Give over and get a grip.

Football gets mega sponsorship and continues. Yet the game has been found guilty of the following - The murder of refs, the murder of players, too many betting scandals to mention, massive corruption within FIFA - nearer to home, sex scandals involving old and young prostitutes, drugs, drink driving offences galore, assaults on and off the pitch, other sexual misdemeanors... need I go on.

All this and you cr*p yourself over a small scale betting offence - by giving the story that much credibility all you are doing is fueling it!

Todd Carney sponsored by Castlemaine.
Gareth Hock sponsored by the Betty Ford clinic.
Joel Monaghan sponsored by Battersea Dogs home.

Regardless of what you

into playersheads there will alwyas be exceptions. Wonder how much actually comes in to RL through bookies paying for advertising. Anyone any ideas? im sure its a hefty sum.

Even though the club I support are sponsored by a betting company I would prefer if they did not(it is the only reason I have not bought a shirt) I would support the RFL if they banned all betting conections from the game & prevented the use of the sports names or results being used for gambling. Gambling is a blight on our society & a cause of endless missery & crime around the world. In my view it is as bad as drugs & would be as dificult to eradicate, but Rugby league should set a lead in eradicating this dissgrace.

It would have been more suspicious if he had tipped Doncaster to win a game.

Any game.



Why hasn't this been locked yet?????

Only in Nevada and Delaware is it legal to bet on NFL games in the US. I'd be so bold as to suggest however that a huge market exists for betting on the NFL in the other 48 states, just that it's done "under the counter" or through unlicenced bookies, which offers the consumer zero protection from getting ripped off and the proceeds ending up in criminal hands.

Even if the RFL were somehow able to ban betting on rugby league games (not that I'm for one minute advocating that they do), how would they enforce it? I'm pretty sure they don't have the legal power to tell the likes of William Hill what they can and can't offer markets on, and even if they did how would they enforce it in these days of online and offshore betting?

Jesus wept.



Where on earth have I said this?



Gareth Hock taking cocaine does not discredit the integrity of the game more so than a captain of his team betting against his own club to lose and willing them to lose by a certain amount during a game against Toulouse. I'm staggered you think what Hock did was worse.

Gareth Hock was stupid. He took cocaine. He did not cheat. He did not look to fix results. Fans will look at Hock and think what a silly lad.

Shaun Leaf tried to fix results. He was the captain of his club and bet against his team to lose on two separate occasions.That's terrible. The ultimate betrayal to his teammates, fans and the Doncaster RL. The Championship struggles for crowds as it is. It struggles for sponsors. Who would want to watch a game that they think might be bent? Who is going to want to sponsor a game they might think is bent?

A quote from Andy Gregory:




How would you feel if you were a Doncaster fan and have paid all that money, took all that time, to take you and your family to Toulouse to watch your team get battered and then saw this? Would you ever go watching the club again in France? Honestly, how would you feel?

To quote Andy Gregory:


I'd feel absolutely betrayed and I would want to see him banned from the game completely. Not a four month-ban, not a 12-month ban, not a 2 year ban, not a £600 fine. BANNED. Never to set onto an RL pitch again.



Do you think a year/2 years would be a big enough deterrent for this never to happen again?


IMO people who put the integrity of the game into question have to be punished swiftly and be given a ban that is long enough to deter anyone else from ever cheating in the same way again.

If this type of betrayal of the game can happen, if the games core values can be undermined to this degree, and all it amounts to is a 12 month suspension, then something is terribly wrong.

I repeat: If you gamble on getting caught, you gamble on your career - wouldn't happen again then.

Harsh?

Not at all. Remember this is someone who is willing to stab the sport/the fans/his team-mates/the club in the back just to make a few hundred quid.



Once is too many when someone questions the validity of the contest. Off-field incidents do not question results. Taking cocaine does not question results.

Taking performance enhancing drugs or breaking the salary cap to boost on field performance is cheating and should be treated in exactly the same way. Absolutely rigorous with the punishments handed out. The credibility of the competition, of any competition, is of paramount importance.



Well I certainly cannot think of anything worse.

He's betrayed the sport. He's betrayed his team-mates, the supporters, the club. He is the captain of the club and has slagged his team-mates off in the press too. He bet against his own team (bare in mind he was the captain) to lose. I honestly mate can't think of a bigger betrayal.

You obviously can I take it? Please tell me what is worse?

Football and Rugby League are two very different sports. Fooball has the broadcasting money, sponsorships and global interest to survive setbacks like his.

A piddly part-time Championship One competition can't. To try to draw parallels between the two to justify this is down right silly.



