Saints were the grubbiest team to have played Wakefield this season.
Wilkin got away with 3 head shots and Wellens also got away with a trip and we wont even get into the wrestling stuff on the ground.
So, in reply to the op, no sympathy from here whatsoever,
If they clean up their general play, there wont be any bans coming.

Saints are the new Wigan, a definite change in playing style which has helped them win games when playing poorly, just as Wigan managed last season.
May be it's a "Lancashire" thing ?

I think we ought to forget his obvious Saints bias in his examples, and look at it across the board, the process SHOULD be thorough, and above all consistent.

Refs will make mistakes and sometimes won't see what happened, this can all be corrected by a set of off field procedues, providing they are FAIR, THOROUGH and CONSISTENT.

He might have a point. That he chooses only to illustrate it with examples where he feels his team has been badly done to does him no favours though.

No one is saying Saints are angels, if we're committing serious fouls and not being punished they should be, just further evidence that the system isn't working. What he wants is consistency and a disciplinary system that protects players. There is IMO a clear line between an intended outcome and an accidental one and the RFL don't have any grasp on the severity of incidents IMO. In this instance Green used an outlawed technique to deliberately attack the skull of a player in a vulnerable position, causing a triple fracture of his cheek bone. Do we really have to wait until someone dies or suffers a life changing injury before something is done about it? A 6 game ban in this instance would be a deterrent to players. It's not a normal high shot like you compare it to, those are more often than not accidental or reckless. As for the Wakefield v Saints game, the worst challenge was Lauitiiti's, also a shoulder charge to the face which also caused serious injury. Green is only going to miss 1 game for this, which is a joke. Surely you can see that?

Flanagan ran face first into the chest of Lauitiiti, there was no shoulder involved!

Don't fall for Cunninghams "woe with us" press statement, spin and warping of the truth!

Exactly that; I see this in disciplinary cases in my professional life all the time - someone is before the beak for a misdemeanour and all of a sudden, they want to blow the whistle on years worth of malpractice that has happened before their very eyes, but which they never felt the need to report until their own job is on the line.

For what it's worth, I agree with most of what he's said, but it's meaningless for each individual coach or chairman to bleat about these things when their own club appears badly done to - surely they have some forum in which to collectively let the RFL know that they're unhappy with the inconsistent application of the rules, without club bias or risking a large fine and the wrath of the officials for the coming few weeks?

Perhaps the dialogue behind closed door is ignored and people feel the need to speak out in public? Note, McManus is not the first, nor will he be the last, nor is it the first time he has raised these same concerns.

The last time McManus raised these concerns, by the way, was after lifting the Super League trophy. Was that sour grapes too, because it was only champagne flowing at that time!

Also, the very fact that you say saints could suffer at the hands of refs/disciplinary for having the temerity to make a statement serves only to support a suspicion that the system is flawed/inconsistent/corrupt.

I can agree with most of what you are saying, BUT if he feels so strongly about a flawed disciplinary system why did he not back up our chairman and Hull FC's chairman, both who were fined for their very similar outbursts last year. I'm afraid it comes across as not in my back yard because of his comments purely about St Helens being hard done by.

Always had the upmost respect for your club and thought our two clubs shared a pretty good relationship, afraid this statement has disappointed me, not for it's content but for it's poor timing.

(Still hope you beat Wigan tomorrow though

)

Indeed, it’s one thing allowing a try from a dodgy offside, it’s quite another when a player makes a deliberate attack to the head of another.

After the Ah Van incident Green should have been given the red card, but the referee bottled it, so did the disciplinary, it should have been a Grade D offence IMO.

Lord McManus is spot on.

Regards

King James

I wonder how vocal he'll be when one of his own players do it, especially that useless lump of cack Masoe.

That would be [url=http://youtu.be/INzmrDRAtSUthis sickening attack[/url. I don't remember him saying anything back then either.

However, the panel didn't find it to be a deliberate attack to the head. The shoulder charge was late and of course illegal, but the contact with the head was indirect or secondary, therefore Grade B.

As I said, in my opinion.

I’m a bit of a hardliner

.

Why are the RFL thinking that a shoulder charge that hits the shoulder then fractures a cheekbone is any more acceptable than one which directly hits the head and fractures a cheekbone.

This is a systemic issue and McManus, along with Hetherington and a few others before him, are right to bring it up. The way referees are handled and the disciplinary process itself has become an exercise in PR rather than a good process.

Offenses and their grading have become an opportunity for wiggle room and not an attempt at consistency and this offence is a good example of it.

Rather than asking what did Green do and how many matches does it deserve, they ask where can we introduce uncertainty to protect the referee.

Green had to go. It should have been a simple decision. He should have got a few matches and it should have been a simple decision.

Spot on Smokey. Should've been a red and couple of matches ban.

Saints the new moaning club? Looks like winning silverware again after so long has gone to their heads.

[iNew[/i moaning club? You never heard of John Wilkin?

Does he play for the same team as Sam Tompkins?

No, he's a Rhino's player alongside Rob Burrows and Danny Maguire.

That doesn't really work, does it?

Did you notice the crusher tackle on an FC player tonight that went entirely unpunished? Amor was binned for 10 and then banned for two matches for a crusher earlier in the season. All of a sudden, and from nowhere, the cards have stopped being shown. We never know where we are with the rules as fans, it must be very confusing for players.

Still bitter?

Not my fault he doesn't know how to spell John.

So that's a strong case for reviewing the current grading system. However, within the system as it currently stands the punishment was correct.