Strong statement from Saints there. As an outsider I have absolutely no idea what the truth is but reading between the lines it seems Lance hasn't taken it further because he'd have trouble proving the club has done anything wrong.

It's not hard to imagine a situation where Lance ignores/doesn't tell the club the truth about his symptoms because he doesn't want to be stood down or forced to retire. Saints then push him to play following tests that were clear. He feels differently as he has symptoms.

Hopefully there are no long term impacts on Lance's health. Worth remembering in all this that it was Ben Flower and Ben Flower alone that caused this and if anyone should face court action it's him.

Here here. He's almost treated like a hero now by some on the commentary, simply because he hasn't decked anyone already unconscious recently. Well done Ben!

Great reply from Saints thou I like that

Agree. That's twice in one night! Then again I'm in hospital with the missus as we're expecting our 1st child. Maybe it's the tiredness setting in...

Always thought it funny how Lance didn't say a proper goodbye to the fans, he just vanished from the club and Saints put that very confusing statement out.

Good luck with the birth mate, I feel for you, it's proper hard work labour, and can be quite painful especially if you have to keep rubbing her back through the contractions. My feet ached like mad too. I was absolutely knackered after it

Interesting to read some of the comments from this bored about Ben flower but if you do care to read the whole article it was also due to concussions in the following games he played on and was allowed to stay on the pitch,instead of being taken off which would not of helped to compound the problem. Whilst no RL fan condones what Flower did it cannot be solely placed at the incident in the Grand final match. As the well fair of players has got better and better you must ask the question why was he allowed by medical staff to play on so soon... Where it was the players idea to continue to play on or the clubs is open to debate but it should not turn into a witch hunt again for any player regardless of club this is not because I am a Wigan fan but I'm a RL fan too and there are always two sides to every story...... I know I'll get plenty Sts and other fans having a go but so be it and in no way do I defend Ben Flowers actions on that night....

It's upto Sts and Lance now to decide what each wants to do as the accusations are about Sts handling of him and not the Ben Flower incident as Lance states in the interview.

It very much suggests that the RFL guidelines for COG tests on rare incidents (Ben Flower) like these are not suitable for possible brain damage occurrence. Lance didn't play a full impact game until nearly 4 months after the event and if he had any serious concerns he would have retired by then with or without any club medical advice, instead he alone decided to "man up" and play but got concussed in his first competitive game.
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At the end of the day he didn't have this problem before the grand final and the root clause is Ben Flower who was very close to creating a fatality and a manslaughter charge, that could be in the back of his mind for the rest of his career.
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We wish Lance well whatever course he takes, no one should go through such downward forced impact on the skull whilst unconscious.

Judder man very close to a libellous statement saying Flower was close to creating a fatality and manslaughter charge !!!! Read the article his issue is his treatment from Sts and I agree the RFL guidelines re COG tests should be re looked at and maybe use the RU way they stop players from playing like they have with Mike Brown and George North due to concussion.

This could open up a bigger can of worms! when any response is made you have to tread real careful, once it is in the public arena these days that is it!

If Lance has become neurologically impaired because of the incident I think he should look at damages compensation primary with the root cause if proven with Ben Flower and secondary with St Helens RFC for the aftercare. Its accepted by all players that it is a high impact sport with risks, but the last punch was way beyond trying to dress it up within the rules of rugby, it was just common assault and should have been treated as such.
Maybe Lance obviously has had lots of time to think over the matter and wants to go down this route, I,m sure a legal team would be able to create a strong case both primary and secondary.

Goulding pipping up on twitter...not like him is it, honest guv.

He was hardly picked after his head injury anyway was he ?

He shouldn't have been picked before the head injury according to plenty on here.

And hardly was either

Another statement. www.saintsrlfc.com/news/page/5793

Another statement. www.saintsrlfc.com/news/page/5793

Strong stuff from Eamon

Hope Lance has deep pockets, that sounds like he's geeing up for a legal case.

I said last week that this could open a complete "can of worms" the wording from Eamon concerned me, seemed like a quick reactive response, rather than taking time and serious legal guidance? Now Lance has responded again, and if you look at both statements he has some basis. This matter should be resolved outside of the media and quickly.

I must say when I read the article I came to the same conclusion as Lance is trying to convey now. He wasn't trying to damage the club or staff.

This is becoming increasingly unfortunate.

If Lance has the agenda he claims to have then he needed to be much clearer about who he was criticising, and precisely for what. It just isn't clear from his initial comments that he only meant management, nor is it clear in what ways they allegedly failed to support him.

I'd be interested to know who wrote the first response from the club, as I thought it was a terrible piece of PR. It seemed to appear moments after Hohaia's interview came to light, and the contents reflected that. It was overly emotional, poorly written and ambiguously worded in places. In a situation with possible legal implications you need to be absolutely clear-headed and precise in your use of language. This was quite the opposite, and, given that one of the things the statement kept trying to stress was that the club has the highest professional standards, it rather undermined its own message.

Eamonn's subsequent statement was much more on the money, but I think Lance is right to pick him up on the comment about his degree. Students with severe mental health problems get degrees all the time, usually with the help of a strong support network. The major difference between carrying on with a degree and continuing to play RL, of course, is that by doing a degree you aren't risking getting your head stoved in any further.

I've no idea where this will go, but I don't think either party is covering itself in glory.

Steady! You know this for sure do you? If not I'd be very careful if I was you. Best to keep out and leave them to it. We should stick to the game, and not get too deep in the legalese.

Horrible watching this unfold, but Lance appears to backtrack at the same time as defending himself here. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/35867834

Horrible watching this unfold, but Lance appears to backtrack at the same time as defending himself here. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/35867834

Too strong; he should have let it die down instead of stoking the flames up. The Club had already made a statement so there was no need for his at all.

McManus is right to react and came across very well. Lance is putting the club in a bad light and also super league.