As predictable as night following day.....

The more you watch it the worse it looks!

What reason has he to jump, what reason has he to stick a stiff arm up and why would you try and tackle someone round there head in that position. I can't see how it is accidental.

He thought he was playing American football?

hmmmmmmm.....Wigan are Iconic too and need helping dont forget !

Just looked at it again, I can't find one angle where there's any contact with the should. Clobbers him round the neck lol

Late, reckless, ill aimed, stupid... But I doubt he was intent on hurting Grix, just trying to stop him chasing his own kick, professional foul, yes. Malicious, no.

Pretty much wipes out any ban for high tackles this year or if i was a club I'd be taking the panel to court for discrimination!

Was one of the worse short of a stiff arm with fist clenched you will see. Late, high, left the ground, player didn't have the ball. Seriously RFL what are you thinking?

We're hardly unique in getting a dodgy decision before a big game. Nothing to do with this being about Wigan and everything to do with referees and the RFL having no balls.

This wasn't one of those split-second incidents were a player can't pull out or instinctively raises the arm. The delay between the kick and the high shot was so big I think Bowen lined him up. He seemed to have one on him after Brough hit him late and Grix ended up being the one who got it.

Quite true, my comment was made in jest rather than actually aiming to have a 'pop' at Wigan. I do agree with your comment though.
100 % guarantee a ban if it was a SL game next up.

Grix kicks the ball, the ball goes past Bowen, then Grix takes 4 more strides, large ones, at least 4 metres before Bowen hits him, "late", is an understatement.

Open season on kickers fellas.

Make sure you take a teeny bit of the shoulder first though, before you end up in the throat/face with your swinging arm

And if you don't finish the job, one of your team mates can have another go, a la McIllorum in this instance.

I know that the RFL have always been extremely kind in the run up to CL Finals and Grand Finals.

But this prick didn't leave any room for kindness. He committed a blatant high shot ON A PLAYER WHO DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THE BALL. He banned himself from the WCC.

But the RFL make up some stupid s**t to let him off.

I've lived in the US for the last 7 years so I've been separated from RL. After seeing that I'm very tempted to say "**** rugby league" because if that's how the game is being run then what is the point?

But then you wouldn't want to overreact would you...


To be honest I don't know why the RFL didn't just give him a ban that started after the WCC. Problem solved.

IIRC - Rangi Chase got a ban for us last year for a (then legal) shoulder charge that made initial contact to the chest then went to the head (of a Leeds player) Compare that to what Bowen did and you can see why fans of some clubs feel singled out.

This sends a clear message of do what you like if you play for a top club.

It was a clear attack on Grix, Bowen had time to just block his run, no need to give him a stiff arm.

If he’d got two games, reduced on the early appeal thingy, couldn’t Wigan have used the warm-up game to see out the ban?

God knows how many times this incident will be cited this year when player X cops a ban for a similar attack

.

If you mean the one on Hardaker then it wasn't legal, it hit his head and he was lucky not to have been sent off. Given Chase's record and the incident in question then a 2 match ban was nowhere even close to being "singled out".

Bowen should have had a ban. 1 match is all it needed. All the RFL had to do was not include the WCC in the ban. Problem solved, everybody's happy.

It's actually ludicrous seeing it again, it's embarrassing. At no point is there contact with the shoulder. The disciplinary has basically lied. I honestly cannot see how that is pen sufficient. It sets a worrying precedent and if a Saints player is pulled up for a high tackle I hope the club takes that video as evidence.

You know it's bad when even Wigan fans are agreeing!

Poor call and that's coming from a Wigan fan. I've not even seen it again since game night but I instantly thought it was a 2+ game ban and I'm hearing little to change my mind.

The RFL have copped out of the last two decisions they've had to make now where it would lead to a player missing a big game. The way they have dealt with Bowen and before him Westwood has set a dangerous precedent going forward. In both instances those two players knew what big games they had coming up and both didn't need to make the challenges (or throw a sly punch in Westwoods case).

If they were daft enough to do that then that should have been their own look out.

You are wrong, you should have used your eyes when watching it.

The right call from the RFL. How can people draw parallels between that and the Ben Westwood Grand Final incident? Westwood punched Green and seriously injured him. Bowen just had a slap at Grix and ruffled his fringe.

Pleased to see the RFL not buckling down to the pressure from fans and the media. Correct call. Let's hope Wigan restore some pride for Super League in the WCC.

On second thought you're probably right.




Yep poor Rangi & Cas singled out. That's why Cas put up so much of a fight over it.

You were the one who said "...then went to the head (of a Leeds player)".

It's the responsibility of all players to avoid making contact with the head of an opponent or face the disciplinary consequences.

It's not as if he hasn't got form for that sort of thing...

People on this thread are pretty naive. There is big money at stake. Not only the Sydney Roosters vs Wigan Warriors game, but all future games of the WCC to be held in Australia. To deprive Wigan of their main attacking weapon would have turned the match into a total farce and turned the discerning Australian crowds and TV viewers off the concept for years to come. Matt Bowen is a real talent and a crowd draw card. Wigan cannot function in attack without him.

The RL judiciary did the right thing by putting the good of the game, and its finances, above mere considerations of formal justice.