Exactly my point.

Ablett plays for Leeds therefor it's Manu's fault for putting his eyes in Abletts fingers....this is how it works.

I would have thought Leeds will have there appeal in by the morning even before the incident becomes a charge. The disciplinary will be forced to turn a blind eye so to speak.

McDermott will defend him, as per the McGuire arms out defending the fullback, he's bringing his Marine training into the camp.

I can see Ablett getting nothing more then a warning letter on the basis that he didnt do a very good job of trying to cheap shot an opponent.

Had Manu got the wounds to show gouging had occured then maybe more but the RFL will see the easy way out.

Very hard for the match officials to detect live because of the speed of contact in the game but I reckon Manu's reaction probably made the ref suspect foul play.

Just rewatched this as I missed the 3rd replay during the live game, and I have to say it's a shocker.

I said this after the Hock one too.

There are some things in the game which are simply unacceptable and gouging is one of them. It should be a minimum 10 matches however the RFL have set themselves a precident now so he is likely to get 4 matches a la Hock.

On incidents such as this the RFl need to grow some balls and simply say anyone caught commiting offences such as gouging, biting etc where there is no case to argue it was accidental, therefore an intention to injure an opponent will be subject to a very lengthy ban. This can only really be introduced during the off season though.

I'm not sure what happened there. Briscoe went down holding his face. After rewinding many times the was no evidence anything happened from that angle, if anything it appeared he was caught by his own player. They may be other angles which show differently.

Thought the Briscoe one was accidental, but not seen a clear replay. There was a second incident but will have to watch again to remind myself

Briscoe suffered from conact with Whiting's hand/arm during the tackle on Ablett

Ablett and Manu both get a letter from the RFL and no further action.

[url=http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rleague/12/05/08/RUGBYL_Disciplinary.html&BID=480Warnings issued to both Ablett & Manu[/url

Looks around for shaking head smiley

Wise decision from the RFL, thank god all of the knee jerkers on here have nothing to do with the disciplinary process

I scoffed at some of the earlier comments that his status as a Leeds player would afford him immunity from any punitive action. Seems they were right, and I was wrong. Another baffling decision.

Agreed. You should only face disciplinary action if and when you blind someone, and not before.

The second one is worth a ban on its own, saw it on the Super League Show last night and is probably at least a one match ban.

I've not seen the first one so won't comment!

I wouldn't worry, its just your Hull inferiority complex kicking in once again.

So if he's done nothing wrong why has he received a warning. So there admitting he's guilty. So it's ok to gauge

What does that even mean? At least make the effort to keep your trolling in the ballpark of relevant. It's like you're not even trying anymore.

I'm sure he'd sooner have an inferiority complex than just be inferior like you.

once again our sports governing body has let us down, and made us look silly.

If ablett was a union player he would be looking at a lengthy lay-off, most likely season ending. but we tell him he is guilty (warning letter) but also remind him it was fine to do.

sticking fingers near peoples eyes is never ok and the rfl are a joke for being so soft on the offence. he did it to sam tomkins earlier in the season, he did it twice more in this game, he should not be playing this game for a long time.

At least one of you gets it.

Surely this sort of decision should be a 'policy' based one.

Facials...

... are definitely part and parcel of the game, but we have to be careful that if a player crosses that line recklessly then he should be punished.

What would have happened IF Ablett had injured Manu in this incident; I understand that he didn't and it's ifs and buts, but have you got to blind/severely injure someone to get a ban?

wow... words fail me. How can he get a warning?
Disgusting from the RFL.

It would appear so.

I would also propose that should such an incident occur, that resulted in a career-ending injury, the lax disciplinary procedures at the RFL could possibly bring them into the frame when it came to litigation

Gaz Hock gets a 5 match ban (I think) for doing something similar, wonder if he feels agrieved by the RFL?