Wigan prop Ben Flower was sent off after just two minutes of this morning's Grand Final for a shocking attack on former Kiwi international Lance Hohaia. Photo / YouTube.
Wigan prop Ben Flower was sent off after just two minutes of this morning's Grand Final for a shocking attack on former Kiwi international Lance Hohaia. Photo / YouTube.
The man who brutally attacked Lance Hohaia in last year's UK Super League grand final says he regrets the incident "every day".
The match was barely two minutes old when Wigan prop Ben Flower king hit St Helens playmaker Hohaia to the ground. In the next moment, as the formerNew Zealand Warrior lay knocked out on the turf, Flower punched him again flush in the face.
It was a sickening spectacle, and Flower was immediately sent from the field - the first player to ever be sent off in a Super League grand final. He went on to endure death threats, international ignominy, and a six-month ban from the game. To compound matters, his Wigan team lost the match.
Flower has kept quiet over the incident ever since, and has only now broken his silence to the Guardian newspaper in Britain. On the eve of his comeback from suspension, Flower told the newspaper of the disgust he felt after seeing the ugly scene for the first time at his disciplinary hearing.
"I was very shocked," he said. "It was horrible. I hated myself for what I did. It's brutal and it's something you don't do naturally. I'm not that person."
While not wanting to justify his actions, Flower spoke of the intensity of the game's buildup and the simmering rivalry between Wigan and St Helens.
"The rivalry ... is there and playing them in the grand final was crazy. I knew it was going to be massive. So you were hyped-up to the max - and you've got to be to play in those games."
Flower described the atmosphere at Old Trafford as the players walked out to a crowd of 76,000 as "awesome". He was itching to get going.
"Kick off came and there was a big start. They put some shots in which was expected. It was history after that. I chased the ball and it bounced awkwardly. The ball has gone out of my hands and I've got hit from the side. Then I've hit Lance. I've knocked him out. And, yeah, then I've gone in again, not thinking, and hit him again - which is a terrible thing to do."
Flower said he tried to contact Hohaia in the aftermath of the game but didn't get a response.
"I didn't hear back but I didn't expect to because what I did to him was terrible. I didn't expect anything from him."
