Sam got targeted (clearly), got up every time, stuck up for himself and his brother (who was sent off)... then won the game. Agar's tactics didnt work and he was bitter. Both Tomkins got found guilty by RFL for what they did and have been rightly punished. It really is that simple.

Now can we hear the last of the invisible 'tackle technique' rubbish?
Can we hear the last of 'Wigan dont get punished'?
Somehow I doubt it.

Suprise suprise no hull fan arguing on this thread with a pic like that on op

The problem is that you can freeze frame every tackle and at some point it will look bad. That's why Joel only got one match for the forearm on Sunday. If you just took the photo as shown in the Evening Post then it would look like a four match ban.

The tackle here is the exception to that rule he never deviated from that grapple position and then tried to hit sam for attempting to get up.

Thought Joel got two matches?

Think it's one for the tackle, one for the fight.

That point can be further illustrated by looking at the 2nd posters (Bowvey) avatar! I very much doubt O'Loughlin got a ban for that late, high elbow (I realize that is probably not as it looks, by the way).

It started in the chest like the Joel one and it definitely went to tribunal but I forget the outcome.

There you go then. Further comfirmation, by yourself, that a single frame shot doesn't tell the full story

The retalliation rule seriously needs looking at!! How can Joel get anything for his part in the fight? He was clearly punched about 3 times before he got involved, what else was he meant to do???

Ahh but rules are rules vectra. If someone starts punching you repeatedly you have to take it. You can, however, offer alternative areas of the body for the aggressor to punch. I believe they do allow players to defend themselves, however if they throw too many punches then the RFL decide that they were just as bad as the aggressor.
Basically, if someone starts punching you repeatedly, you can hit them back two or three times but if they continue to punch you then you have to give up and accept a beating.

Not sure I agree on the pictorial evidence being misleading in this case.

The before...during...and after of an impact can come across in many ways: elbows can ride up, hands can go into faces, one person might drop so it looks like the other has gone high...all sorts. The nanosecond a camera goes click can tell any story.

However - in the OP's picture, he has got Sam in a grip. It's not an impact, it's a clear grip that he is using to lever Sam over backwards and over. It might be argued that his grip could change during that action, but I doubt his left arm was ever any lower than it is as pictured.

I've no idea why Ganson didn't take some action. What I do know is if that tackle was carried out on an amateur field, there'd probably be a brawl.