I'd say it's more a case of building them up and knocking them down. The Aussie media do that with all of their stars. They back them to the hilt and then "highlight" the fact that actually they're not saints, as if fans of the sport hadn't realised.

I can assure you the Aussie journos reporting on this aren't worried. Most of them aren't rugby league fans and openly mock international games.

Rothfield's the Telegraph's version of Stephen Jones from other stuff I've read.

Sets out to provoke responses, which draws traffic to their website and helps sell advertising space.

The ban is no different to the one Tony Williams got for trying to take Ben Westwood's head off, a similar if not worse offence.

I'd also be interested to know Rothfield's opinion on the likes of Greg Bird pulling on the Green and Gold, given his history of violence both on the field and off it.

God knows how Aiton got off with his, maybe because he looked apologetic straight after the incident.

He got off with it because we have a spineless judiciary who punish people based on fan and media reaction.

Aiton and Westwood both had high shots as bad if not worse than the one by Sam. And there was an Irish player again Fiji who went in with what could have been a carbon copy of the tackle on Thaiday, with the main exception being that no injury resulted from it.

Burgess has copped the ban hammer because Thaiday was injured and the fans and media had a cry, no other reason. If the fans and media blew up about the Westwood and Aiton challenges as opposed to the Burgess one I would bet my house on the fact it would be they facing a week ban and Sam avoiding punishment.

It would be hilarious if not for the fact it's largely true.

(I'm not saying he didn't necessarily deserve a week, just that if he did then there are 3 others who should be missing a week with him)

My thoughts as a (relatively) disinterested party:

1. The suspension is a little light, but in the ball park. Careless with priors from other comps not counting. I would have said 2 weeks, but wouldn't have thought a sendoff and no suspension was too harsh.

2. Phil Rothfield is a waste of newsprint and is not worthy of your time. He would not have been out of place working for News of the World.

3. Sam Burgess is rapidly developing a reputation as being a grub. This is not an anti-British thing, it's everything to do with his behaviour. The common opinion down here is that he is teflon, and if the NRL hadn't been so intent on trying to ensure a fairytale Bunnies/Chooks grand final he would have got a lot more than two weeks for crushing Chambers nuts, been reported (rather than warned 'be careful Sam') for deliberate knees to the face, and got 6-8 for attempted eye gouging rather than a warning letter from the NRL about his 'friendly facial' on Maloney.

Spot on.