2014 Grand Final hero opens up on that punch and St Helens not getting the credit they deserve

Perhaps the most memorable moment in Grand Final history, and indeed the most controversial, was when Ben Flower punched Lance Hohaia twice in the opening minutes of the 2014 decider between Wigan Warriors and St Helens.

The incident yielded the first ever card in a Grand Final and indeed it was a red card.

Speaking earlier this year, one of the heroes for St Helens that day Mark Flanagan opened up on that moment:

“I was on the other side of the pitch, I couldn’t really believe what had happened. I ran over and there was a bit of pushing. Then he got sent off and I was like ‘they’re down to 12 men’ but then I was scratching my head going ‘right what happens now?’”

However, the stand in stand-off that day believes Saints don’t get the credit they deserve for that win opening up about what annoys him about how that Grand Final is remembered:

“This is what annoys me, people saying ‘you only won because they had 12 men’ well yeah but they had pretty much had their strongest team out. Our halfbacks were me and Paul Wellens, Tommy Makinson at fullback, Percival to win, LMS as a front rower played centre and our interchanges were all messed up.

“We had never practiced anything like that, we just had to play through raw energy and spirit. We came up with the result but it wasn’t plain sailing.

“If anything if you’re going to lose a player you’d lose a front rower but the last position, especially for us, you’d want to lose is your only recognised halfback. It may have been slightly in our favour, but not plain sailing.”