Flower punch proof we need biff ban: NRL

Yeah exactly. The referee should know the difference between the two incidents. In that Semi, no one would have even known if they moved on straight away. you sorta had to stand on one leg and squint in slow motion to really see it anyway. The whole one punch and you're off thing is just taking more power away from the referees. Now they go, well gee mr. football man, it just isn't up to me. My hands are tied. It was only 3 years ago that every ad for State of Origin was showing the old punch ons. Probably the most recognisable moment in SOO was Lewis and Geyer standing off. Nothing happened, but the thought that it could blow up brought huge tension and excitement. The world, and Rugby League, is turning too black and white. There are grey areas. If someone came along and put Flowers on his back after those awful punches, they would be sent off too in oz now. that isn't right.

Jay C - I think you're right. The 'biff' era is looked upon with rose coloured glasses. It wasn't a king hit-a-thon. Players used to get sent off in the past for punching. Whenever the game has descended into violence there has been a clean-up. There's no reason why you can't have discretion. Most people would agree that Flowers should have been sent off and suspended for a long time but the powder puff punches by Starling and Maitua in the semi could have been a running caution or a penalty. The irony for me is that with the Starling and Maitua punches, the endless replays to work out if they were punches or not drew MORE attention to the biff. If the ref had given a penalty and got on with it those incidents would have been replayed once at the most.

Jackson. Surely you can see though that the ridiculous blanket ruling, and some of the send offs that occurred were dumb. I am a fan of Rugby League first and foremost but some people deserve a good whack in the mouth. What we end up with is far more dirty cheap shots. I would much rather see a punch thrown than a broken leg or twisted knee. That punch from Flower was a send off for 20 years. the rule change was a knee jerk reaction to what should have been a send off in Origin. If they had dealt with it then we wouldn't have to have these arguments a million times. If people are so anti fisticuffs, why is the UFC the fastest growing sport on the planet?

Banning the biff is wrong. Too much PC garbage. Its footy not ballet!

I'm anti-biff and get withdrawal symptoms if I don't get my Rugby League fix every week. And there are many likemindeds on this very site - this is obvious to anyone with a brain and a pair of eyes. Plus, it's an obviously shortsighted view - I want to still be watching this game in 3 decades time, and not have it die because Mums and Dads stopped their kids from playing due to the violence. Not your best effort there.

The loutish behaviour that is spread all over the broadsheets,Sure as hell covered up FHS. Domestic violence ready plenty about it and reports on the box. "The biggest decline in rl history".Obviously you were not around in the 70s and early 80s when Jim Comans took over the judiciary.and offfield cover ups were the order of the day.That was the time a fist to the face, was almost rite of passage for a player. The no punch rule had zero to do with crowd numbers down only marginally this year and Tv ratings ditto.Scheduling, played a major role.The SOO had record crowds and Tv ratings and ditto the G/F ,with the no punch rule in vogue.It's all Grant's fault. The BS that two blokes trading blows never hurt anyone,when a guy like Steve Price got knocked out at Lang Park is hardly health inducing.Whilst we continue to adopt that approach ,we will be a sport marking time on the spot.

Couldn't agree more Barry. I think Grant's justification of banning the biff by comparing 2 guys going toe to toe to this act is well off the mark.

John girlfriends often become mothers. Now mothers might just believe they have a little bit of a right to influence what their kids watch and participate in. Campaigning to the guys that are always going to follow league is a waste of time.

EX NRL turned Tah Player Duncan Mcrae V Ronan O'Gara Tahs V Lions 2001 is worse biff I seen. Terry lamb V Tallis in 1995 Dogs V Dragons, Lamb hit Tallis when he was on the ground. Hoppa Vs Kieth Gallaway Jamie Anscough hit on Craig Smith 1999 grand final

Even before the no punch edict we never saw a punch like that! Who is the NRL think they are kidding? That would have been send off before the NRL got there silly rule in place. Hohoia's sneaky elbow is now what the NRL no punch edict will bring more of.

Who cares about your girlfriend?! I bet she sits down with you every Friday night with her bowl of popcorn and can't wait for the footy to start, right? Please. Most of the people who are anti biff will never sit down to watch a game at any regularity whether the biff is part of the game or not. Just social crusaders that like to spread fairy dust in a whole lot of areas they have no business sticking their nose in.

John Grant and the ARLC are presiding over the single largest decline in rugby league history and the no punch edict has a lot to do with it IMO. Point scoring on the Flower incident is cheap, wrong and no surprise from this egomaniac. What Flower did was an attack pure and simple akin to the Danny Williams incident many years ago. It has nothing to do with two blokes trading blows in the heat of the game. Besides, if the NRL wants to hold itself up as a beacon for addressing societal ills, maybe they should start by not covering up domestic violence and loutish behaviour from its players before messing with the on field product.

Just when Parra have a good year, NSW finally have a good year and he wants to go to the States! Good luck to him but I can't help but think it's a bad decision. Particularly with what Brad Arthur will achieve next year his timing is lousy. I would be spewing if I still lived in the Hills.

I just feel this incident has highlighted that there is a broad social hatred of violence, which vindicates the NRL's stance.

How does she feel about pinching? When does pinching go to unacceptable? When it turns into punching maybe. "If you pinch me again I'm going to punch you" I think we're on the same page with the biff - but for mine you can't hold this up as justifying banning the biff because punching someone while they were unconscious on the ground would have been suspended and treated harshly in any era - biff or no. I'd rather see players get a mandatory 1 week suspension for punching rather than 10 in the bin.

I used to enjoy the biff as much as anybody, but understand that it needs to go. Obviously there's a huge difference between a bit of fisticuffs and a Flower-esque assault, but the problem is there is no line. There's no point where you can definitively say that pinching turns from acceptable to unacceptable, and for that reason it needs to go completely. My girlfriend (friends, colleagues etc) certainly sees no difference between harmless and harmful punching.

I'm not a fan of banning the biff...but I'm comfortable with it being gone. There's a big difference though between 'biff' when two blokes go toe to toe and what Flower did to Hohaia. Even in the 'biff' era Flower could have expected a long suspension for what he did. Danny Williams hit O'Neill in the 'biff' era and got 16 weeks or so. Biff didn't mean it was a king hit free-for-all.

I hope this incident has spelled the end of the Jurassic era, with every dinosaur voicing his opinion that 'banning the buff' was wrong. They are running out of legs to stand on.

Biggest story is that John Grant commented upon something

There's always gonna be the odd bad apple (or flower) even basketball has its massive brawls cause of the odd player that thinks he's gangsta