Farrell's got previous for it, he did it to McGuire in the GF last year which was even more dangerous given the short in-goals and then slope on the Old Trafford pitch.

iPhone autocorrect

I hate to use the word coward or cowardly when referring to any Rugby League player. By simply stepping over that white line they are showing more balls than I could ever dream of having, but having said that I do think Farrell's actions were one of the most cowardly I have seen on a rugby pitch. He could easily have stayed on his feet and made no contact whatsoever with Ratchford yet he chose to slide in with no risk to himself but a genuine risk of causing serious injury to an opponent.

Every now and then I find myself softening to Shaun Wane and his wigan teams overly aggresive approach and then something like this happens and I realise just how much I despise him, his approach, his tactics, his players who are willing to follow his instructions and the apologist wigan fans who seem to think that the whole of RL hate them simply because they are wigan.

To be fair they are not a bright bunch at best are they?

Cretin of a player. Let's hope the 'rugby league gods' pay him a visit.

Talk about sensationalism. No comment on your own player who tackled with the knees then? I won't even dispute how stupid, reckless and pointless it was, but one of the most cowardly things you've seen on a rugby pitch? Give over.

Against a backdrop of a coach and apparent club culture which openly encourages players to "create f*****g mayhem, be reckless" and/or to "Knock people out. I can't give you any more of a free rein than that," and against a player who having just scored is likely to be as relaxed as not expecting a hit as it's possible to be on a rugby pitch I'd say it's pretty cowardly. The only risk of injury to Farrell would be if a Wire player took him on, which is unlikely to happen this season as the retaliator more often than not gets to go for a rest. Though to be fair, I probably have overreacted, sensationalized and exaggerated it a little as I had forgotten Ben Flowers second punch.

The fact that you refer to a Warrington player tackling with his knees (please tell, which one?) shows that you may have seen Farrell's action as more as a late tackle rather than the probably deliberate attempt to injure that it appeared to be.

Bloody hell, 6 pages about the match and 6 pages of hysteria about the evils of Wigan. Farrell does give away the odd stupid penalty like that, hopefully now it's been punished with an 8 point try he will stop sliding in with the knees. I don't agree that Stef milked it, he's not like that, but calls for a sin bin, red card or ban are way OTT. If he had already done it once during the game, gone straight into the player (as opposed to the floor) or made contact with the head then fair enough.

Congratulations on your win, I think we were lucky Sandow went off or it could have been a real drubbing. Hopefully we'll get a game with us both close to full strength in summer, I expect us to win a trophy each this year.

Westwood - yes, dirty on his day, in that he'll throw a punch now and then and the occasional high shot.

Ryan Bailey - lol, he hasn't even played for us yet.

Sims - I see this a lot, but where are the examples of him doing anything like what Farrell did last night? Name three occasions.

That's a point. The Pie Dome's home end is equivalent to a morgue on a good day, but that on Friday night was abysmal.

It was another level of quiet that. Where they waiting for the the 'clap lights' to come on?

I've herd more noise on my nephews computer when he's playing subuteo. It is like a library at there end sssshhhhh

So when do we find out when the Ginger pearl necklace is up before Red Hall...tomorrow?

Btw Hatfield...hope you enjoyed your 1st Wigan away, personally thought the atmosphere in the North stand was fantastic,hopefully the south stand do us proud on the return fixture in a few weeks time.

Yes they look at all the games on a monday and post it that day with the outcomes on a tuesday.

Charge grade B light contact with the knee 1-2 games

It still wasn't cowardly. Cassidy on Morley. Flower on Hohaia, Westwood on Green etc I class as cowardly. It was many things (foul play included) but it wasn't cowardly. I also don't think it was an attempt to injure as he both hit the ground and hit the legs. I know where I'd aim for if I wanted to take him out of the game. Deserved ban, it's creeping into the game, particularly when it comes to tackles on the wing close to the line (It was Russell on Manfredi btw, not nearly as cynical but it was there) over the last couple of seasons and hopefully this time the message gets through that you can't do it.

This whole thing that Wane was filmed saying too is a bit daft. Like coaches up and down the country haven't used emotive language and exaggeration to fire their players up. Rugby League players are certainly able to read between the lines. I'm sure all of them in that dressing room heard "Create mayhem, be reckless, knock people out" and understood it to mean "be agressive, get in their faces, hit them hard, take risks". I mean, I know people think he is, but Wane (and the Wigan team) aren't nearly that stupid to say that when the cameras are rolling.

Must be a windup. How is it not cowardly? Aiming your knees at a smaller player lying on his side and defenceless is cowardly.

In reference to wane:

"Knock people out. I can't give you any more of a free reign than that. Be reckless because that's what is going to get us the f****** win next week! Is everybody clear on that?"

How can you interpret that any differently? It is what it is and just confirmed what we all knew about Wigan (under Wane). Just look up the definition of reckless.

