Well said that man! How hard would it have been to put out that statement.

Especially agree with the Tanya Arnold point.

I wonder if Tanya will have another go at the question this week

or do we reckon that Steve will just refuse to do any media this week?

Yeah I'm sure if England RL had put out a statement with the word "NOT" in capital letters that would've stopped alll the questions and speculation............no, really!

Gotta love the PR geniuses on here.

Brilliant, just brilliant.

The rfl statement says that hardaker asked to leave so why would they need to clarify that it was NOT for disaplinary issues?

Because it' is highly speculated that he has been drinking again...

IF he hasn't been drinking again and it genuinely is for other personal issues, say that in the statement. Offer him some protection.

Oh dear!

But apart from that your agree with the rest of it?

The problem is McNamara shouldn't be doing any of this.
1) He should have a manager doing all this so he can concentrate on the team
2) The players need to belt up and be a professional international rugby team

Gotta love the speculation on here, geniuses. Everything apart from he framed Roger The Rabbit.

In a nutshell.

Maybe he as been drinking, but it may be other circumstances that have lead him to drink that are the real issue.

McNamara has already said that there wasn’t a disciplinary issue, he has said that explicitly. The RFL have then told us it’s a personal issue. That’s it. That’s all you have the right to know. Hope its not something serious and that Zak gets the help and support he needs, accept that he is a person before a rugby player and that you don’t have a right to know everything and move on with your life.

For once Smokey talks sense I agree its nothing to do with other people well said Smokey

But they did

[i"An England Rugby League statement read: "Due to personal issues, Zak Hardaker is unable to commit to the England Rugby League programme."
It continued: "He has informed the England RL management team that he wishes to withdraw from the squad and will not play any further part in Rugby League World Cup 2013. No replacement has been called up."[/i

Personal issue as in he can't stop drinking and be disciplined and respect his team and country? The two things are not necessarily unrelated.

It isn’t a disciplinary issue. We have been told that

This is typical of northerners making a mountain out if a molehill.
Get over it

If it was a genuine welfare issue, you would have thought England would have liaised with Leeds and they'd be fully informed, rather than England saying "England Rugby League will work with Zak’s club, Leeds Rhinos, to support him during this period" and then Hetherington saying "Nope. Have no idea what's going on." ([urlhttp://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/leeds-rhinos/rlwc2013-zak-s-decision-a-mystery-leeds-1-6213927[/url.

So either it isn't a welfare issue and they're lying or it is a welfare issue and they're handling it irresponsibly. Either way, this last couple of weeks has been a textbook example of how not to manage media, and, for that matter, staff.

or Pete Smith spoke to GH before the RFL did.

George Riley tweeted yesterday that Hardaker had told him after the game on Saturday that he was ill.

"The England statement read: “Due to personal issues, Zak Hardaker is unable to commit to the England Rugby League programme and has informed the England RL management team that he wishes to withdraw from the squad and will not play any further part in Rugby League World Cup 2013.

“No replacement has been called up. England Rugby League will work with Zak’s club, Leeds Rhinos, to support him during this period.

“Zak requests that the media respects his privacy at this time.

“The matter is now closed.”

Everyone should just mind their own business.

Exactly. I hope, next time someone on here has some issues, that we have full disclosure to allow a discussion to take place

Hope Hardaker's personal issues get ironed out - he's a good player and likeable character, doesn't take himself too seriously but is a very professional rugby player (despite the fact he may have been involved in the post-Italy booze up).

Him leaving is a blow. He was awesome against Samoa, for the Knights, and I wouldn't have been surprised had he played at centre in this tournament. We must pray that Tomkins stays fit now!

We have plenty of people on here with issues that are quite clear without full disclosure!

It's a shame for Hardaker. I hope he gets a chance on international stage another time

Some of the comments and speculation on here is out of order.