What should be done then? Am I wrong for being outraged at this? Should we just lock this thread, pretend this never happened and start drawing up our potential England teams instead?

Au contraire - it is you who should get a grip, sir.

The RFL have to set a precedent for this type of cheating. As mentioned, the credibility of the game is crucial - especially to a sport like RL - and even more so to a competition like the Championship One - and further more so to a small part-time club like Doncaster RL.

Sean Long and Martin Gleeson's punishments were small-scale. It wasn't good enough. The RFL need to set down the ultimate marker and make it a life ban.

If the games core values can be undermined to this degree, and all it amounts to is a 12 month suspension and a little fine, then something is terribly wrong.

If it was a life-time ban for such an incident - do you honestly think that a player would risk his entire career for a few hundred quid?



Ah the old rlfans prerogative - I'll make up quotes from you in my argument.

Go on - where have I said this?

It's the RFL's duty to protect the integrity of the game. I don't think there is anything wrong with this. I have no pre-motive to slate the RFL. I wish people would stop with these nancy kind of comments.



I agree entirely. Had the RFL handed out life-bans previously then no-one can fault them. It's entirely the players fault. The ultimate sanction is there and they took the risk of their entire careers for a few hundred quid. I'd have no qualms.

But the RFL didn't hand out life bans. They handed out a couple of fines and a few months bans. Not good enough - as seen by an ex-Oldham assistant putting a spread of bets on his club to lose and now the captain of Doncaster RL betting against his own club.

The only good that can come out of a situation like this is if the RFL deliver the ultimate sanction to anyone who puts the game into disrepute like this - a life ban. I honestly cannot see why people would be so upset with this.

I'll give Andy Gregory the benefit of the doubt that he hasn't read the story and been briefed on the basics by another journo. (Clubs won't go bust due to 'cheating' but by crap management, and that's a bigger issue than this!)

[size=150There is no evidence in that story, which would stand up in court, that rugby league matches have been fixed or that there is a systematic culture of match fixing in rugby league.[/size

I apologise if you thought that was an accusation. My point was that there countless times when rugby league gets bad Pr and credibility without someone breaking the rules and it goes relatively unpunished, which surely has a worse impact on the credibility of the game than if the RFL dont ban Leaf for life like you are advocating. I was merely using Cockayne as an example.

And yes, of corse players would risk their careers for a few hundred quid. Just like Hock risked the law and career taking drugs, Newton and Barnett among others risked taking performance enhancing drugs, Gleeson doing .... well. Long and Gleesons bans were a joke, but this guy is part time at a club the equivalent of Tranmere rovers in the football league. Thats not a dig at Doncaster and i dont condone what he did, and feel sorry for Donny fans, but dont think this warrants the punishment you are asking for.

Trinity, if you were the RFL - what would you do? How would you act?

Well there's an idea...

Erm, for if a player was gulity of betting on their own team to lose and no evidence of them actually fixing the match, probably a 1 year ban. If they are a player at this level, they won't get another club, if they are a top star, some club would pick them up even if they were found guilty of murder.

If a player or players are proven to have fixed the result of a match, that's a lifetime ban, simple.

The RFL speak to the players on drugs, gambling all kinds of stuff, but when it comes down to it, the players are responsible for their own actions. The RFL cannot stop people being idiots.

You suggested that 2 players who broke World Anti-Doping rules should be given life bans. You suggested another player who broke World Anti-Doping rules shouldn't be given a life ban. I assume it's just co-incidence that the latter plays for Wigan whereas the former don't then.




Really? Breaking world anti-doping rules and continuing to play isn't at least as bad as someone betting their 3rd division club would lose heavily to a Super League team in a game they didnt play in? I'm staggered you can't see your huge over-reaction to a pathetic article in a ridiculous paper by a discredited journalist.


Hock did cheat. He continued playing the game whilst knowingly breaking the rules of the sport. Do you have evidence the Doncaster player tried to fix games? Because the article doesn't.


You've said he tried to fix results twice now. I sincerely hope you have evidence for this. Yes he bet against his team, so he should be punished in a proportionate manner not in a ridiculous, ill considered, knee-jerk fashion.
If you seriously think betting on a team to lose to superior opposition is the "ultimately betrayal" I suggest you calm down and have a word with yourself. It's pathetically over the top and unreasonable language.
Yes the Championship & Championship 1 struggles for sponsors and crowds. Do you really believe that's down to people thinking rugby league is bent? Seriously? Again, calm down and have a word with yourself.