No surprise that of the 7 incidents the disciplinary panel looked at from our game only 1 was a Warrington Player.

Even if you do define it as cowardly, is it really the most cowardly thing you've ever seen on a Rugby pitch? Really. Hand on heart can you even say that with a straight face? Smaller player? Like that matters, this isn't boxing, they all play on the same pitch and whether it's a prop or a winger that shouldn't matter. It's the act that matters.

I just explained how a rational person might interpret it. My mum used to say to me "I'm gonna kill you if you carry on." Better get her locked up for threatening to kill a child. You can take it on face value when it suits your agenda. It's also quite easy to see how a rational person might read into that. I know if I was a rugby player I wouldn't think my coach was literally telling me to knock someone out. It would be very interesting to hear what other coaches say if there was a microphone, as even at amateur level I'd been told to "knock em out". It's a way of getting aggressive.

Sure the definition of reckless is like that, but etymology has shown that words can change meaning, or be used outside their traditional meaning, this case, reckless being no as safe with the ball. Do you complain to Sky when Eddie calls a daft offload "reckless"? Probably not because you, as someone with a brain, know what they mean.

Right, so one game where Wigan got done for more than Warrington means Wigan are and always have been dirty. What about at the HJ - Simms banned for punching a smaller player (if we want to play it that way) on the floor. 2013 GF - Ben Westwood banned for breaking Blake Green's cheekbone (another smaller player) whilst on the floor and held by another player. Swings and roundabouts. No team is any dirtier than any other team. It's a tough sport and it spills over sometimes.

Oh look... a Wigan fan mentioning the Westwood punch on Green.

Never saw that coming.

I havent suggested it was the most cowardly act I have seen. I just think it was cowardly as others have said. The size of a player does have something to it - if I was playing I would prefer Ratchford coming after me for retribution rather than someone like Ben Westwood.

I am sorry but I fail to see how you or any other person with a brain can interpret Wanes comments any other way. They are in reference to crap defence and knocking people out. Reckless is a very odd word to use if you don't intend it to mean it's true meaning. Especially when considered against the rest of what he says.

Wigan have reputation nowadays across the league which isn't a coincidence. All clubs have incidents of poor discipline / dangerous play - wigan just have more.

To be fair, neither did Green!

Sorry it was someone else who said that, my mistake. As for the weight, it matters, but shouldn't matter when reviewing incidents like this. If the stats online are correct there's only 5kg difference between them anyway. Farrell isn't the biggest back rower going (probably why he is IMO ineffective at international level).

I can speak as someone who has played RL for a number of years and has been told by coaches similar things that Wane told his players. I've been told to knock people out, I've been told to be reckless - it's more evocative and gets you in the right mind set that the coach wants you to. I knew what he meant and didn't knock anyone out nor was I reckless to the definition but played a little bit riskier.

I'm aware of Wigan's reputation, but I emplore you to prove it because I've certainly tried. Stats are notoriously difficult to find but for this season at least they are nowhere near the most penalised team (not always indicative of foul play I know) and Farrell is the first person to be banned this year. No player has had a significant injury as a result of contact with Wigan. I know these are all quite vague but I honestly believe, as someone who watches at least 3 games of RL and who has played it for at least 10 years that whilst they're no angels, they're also no worse than many teams. They're under the microscope a lot more, more TV games, more publicity when a player does something and plus the reputation they have.

Let's just agree to disagree as this could well go on forever. What's done is done, Farrell was 100% in the wrong and deserves his ban and I genuinely hope it cuts this out across the sport because it's not right.



Why shouldn't it be brought up? It's relevent to the topic at hand and a perfect counterpoint to certain accusations. Glass houses and that.

It's not that it should not be brought up, it's that between that and the sims on Williams last year, you've got nothing else to pick on. Whereas you've got a ing laundry list as long as my leg for incidents involving Wigan going all the way back to when fadge took over. Stuff that you got pinged for and stuff you've got away with.

Oh sorry, Paul wood punching about 2 years ago in retaliation.


Going back to the metaphor involving your mum, does your mum's siblings, or several offspring have previous for being complete and total s sort of connected to what she used to say ? Probably not, so they're not comparable in any way.

You know what the problem really is, over the last five years youve got players who have massive ty chips on their shoulders, like the tomkins bros, mccilorum, Crosby, and a few others, but what's surprising is how many players you've signed that seem to have the Wigan scowl and attitude, flower and dudson were pretty normal forwards at the crusaders, sarginson and clubb, I don't know what you've done to club but he seems a right horrible now compared to when he was at London.

It was no surprise that bateman signed for you, cos he's a horrid niggly house, notice you didn't pick up whitehead from Bradford.

Can we just note as well, I didn't even mention Gareth hock during this, or Joel Tomkins elbow drop on myler after scoring in 2011 which was so late there was an Olympics and world cup in between the try being scored and him hitting him.