SAINTS hope a line will be drawn under the Ben Flower furore after an RFL disciplinary tribunal handed the Wigan prop a six month ban for his sickening Grand Final punch on Lance Hohaia.

Footage of the forward brutally slamming his fist into the face of the Kiwi stand off, who was lying prone on the ground following an initial blow, have been shown around the world.

And four days on from the punch the story was still at the forefront of sports headlines in newspapers and television, meaning Flower has to live with the infamy of being the only player to have been red carded in the Old Trafford showpiece and the lasting damage the negative publicity is doing to the sport.

Saints, for their part, hope the healing process can begin and neither they nor Hohaia, who escaped serious injury and was allowed to fly out on holiday this week, have a desire for the matter to be pursued by police.

The ban will see Flower return to action 11 days after next year's Good Friday clash between the two teams in April. he will miss 13 games in all, ten of which will be Super League games.

Chairman Eamonn McManus said: "These matters have to be dealt with by the appropriate body within the game and it has so been.

"Whilst serving his ban it is critical that Ben is now provided all due personal and professional support. His rehabilitation is now paramount. During the period of his ban he will be no more than a 25-year-old boy who will be extremely vulnerable emotionally.

"We must assist him in any way that we can and accept him back into the sport. There is a person behind the player, and I am reliably informed by all that it is a good one. He must know that from all. Lance Hohaia certainly feels that way towards him also.

"The sport of rugby league should not be judged by this event, but by how it deals with it.

"Ian Lenagan is a strong chairman of a great club and I know that he will look beyond mere effect and more at cause. If anything is identified and needs to be dealt with then he will. St Helens stand firmly at the side of Wigan at this time."

McManus added that the RFL must "look beyond the offence itself" and examine officiating and disciplinary structures, where there has been "increasing lack of consistency".

Hohaia has copped a one-match ban for use of the forearm against Flower.