I'd feel very annoyed. I'd want him banned and sacked by the club. Of course I'd go watching my club again as long this player wasn't playing for my club. It still doesn't mean he should receive the harshest punishment possible in rugby league.


for placing a bet? What punishment do you think Joel Monaghan should have received? That was a far bigger story across the world and portrayed the sport in a very bad light and had far bigger repercussions re sponsorship. Do you think he should never set foot on a pitch again?


No. I don't think any punishment would stop this happening again. To think so shows a remarkable naivety. Why didn't capital punishments stop capital crimes? A 2 year ban is a strong punishment for what we KNOW about this incident so far.



So should Sam Tomkins be given a life ban for cheating penalties out of referees? That questions the integrity of the game. As do players who dive at the play the ball in an attempt to gain a penalty. Or how about club punisents for salary cap breaches? Wigan should have been fined £50m, that would have sent a strong message regards salary cap breaches.


To what degree have the games' core values been undermined by a player betting on a match he wasn't involved in against a team 2 divisions higher? I would imagine even the coach of Doncaster probably said to his players something along the lines of "we know you're not going to win so just go out and enjoy it". Should the Doncaster coach receive a life ban?


So do you think Gareth Hock should have received a life ban? He gambled on getting caught, why is he allowed to keep his career? If it's that much of a deterrent then surely it should be applied to Hock and it will stop ALL RL players from taking drugs forever.


Yes. A life ban is a ridiculously harsh punishment for what we know so far.
Yes, so he should be punished, by the RFL and by his club. Gareth Hock was willing to hurt the sport, the fans, his team-mates and his club just to take drugs. He got a 2 year ban. Why is the Doncaster players actions so much worse?


How did the bet question the validity of the contest? You have several insinuations and accusations now that you have no evidence for.
This was an off-field incident. I'm glad you agree with me.
Are you sure? Is Gareth Hock with cocaine in his bloodstream playing the same as Gareth Hock without cocaine in his bloodstream. There's a reason why these things are against the rules.


So you think that Gareth Hock should have been given a life ban and Wigan should have been stripped of all competition points, relegated and fined millions of pounds?


You seriously can't think of a worse offence than betting your team will lose in a game you're not playing in versus a team 2 divisions higher? This is getting embarrassing. How about assaulting a referee? How about match fixing, bribery of officials, bribery of referees?
You really do need to calm down, get yourself out of a daily mail mindset, actually read the article and properly think about what we actually KNOW has happened so far.

But there is clearly no story, anyone can see that. Any sponsor etc who would claim to be pulling out of the game and using this story as the reason was leaving anyway.

As for the publicity, as Andrew Loog Oldham said - all publicity is good publicity - and tomorows chip wrapping.

Terry Newton RIP committed suicide after being found guilty of drug abuse, a much more damaging story at the time. It will have damaged the lives of those close to him but the game was damaged for about 2 weeks max. Newton was a big name and a great player and by RL standards quite high profile. No one but the hard core fans hardly remember him now and even less remember what happened and that's only a year ago - brutal isn't it - no one cares what Mr Leaf did, in fact there even past caring what Wayne Rooney does and to whom.

The capacity of RL fans and those on the VT especially to make a mountain out of a mole hill never fails to amaze me - a bunch of old women.

Spot on Trinity & Vastman. Most people outside the rugby league community have forgotten about it already if they even registered it at the time.

Best post so far and completely sums up what i was trying to say.

Just in case anyone is interested the Dons gave Wakey a really good game for fifty odd minutes, before our team started to tire out a bit.
A good game, our highest crowd of the season and a good day out for everyone concerned.
It just seems that this has been overlooked...

It's a huge aside...but i've bitten...

I'd never heard of Mr. Leaf. Captain of Doncaster isn't someone I could ever name.

I've heard of every England international however. One of them takes drugs - does far more to discredit the game and bring it into disrepute than anything a captain of any Championship 1 club could do!

The whole story is rubbish journalism. RFL should just let it drift into distant memory. OR, they could start throwing the book at every player for every rule breach they ever make and that would include Mr. Hock. You can't make a random exception.

For those getting very angry about this have a read. www.anchorfan.com/blog/what-to-d ... the-gutter So less hypocrisy, less vitriol and more reasoned common sense, please.

For those getting very angry about this have a read. www.anchorfan.com/blog/what-to-d ... the-gutter So less hypocrisy, less vitriol and more reasoned common sense, please.

Gary Schofield has always talked sense and I look forward to the day when he becomes the Rhinos coach. There’s not many in the sport who ‘tell it how it is’ and I think it’s a deep shame that he’s not further up in the rugby league hierarchy.

Embararssing.

pillock

That makes two us.