Re: Bad Boy Zak : Thu Feb 15, 2024 10:40 pm  

He's banned for 3 years. So he won't be doing that again whilst at Leigh. Isn't it better to try and help someone. Absolutely mad and reckless what he's done and, thank god no innocent people were killed, but he will be under no illusions that he is in the last chance saloon. Another misdemeanour of any sort and he will be out. Lammy, Chester and the rest of the team will sort him out. Put it to bed and move on and Zak needs to thank his lucky stars he isn't facing a manslaughter charge and jail.

Re: Bad Boy Zak : Thu Feb 15, 2024 10:45 pm  

Lower Creaser wrote:

Should we have terminated Zak’s contract for measures such as bringing the club into disrepute , we would have been decimated in the 3/4 line and cover at FB. IF we had Sailor (or another quality player ) the blow wouldn’t have been as bad. We would have cleared 100k off the cap (guesstimate) and had a ready made replacement.

It wouldn’t have made good business sense to deplete the team at this stage of the season.

Hang on, You say that the we would be worse off without Zak is 100% true in the current climate but if Sailor came in we condemn him, and punish him? Really? I'm glad you're not running our club.

Re: Bad Boy Zak : Fri Feb 16, 2024 4:49 am  

Cokey wrote:

Hang on, You say that the we would be worse off without Zak is 100% true in the current climate but if Sailor came in we condemn him, and punish him? Really? I'm glad you're not running our club.

Good grief this is getting hard work.
My point was , and still remains the same, if we had a plethora of talent then it would have been a lot easier to release him.
At the moment, we don’t have that luxury.
Hope my opinion on this matter , which is purely an opinion makes sense now.

Re: Bad Boy Zak : Fri Feb 16, 2024 5:47 am  

This player has been high maintenance for several seasons now.His choice of drug has cost him jobs.
Would anyone else but Lam have taken him at the stage he was at.Was the contract on a last chance basis.Are we actually better keeping him
With us he seems to have replaced a contentious drug with alcohol.Pleased to see his is seeking professional help.
Can he be trusted for the future.Will team mates consider were they safe when he was taking his turn driving.Will team mates be happy to put themselves out to get him into work.Will other team matea have lost trust including those with injury problems or who had offers to play elsewhere.Its all natural.
Our veterans will have to be better than last year in order for us to stand still.Can one of our younger payers step up will one of our backrowers be able to comvert to the backline at the required standard.Will the check book come out with change of emphasis from full back can we find someone from uk not nany about at first look.
All of these factors increase pressure on squad.Maybe we struggle to win those marginal games we did last year and the task becomes greater for eveyone.
Our performance on pitch effects our rating we have shown no improvements elsewhere.

Re: Bad Boy Zak : Fri Feb 16, 2024 6:12 am  

Lower Creaser wrote:

Good grief this is getting hard work.
My point was , and still remains the same, if we had a plethora of talent then it would have been a lot easier to release him.
At the moment, we don’t have that luxury.
Hope my opinion on this matter , which is purely an opinion makes sense now.

I fully understand your point but, my approach would be different to yours, so we will have to agree to disagree on this one.

Re: Bad Boy Zak : Fri Feb 16, 2024 12:56 pm  

I'm glad Leigh are supporting him but if he still can't stand up straight and this was on 31st Jan how drunk was he?

Re: Bad Boy Zak : Fri Feb 16, 2024 3:46 pm  

Well this thread blew up quickly didn't it. I am fairly sure that no-one here condones Zak's behaviour. I am also sure that Zak himself does not condone his own behaviour. Zak has always had a troubled life. We all grew up with people like him. I am a born and bred Leyther who played for 30 years (only as a poor amateur) and there were always people around me with a massive self destruction button. We even had a name for them (wild Johnny Damage). There were always reasons for their behaviour, usually to do with upbringing, peer groups, that sort of thing. I am also aware that they weren't d**ks all the time. They were all generally solid people who had problems. I am sure Zak is no different. This kind of behaviour is, I am sure, inherent in his personality. It doesn't make him a terrible person. He will have the odd moment in his life, for all his life, where he will make enormous mistakes and I just hope he doesn't harm any other person when he makes these mistakes. For the rest of the time however, he is an exceptional rugby league player, solid professional (colleagues speak about his attitude in training, his professionalism, his will to win) and by all accounts a pretty generous person.
The Leopards hierarchy have a pretty good record in managing people with this kind of profile (Gaz Hock, Blake Ferguson etc) and I for one would much rather support a team who attempts to educate and support people with problems rather than condemn and banish them, a team who are positive in their approach rather than negative, a team who uplifts rather than moans and complains.
This allows people to grow and improve rather than regress and become bitter.
I'm with you Cokey.
Up the Leopards.

Re: Bad Boy Zak : Fri Feb 16, 2024 4:28 pm  

Manx Leyther wrote:

Well this thread blew up quickly didn't it. I am fairly sure that no-one here condones Zak's behaviour. I am also sure that Zak himself does not condone his own behaviour. Zak has always had a troubled life. We all grew up with people like him. I am a born and bred Leyther who played for 30 years (only as a poor amateur) and there were always people around me with a massive self destruction button. We even had a name for them (wild Johnny Damage). There were always reasons for their behaviour, usually to do with upbringing, peer groups, that sort of thing. I am also aware that they weren't d**ks all the time. They were all generally solid people who had problems. I am sure Zak is no different. This kind of behaviour is, I am sure, inherent in his personality. It doesn't make him a terrible person. He will have the odd moment in his life, for all his life, where he will make enormous mistakes and I just hope he doesn't harm any other person when he makes these mistakes. For the rest of the time however, he is an exceptional rugby league player, solid professional (colleagues speak about his attitude in training, his professionalism, his will to win) and by all accounts a pretty generous person.
The Leopards hierarchy have a pretty good record in managing people with this kind of profile (Gaz Hock, Blake Ferguson etc) and I for one would much rather support a team who attempts to educate and support people with problems rather than condemn and banish them, a team who are positive in their approach rather than negative, a team who uplifts rather than moans and complains.
This allows people to grow and improve rather than regress and become bitter.
I'm with you Cokey.
Up the Leopards.

Excellent post that ML.

Re: Bad Boy Zak : Fri Feb 16, 2024 4:49 pm  

All good points and I empathise more than most might do that people with similar issues due to upbringing etc need supporting in appropriate ways. Where I struggle though is just how easy it would be for his actions to take the life of another person. It's a lottery that he's not in control of in that situation and had he hit someone on the numerous times he's been over the limit behind the wheel, would he still deserve to keep his job etc?

Re: Bad Boy Zak : Fri Feb 16, 2024 5:26 pm  

It's how Leigh have handled this that smarts for a lot of people. The press release from Leigh was too weak. It should have been far stronger and condemned the behaviour and declared it as unacceptable. They can then announce an internal disciplinary process, him being stepped down for a few weeks, concluding with him being allowed to continue with an undisclosed fine, an agreement over future behaviour etc (Which calms everything down and shows him being punished etc). Instead it's a wishy washy attempt to turn him into the victim and declaring support for him, then a slew of pictures of him laughing and joking in training on the players social media.