involved in the things that made them effective.

[zorquif]

Just seen the report on bbc breakfast about this. In verbatim - St Helen's scrum half lance hohaia has retired from rugby league with immediate effect because of recurrent post match concussion type symptoms. The New Zealander was punched in the face twice during last year's super league grand final'. The clip was him being walked off after that. To me that makes it sound like the punches caused the recurrent problems - and why that clip from his whole career?

[Dave T]

This could get quite messy now.

[Saint Toppy]

This could get quite messy now.

Indeed. Its now clear why the Saints statement was so brief as they didn't want to say anything that could prejuduce any possible law suit Hohia may bring against Flower.

 

Flower must be getting pretty worried now, wondering whether the solicitors letter will drop through the letterbox taking him to court. Would his insurance company cover Flowers costs if this went to court given that he committed a malicious act of violence ? If not Flower could be facing a very hefty legal bill. If Wigan pay his bill & support him then I guess it would count as a benefit payent as he's still a registered player with them and the incident happened on the field of play while representing the club.

 

Hohia doesn't strike me as the kind of player to hold a grudge (shown by the fact he even sent a text to Flower to wish him well for his return) but at the end of the day he has a young family to support with no income so he will have to do whatever it takes to look after them.

 

It wouldn't be the first time a player has taken another to court when they've had their careers ended by a piece of illegal play. I seem to remember Jarrod McCracken taking Stephen Kearney & Marcus Bai and the Melbourne Storm to court after a spear tackle broke his neck and ended his career. I remember McCracken winning and being paid quite a substantial sum in damages.

 

I dont think we've heard the end of this

[JohnM]

This could get quite messy now.

 

Quite so. Is there any actual  clear and authoritative statement from Hohaia and/or an independent doctor /consultant that he is retiring solely and exclusively because of the effects of the Flowers incident?

[zorquif]

I wouldn't worry if I was Ben Flower. He did knock Hohaia out, but is this the only time he has been knocked out? IIRC, these things tend to be cumulative - see the NFL. It would be difficult to prove that the one incident resulted in this recurring effect - or even decide that it did on the balance of probabilities. That is a big difference compared to the McCracken case where a tackle definitely resulted in a career ending injury. 

 

I think it's a shame that he has gone out and he is suffering from that, but it also brings to mind Hape. I think it can just be an unfortunate effect of a tough career and tough men playing beyond what they should. Hopefully Hohaia has called it a day early enough not to suffer like Hape.

[zorquif]

Quite so. Is there any actual  clear and authoritative statement from Hohaia and/or an independent doctor /consultant that he is retiring solely and exclusively because of the effects of the Flowers incident?

 

To be fair, I don't think the BBC report was suggesting that was it. It was just the only thing they could be bothered reporting. No mention of a long and good career during which he won the world cup...

[mp1977]

It's a damn shame. Liked watching him for the New Zealand Warriors. It raised the question again about Ben Flower and whether criminal charges should have been laid after that sickening incident last October.

[Guest]

Odd that Saints allowed him to play so many games considering this was a reoccurring symptom after matches. I wouldn't have thought he would be allowed to play without getting it checked out first.

[Railway End]

Odd that Saints allowed him to play so many games considering this was a reoccurring symptom after matches. I wouldn't have thought he would be allowed to play without getting it checked out first.

Did Hohaia tell Saints how he was feeling though?

Shontayne Hape covered up his concussion problems for fear of being dropped or released by his French Union clubs. Maybe Lance thought his symptons would improve but they haven't and he's wise enough to pull the plug now.

I watched a fair bit of him at the Warriors and can recall numerous head knocks he took. At one point he had a spell of playing each week with headgear. That was a bye product of the bravery he played the game with.

Whilst the Flower incident may have contributed to his retirement, I suspect it has been an accumulation of head injuries throughout his career.

[Saint Toppy]

Odd that Saints allowed him to play so many games considering this was a reoccurring symptom after matches. I wouldn't have thought he would be allowed to play without getting it checked out first.

This now explains why this season Hohia has played one week and then seemingly without reason not played the following week. After every occurance they obviously chose not to play him in the next game to give him time to recover. There must have come a point where the medical team advised him to quit to avoid any further long term damage.

[Bostik Bailey]

Knock people out, create mayhem.

 

well Shaun, you certainly have don that.

[chuffer]

Quite so. Is there any actual  clear and authoritative statement from Hohaia and/or an independent doctor /consultant that he is retiring solely and exclusively because of the effects of the Flowers incident?

 

Surely it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to be able to clearly prove that Flower is responsible for the concussion.

 

A 32 yr old player involved in countless collisions over decades in a high collision sport where he is either tackled or the tackler.....the potential impacts to the head, cumulative effect etc etc 

[Guest]

Knock people out, create mayhem.

 

well Shaun, you certainly have don that.

 

Blaming Shaun Wane? Really?

[zorquif]

It's been done to death. I would be surprised if almost every coach doesn't use similar language at one point or another. 

[Exiled Wiganer]

I remember Ian Lucas being knocked out by Harrigan and that being pretty much the end of his career. Again, he had a history of head hits, so it was the cumulative effect. He did go on to be a successful businessman, happily.