When you consider that no one has ever even been sin-binned in the Super League Grand Final, Ben Flower's moment of madness after just two minutes at Old Trafford yesterday is really put into context.
The Wigan Warriors prop levelled two punches at St Helens' Lance Hohaia that would usually only be seen in the confines of an MMA promotion and in doing so generated the scale of coverage that Super League could never attract begin to attract for the positive side of the game.
Having been duly sent-off and forced to watch as his side eventually succumbed to a 14-6 defeat, Flower has today apologised profusely for the attack which which left Hohaia with concussion and also ended his participation in Super League's showpiece event.
There is no defence for my actions. It was something that happened in the heat of the moment when our emotions and adrenaline was running high. I instantly regretted it and am devastated that I allowed myself to punch someone like this.
I firstly offer my apologies to Lance. I have full respect for him and have never gone onto a rugby field to injure a fellow player. I hope he is ok.
I'd also like to say sorry to my teammates, our fans and the Wigan Club. I know I've let them down like never before and accept I'll have to live with this for the rest of my career.
Finally, I'm sorry to the sport of Rugby League. It was a big night and I know I've taken the attention away from what was a special event.
Hohaia for his part has accepted the incident with a significant amount more grace than many people would have (legitimately) done in the same situation.
I don't hold any grudges against Ben. In the heat of the moment, people do some things they regret. I've done some silly things on the field myself. He's probably disappointed in himself for not being able to play a part in the game as well.
I don’t remember the incident – people have been telling me what happened. I don’t think the nose is broken but I’ll have a scan on it in the week. I wanted to go back on but the doctor wouldn’t let me and obviously my health goes before anything else.
Obviously I'm disappointed that I didn't get to play a bigger part in the game but we got the result and the small part that I played is enough to get the ring. I'm pretty happy about that.
Flower will be up before Super League's disciplinary committee on Tuesday where it is expected he will be charged with a grade F offence which carries a minimum eight match ban.
See also: Wigan's Ben Flower unleashes UFC style attack on Lance Hohaia
