It's not the worst I've ever seen but pretty close, certainly the most public and that's where the problem for the sport is in terms of negative publicity.
Anyway, this isn't me defending Flower, this is reasoned thoughts about how/why this has come about. Flower is guilty as sin without doubt, extremely shocking and deserves a very long stint in the stands.
All that said..
I watched that phone camera footage and the look on some of the Wigan players faces said it all (smith in particular stood out), they are under duress, they are being conditioned by Wane to play in a certain style and there's a certain amount of fear in them.
That fear (of losing, of the coach, of being different to your peers/not fitting in, being seen to be the one not following the leader, losing their place/job even) alongside with the mental conditioning that is clearly being passed down to the players has culminated in what happened on Saturday.
Yes it was Flower who threw the punches/started the incident, he was out of control, he completely lost the plot whereas even those in spontaneous anger can often see where the line is drawn. Weak & strong minded people can be conditioned, in such a way that they are doing things without even thinking, even if those things are absolutely and categorically 'wrong'.
Wane & indeed others I'm sure are effectively conditioning young men to harm other human beings. yes in rugby a large element of that is legal, it's part of the sport and we accept that, we accept that there are times in a physical sport with lots of agression people will & do get hurt, that tempers will fray and 'biff' happens. In a gladitorial encounter it is unavoidable. I would never ever want to lose the 'natural' agression that our sport has, but that needs to be tempered with respect for your opponent whom is just another human being, a person not an inanimate object.
BUT there is a line and that was crossed massively (& has being several times of recent) the actions of Flower I believe has being initiated through conditioning to act in an overtly agressive manner, being told it is OK to hurt someone, to be reckless which is hugely wrong. It's not only is damaging to those on the end of it, but it is also damaging to those dishing out the blows (mental health POV, losing job, personal derision from all corners etc). From that it is damaging to the sport as we've seen and not just from a media POV.
The RFL MUST take a much much deeper look at this, they MUST take responsibility and take action NOW! Wane is the one responsible for what happened SAT IMO, he needs to be taken to task and managers/coaches AT ALL LEVELS need to be given firm guidelines with regard to how our sport is being played because one day..we will have a death..we will be looking at one punch manslaughter and somebody will be going to prison and a loved one being told their son is dead because the RFL did fack all to change things..
