Thursday 24 March 2016 16:03, UK
Brian Carney is backing St Helens bid to defend 'their great name' following claims by former player Lance Hohaia that he wasn't supported in his recovery from a high profile concussion.
The New Zealander was punched twice by Wigan's Ben Flower in the 2014 Super League Grand Final.
In recent days, he claimed in an interview with New Zealand's Sunday Herald newspaper that he was not offered a suitable period of rest to recover from concussion symptoms.
The former international, who walked out of his contract with Saints and subsequently retired in April, also claims that he was offered only prescription medicines following the incident.
St Helens have firmly denied the allegations.
"It is a very messy situation and St Helens have fought back," said Carney. "Lance Hohaia, he suffered terribly in that. He claims he hasn't had the treatment he thinks he should have had from the club. The club have responded, they've denied that and they've said they will take all action available to them to defend the great name of St Helens, which they should do!"
And the former league legend says St Helens won't be distracted by the furore over the comments, ahead of their hotly anticipated tie with Wigan on Friday.
"The Lance Hoia incident and St Helen's reaction to it - I don't think that will affect preparation this week. I think sports men and sports women are able to isolate themselves in a necessarily selfish way to concentrate on the game at hand. I don't think it will affect the performances of these two sets of teams."
