What he said

Wire and Briers have simply played the system, that's all - nothing that we wouldn't have done. Definitely warranted a card at the time though - seen reds given out for that in the past, so should have been no different this time. Childs bottled it, simple as that

You can't treat them all the same, do we treat all theft as the same? Rob a Mars Bar 10 years in jail, it's only the same as robbing a bank.

Look at them all individually based on circumstances and outcomes.

Right decision, there was nothing much in it. Should have had a yellow card and that should have been the end of it.
Leeds seem to have an abundance of players who try and wind players up, they got rid of Brent Webb but still have Ryan Bailey, Carl Ablett & Danny Maguire. Should be interesting if Warrington pick Leeds next week.

Unless its Micky Mac, throw the book at him

Wire won't pick Leeds.

Week 3 will be:
Wire v Hudds/Hull FC
Wigan v Leeds/Saints

If I was a Wire fan and saw them pick either Leeds or Saints, I'd be livid!

They are consistent at redhall,if its a leeds, wigan or warrington player,its not a problem,if its another teams player its a ban.
You cant get more consistent than that.!!!

Why wouldn't Wire pick Leeds? The lowest placed side has always been picked during clubcall, and Wire stuck 40 points past Leeds last weekend so definitely won't fear them. Plus, even if you assume Leeds are a better side and they just had a bad day at the office last weekend, surely they would rather play them at the HJ in a semi than OT in a final?

Well let’s just hope the Wire fans take it on the chin (no pun intended) in the same manner when it’s one of ours in the dock under similar circumstances!

Andy Wildon had it right on backchat last night. If Huddersfield and Leeds both win their games this weekend Wires special coin (possibly double sided) will land on Huddersfield.

I do think if Saints win they'll choose them though. They'll keep the coin in Tony Smiths pocket for that decision.

Would you and the wire fans have said the same had it been McIllorum doing the one punch ? I highly doubt it as we've all seen the crying on the wire board(and most others) before.

If Ablett has said something about Lee's family then he more than deserved it but the problem is most of the time players are sent off, ie Poore, McIllorum, Hock etc etc.

Consistency is all anyone asks for.

YOU might ASSUME it was about his brother? And because YOU ASSUMED it you thought it justifiable to post it on here?
It think what your trying to insinuate, with no foundation, is totally uncalled for.

He obviously said something that upset enough to get Lee to swing at him, now I've watched Lee since he signed for us and I've rarely if ever seen him react like that, yes he has his cheap ways of milking penalties and he has his gamesmanship but it was out of character, even the time he reacted at Tomkins was just a grab and staring contest at a perceived cheap act by Tomkins. Maybe I assumed wrong and for that I'll apologise BUT Ablett said something, no doubt something unrepeatable on here and it upset him enough to almost get a red card and put is in trouble, it was also something so uncalled for that it fired up the rest of the team to want to really hurt Ablett. In hindsight it was probably the catylst for firing up our team to completely dominate you after that moment.

That's an odd turn of phrase as you were not playing us



These days there only seems to be one form of verbal abuse that excuses such a reaction and that is racism. Given Briers reputation for gamesmanship if he let some no doubt nasty sledging get him to commit an offence that could have got him sent off, then it worked.

If it backfired on Leeds well there you go, Ablett went beyond the pale and it backfired.

I think MM got one match when he was sent off for punching last year against Bradford so that does seem the norm.

The part that has annoyed me about it all is the fact he wasn't sent off. Especially when we had 2 players sent off last season (and subsequently banned) for defending themselves in Tuson and Micky. Had he been sent off at that time it would have been a completely different ball game last week.

Micky did get sent off v Bradford last year for a single punch on Elima.
Paul Wood threw a single punch at Ablett in last year's Cup Final. Stayed on the field, penalty to Leeds and Wire won the game.
Briers throws a punch, stays on the field, penalty to Leeds and Wire win the game.
All three were charged with Grade A offences.

Paul wood threw that punch after getting slapped in the face by carl ablett.

It's amazing how ablett keeps coming in for these incidents despite 'not doing anything'.

I know he did. Hence why I said he did.

So is Ryan Bailey on charge for throwing his knee in a tackle YET AGAIN??? or is he free to do it YET AGAIN?

I think you may find that due to his stalwart character and total lack of discipline issues that it would be easily brushed under the carpet once more.
IMO, Bailey is a thug. The game is hard enough without brain dead eeejuts like him. Hope someone gives him a really good talking to.

As a neutral fan watching that game i remember feeling sorry for Leeds as if anything was to have happened to Briers upon a disciplinary meeting then it wouldn't have benefitted Leeds in any way during that game.

but as many allude to already, we don't know the full story for sure and can only comment on our opinion of the incident from what we can see. he also went on to pop in that amazing 40/20 which continued to pile the pressure on the leeds defence which in turn took its toll. would have been a totally different game with briers on the bench for 10 mins i'd imagine...

in hindsight, he's got away with it and should learn from it but i wouldn't be suprised if saints and then if Wire win, in the GF against either us or Leeds, that whoever the opposition they will continue to try and wind him up.

i hope someone fairly and squarely duffs him in a decent gut busting tackle and takes him out of the game. will serve him right. he should not have got away with it just because of who he is, which is what my opinion on the matter is.

cracking player as much as i hate to say it, but we all have our own versions of that kind of player in our teams so lets just hope its rectified somehow along the way to the GF!

Some of the Briers hatred on here is comical.

Is it as comical as the Sam hatred on the Leeds/Wire/Saints boards? (and ours now I guess lol)

This link just turned up somewhere else. I can't believe we're still discussing a punch on a rugby pitch over a week later!

What Karl Fairbank, Kurt Sorensen and Kelvin Skerrett (to pick a few from my early days watching RL - I'm not so old...) must make of this I dread to think.

Totally, utterly and unequivocally agree

I hate the little weasel, but he has only thrown a punch.

Fair enough it was on the back of Ablett's melon, but that is the only controversial point.

Whoop de doo a rugby player throws a fist!

Its has been and hopefully always will be part of the game.

Fair enough if you bite, grab the goolies, gouge, twist a limb, spear or lead with the knees you deserve the book thrown at you.

But a red card for a cheeky right hook?

what is the world coming to

I appreciate that many teams players have seen a straight red this year and the situation "should" have been treated the same. Maybe the RFL have decided to go a little easier on a straight fight?

If we all keep moaning about it they might start rolling out the reds every time. I dont want that.

Nothing wrong with a bit of man dancing