Quote ="SmokeyTA"Don't worry, he wouldnt dream of defending it, its just not as bad as it looks (slo-mo and tv magic made it look worse) he didnt really mean to do it (how could he know he was unconscious it all happened so fast) and it happens all the time (he surely isnt the first to punch a prone player, the fact he was unconscious is irrelevant because Flower didnt have time to check that before he cocked his arm back and swung unmolested at Hohaia's face)
But no-one is trying to defend it yeah, but Hohaia gave him a forearm smash worse than Lamb on Hanley just before it. No-one wants to mitigate it but you know props are going to swing after that and if Hohaia happens to be unconscious at them time, well thats not Flowers fault (even though he knocked him out)he didnt even know before he hit him again.'"
The only 'defence' I have ever mentioned is that I don't believe he knew the guy was unconscious. That is all. You've already said you think it makes no difference (recklessness being no defence). That's fine. I happen to think it makes a *bit* of a difference. Not in the rules, or in the law (although it might), but just in common morality - i.e. if he told me in the pub that "yes, I knew he was out cold but smacked him anyway" I'd be so disgusted that I'd want him to never play again, at the very least. Whereas if he said "I don't know what came over me, but I honestly didn't know he was out cold", I'd be saying something along the lines of "Jeez, you were out of control, you need to sort yourself out, take your punishment, apologize, and make sure it never happens again".
None of the minor incidents in the build up are particularly relevant (I suppose perhaps technically they're relevant in terms of explanation, but certainly not in terms of justification), and I've never claimed otherwise.
