Wigan chairman Ian Lenagan has dismissed calls for forward Ben Flower to be sacked following his Grand Final attack on St Helens' Lance Hohaia.

Flower has been banned for six months by the Rugby Football League for punching a prone and motionless Hohaia after just two minutes of Saturday's First Utility Super League showpiece at Old Trafford.

The incident has become a national talking point and the severity of the punishment - which is the longest ban in Super League history - a subject of debate.

Some critics have even suggested Wigan should take a tough stand and dismiss the 25-year-old, but Lenagan has assured the prop he has a future at the DW Stadium.

Lenagan told Sky Sports News: "Ben Flower made a mistake, and I say very clearly, 'Let any one of us who has not made a mistake stand forward'. I have made mistakes, players make mistakes.

"This is not drug-taking, it is in a super-charged, emotional environment behaving irresponsibly. That is no reason to sack a player.

"That is a reason to discipline him, a reason to make sure that he suffers from it - because we as a club have suffered as well, and quite rightly so, because we are responsible for our players - but there is no question of us sacking Ben Flower."

Dai Young would be "surprised and disappointed" if England lock Joe Launchbury does not agree a new Wasps contract by the end of the month.

Rugby director Young believes Wasps have "ticked all the boxes" in proving to Launchbury his future is best served remaining with the Aviva Premiership club.

Wasps expect a "sustainable" financial future based on their December move to Coventry's Ricoh Arena can fend off suitors like Saracens, who are monitoring Launchbury's situation with his current deal expiring next summer.

Young revealed he went three months without pay in the depths of Wasps' two-year battle for solvency, and now hopes club "backbone" Launchbury will seize the opportunity to spearhead a successful future.

"We'd be surprised and disappointed if he leaves, but there are no guarantees in life," Young told Press Association Sport.

"We had to demonstrate to Joe that this is the right place for him to stay, first and foremost.

"We had to have a competitive squad, enough players in his position. He won't be overplayed. We've got to have ambition as a club, playing in the top tournament - and the last thing really was we had to be sustainable, not relying really on the generosity of one person.

"So we've pretty much ticked all the boxes, I believe.

"That doesn't mean to say that Joe or all our best players are going to stay, because that's life, but certainly from my point of view I think the club have done as much as they could to keep our best players, Joe being one of them."