Sorry state of affairs all round that will only be amplified by the ridiculous comments from both sides that will inevitably follow.

This is a silly comment after what has now emerged from Hohaia himself.

Very true. Playing Rugby League is a short career and a player having to retire through any injury is a sad event. Let's hope the emotion behind the Flower/Hohaia incident and the subsequent consequences (or potential consequences) doesn't lead to fans manipulating a sad scenario to forward their own respective agendas.

This is gonna get nasty.

Says a lot about him as a person not to take Saints for a ride.

I just can't wait for the sensible discussion that is undoubtedly incoming...

To second row saint,where did i say its funny that he had to retire,if you were to read my post correctly i said i thought it was funny that talk sport were saying he would be rembered not for his playing career but being knocked out,i have nothing but total respect for all players that cross the white line you need to be very careful what you write.....=#FF0000EDIT - you need to listen to your own advice. If you can't post without personal insults don't bother.!!!!.

I think Saints could never be criticised for the way they handled the situation post GF.

I think Hohaia may now follow his own agenda and Flower may not have heard the last of it.

Bloody hell. I didn't see this coming, I have to say.

Comments like that and similar headlines we are already seeing are deliberately chosen to imply Flower is the cause. They don't actually say it but they imply it and everybody knows that is what is going on. It is ridiculous.

You may as well say Muhammad Ali ended up a basket case because Henry Cooper knocked him the down once.

It's said for Hohaia but at 32 he's been going to have been banged about plenty of times in his career so the clear implication it's Flower's fault is sensationalism.

Seriously? There is a slight difference between taking a shoulder charge ,and being punched in the head whilst lying prone and unconscious on the floor...

Left for work at 4:30 and by the time i got to work At 5:00 am the BBC on Five Live had mentioned Ben Flowers 2 punches on Hohia 3 times . Very poor journalism from the BBC

Regards , EW

The stuff I've seen on the sort of problems Hohaia is facing seem to suggest its all about the cumulative effects of multiple head knocks rather than any single big hit. I saw a documentary which said a minor headknock which causes brain swelling without necessarily any of the symptoms of concussion being followed up by another hit was worse than a knock which obviously causes concussion because they latter aren't generally followed up (players being taken off etc).

In any event this isn't like a single incident can be directly linked to Hohaia's problem.

I've read similar myself. However, this won't stop the inevitable from happen ending on here re Flower.

Really? So you think it's pure coincidence that these concussion-like symptoms are only occurring since the incident?

Anyone else think this is going to be the start of a civil case against Flower for loss of earnings or similar?

i find it odd its somehow taken 12 weeks for him to realise "recurrent post-match concussion-type symptoms" are a bad thing. and somewhat more coincidental saints have just announced the signing of shannon mcdonnel with immediate effect.

It hasn't taken 12 weeks for him to realise there was a problem. Saints have been aware of it and have been trying to manage it best they can, hence why he has been in and out of the side.

We would have signed McDonnell regardless of what happened to Hohaia. As soon as we got the diagnosis on Lomax we started looking at other full-backs.

Hope the truth doesn't stop your cynicism though, crack on.

Even the most swivel-eyed pie-hater should have the logic to recognise this is a more than a little convenient. If Hohaia is serious about laying this [iall[/i on Flower (as most of the media are doing) and not recognising he's played some 300 games in the last 13 years (which don't include any stuff he did as a kid), then he should put up the evidence and sue Flower or Wigan or even StH for loss of earnings or do StH for not protecting him from injury under employment law.

If he's genuinely got some sort of concussive injury, it can only be cumulative (and I'm sorry for the lad). Unless he's got OJ's lawyers this can never be put solely at Flower's door. May as well do Manchester United for having a pitch that doesn't flex & cushion impacts.

Sure. So the 'symptoms' weren't there before and, as you said, he played over 300 games without them.

Your thug clobbers him and the resultant symptoms won't go away and persist enough to force him to retire - presumably on medical advice. Yet it was the previous 300 games that were the cumulative culprit eh?

You couldn't make it up.

Firstly, I'm not a swivel-eyed pie-hater. Let's not get on to playground insults.

There is nothing convenient about it. Yes there is a chance that this could be a cumulative problem, but there is also a very big chance that this is a direct result of the assault from Flower.

He may well go on to press charges against Flower; that remains to be seen. I am sure he is currently seeking legal advise and medical "evidence" to support any claim he might make.

For you to make light of it and make silly comparisons is indicative of what the majority of Wigan fans will do and that is to blindly defend Flower and dismiss any suggestion that he could have ended Hohaia's career.

The truth is that nobody actually knows just yet. Nobody can categorically say that the retirement has stemmed from the punch, but nor can you lot ridicule that idea either.

I was born cynical, i make no apologies for it. Surely you don't "try and manage" something as serious as concussion? What is the diagnosis on Lomax? Genuine question as i haven't heard anything. and it would be naive to think any of us know "the truth".

Thats my point of view on the matter, i have mine and you have yours

I'm assuming your medical qualifications are superior to Cyberpieman's?

You're having a pop at him for his opinion when in reality you know as much/little as him. This is an absolutely pointless argument from both sides and I'm sure the true cause of Lance's issues may never be discovered.

Personally I wish him all the best and hope this doesn't affect his lfe anymore than it all ready has.

i cant remember Lance been KO'd in the red vee apart from the GF

Why not, you have.