I think Fax had been told before the game to wind Barlow up because they know he has a short fuse. However by the time Barlow came on Fax were winning easy and on a roll and yet they still tried to wind him up even though they didn't need to do so.
Barlow obliged (obviously) because he is too much of a hot-head at times and gets drawn into it too easily. But it dragged both teams into a brawl and at the end it was Leigh who came back to playing rugby first and Fax carried on with the rough stuff (Tonks imparticular was throwing head high shots and leading with the elbow all 2nd half)
I think both teams were as bad as each other in turning the match into a brawl but it suited Leigh and definitely stopped Fax's momentum. Once the momentum was stopped Leigh went back to playing rugby (except Barlow who got himself sent off) and Fax carried on trying to 'smash' Leigh until suddenly we scored back to back tries and took the lead. At that point Leigh had then momentum and Fax couldn't stop it even with an extra man, just like we struggled to stop you 1st half when you were on a roll.
Basically Fax went out of their way to wind up Barlow (which worked) but at a time when one more try would have finished the game IMO.
