: Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:40 pm  

perhaps if we had gone down then we might not be in this position...

: Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:40 pm  

WarriorSteve wrote:

I havent looked through all the posts on here.. so I don't know if I am the only one... but I kinda feel a bit sorry for Gaz.. before everyone kicks off with me

I was going to kick off with you and say you are talking a lot of tosh, but TBH you do have a point.

Hock has been caught taking a banned substance, many others do and wouldn't suffer the disgrace that he is going to. You use the analogy of using a mobile and driving which has the potential for far more horrific consequences, but ones that are not guaranteed by driving and using a mobile, it can only be a contributing factor, so I'm not sure its a good analogy.

Hock has done something silly. He will suffer the consequences. But no-one has died and his actions, as far as any actions do, impact him more than anyone else.

Our sportmen are fallible and generally reflect wider society for better and worse. We want them to be better, to be noble, to be role models, but perhaps this is unfair to expect and I am sure that many players don't want this burden. Maybe our hunger for them to be better, to be more noble, is a reflection of our own inadequacies.

Wow, that was deep.

: Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:41 pm  

Orrell Lad wrote:

"ATTENTION!!! IAN LENEGAN!!! ARE YOU LISTENING?!!!"

Alan Partridge style

"Ian...Ian...Ian...Ian...Ian, no he cant hear me...IAN...IAN...IAN.........IAN!!!!"

: Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:41 pm  

thepriestman85 wrote:

Of course it is because ONE person has done a recreational drug the club is now dying on it's feet? Get grip a man

But hey lets drag the players like Ricahrds, Carmont, Fielden, Tomkins, Lockers and Bailey into a room and tell them to drop and pee cause they are all drug cheats according to the fans of RL Fans.

What a fantastic idea that would be and i’m sure it will do wonders for a dressing room that’s already shot to pieces, hasn’t got many if any leaders in it and is about to lose it’s head coach.

There is a right and a wrong way to do this a fan witch hunt defiantly isn’t the right way to do it.

The stick has already come down hard on Hock and the players aren’t that stupid to let that happen to them.

My point was we need to fush out the bad apples.

Good pro's as named above qwould happily give samples as they have nothing to worry about.

: Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:43 pm  

Cruncher wrote:

Sorry, I don't wish to keep disagreeing with you but you really are getting carried away here. Get a grip man. You're acting like Jonesey off Dad's Army, panicking wildly.

This isn't the spirit that saw us through a potential disaster back in 2006, when as a club we genuinely WERE on the brink of disappearing.

It makes a change from Dave

Yeah, the club was in danger in '06, due to bad coaching and recruitment, today imo, it is in danger due to weak leadership, both from Noble & IL. Every week there is some kind of blunder from the club that in Maurices day would have seen RLfans and the Wigan Observers letters page explode, but some posters seem to refuse to acknowledge these things.

Perhaps my "dying on its feet" line was a little dramatic, but im sickened today at yet another gaff that is tearing another shread of pride away from the club that once truely reflected the meaning of the word proud.

: Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:44 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

The players themselves should come together though as a 'team' and have a heart to heart about the situation. You'd like to think that 100% of them are outraged enough in Hocks actions that they'd all agree to club drug tests in future to keep the integrity of the squad at the required level and so that they can all look at each other in the eye each day.

I wouldn't have the slightest problem pis*ing in a pot once every so often if it meant getting rid of these idiots from the team.

I'm not holding my breath though.

It's ok if the players come forward and volunteer as a group but at times like this the club has to look to the likes of Lockers, Richards and Carmont as senior players to work through it together.

IL coming in and forcing mandatory drug tests on players like I said above won’t work and won’t make things better even if the tests come back negative.

Time for the club to come together not divide and that includes the fans as well.

: Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:45 pm  

wigan_knight wrote:

And so it should we cant afford to lose talent like his.

What hes done should never be accepted but the facts are after 2 years every SL club will be after him.

Wigan as a club should not be punished for what some idiot player as done.

I'm sorry if i sound like what hes done is right i'm truelly not..I'm speaking with my rugby head here..And i'll be damned if i let our rivals take advantage of us letting a talent go like Hock.

There will be no moral highground when 13 SL sides or fighting for him to sign for them in 2 years

Kind of depends on what he spends his 2 years off doing. At best, if he looks after himself & stays in shape, he's going to need the best part of another season in the reserves getting used to playing again & working up to full match fitness/sharpness. If he doesn't keep himself in shape it will be even longer - look how long it's taking Karl Pryce to get in the team.

By that time, we may well have (you hope) replaced Hock so may not want him, and his baggage, anyway.

: Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:47 pm  

In all honestly hes just unlucky hes "the one" who has been caught out. There are allegedly many more out there who havent been caught but slowly but surely they will and I hope that they are looking at a certain club that have a "Saintly" name.

: Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:47 pm  

Everybody deserves a second chance but that does not mean what hes done is acceptable. As far as im concerned once hes served his 2 year ban the slate should be wiped clean. Until then i dont feel sorry one bit for him. He is a Pro sportsman and at the end of the day he knew damn well the consequences. I posted earlier that its about time Pro sportsmen started acting like Pros and i dont just mean drugs,im on about drinking and general behaviour off the field. IL was told about drunken behaviour ages ago and didnt seem interested. I hope this is a wake up call for him as well as id guess that Hock is not alone here.

Maybe this will be good for Hock. Maybe he will now realise how priveldged he was to be a Pro RL player. Maybe he will come back a better person. If thats the case then there is no reason he can not play for Wigan again,only he can decide if he wants to be a pro sportsman or if he wants to waste it all and go the other way.

: Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:48 pm  

JohnP wrote:

Kind of depends on what he spends his 2 years off doing. At best, if he looks after himself & stays in shape, he's going to need the best part of another season in the reserves getting used to playing again & working up to full match fitness/sharpness. If he doesn't keep himself in shape it will be even longer - look how long it's taking Karl Pryce to get in the team.

By that time, we may well have (you hope) replaced Hock so may not want him, and his baggage, anyway.

Hocks a physical freak, he's not the biggest set lad but he has unbelievable strength and i don't honeslty think he'd need that much time to get back into the swing of things.

There would be alot of things to sort through first before he got the chance anyway.