Aside from the fact that using cocaine is actually illegal, so he broke the law, like I said earlier, there is a metabolite in cocaine which is [iperformance enhancing[/i. Whether it is a steroid or not is irrelevant, since steroids are only one form of performance enhancing drug. There are many different forms of performance enhancing drug and all of them are on the banned list, in addition to other drugs which create risk to the players themselves and to other players (and that includes alcohol).

You seriously think people take cocaine to enhance performance??

cocaine used to be taken regularly as a performance enhancer...especially in cycling, and the Tour de France.

It is possibly not the best way to enhance performance, and im sure players dont take it to enhance performance, but there is no doubt that it gives a "boost" to the body (why else would they do it???).

WADA classify cocaine as performance enhancing in-competition.

just a shame that he had to get caught before he "owned up".

shame it takes saints speccies to talk sense on this board, and you can quote me on that cos this hock things has been ridiculous all along.

wiganers want to argue semantics when effectively we are standing by a drugs cheat! you cannot get away from that fact, especially if hock is in any way shape or form still receiving cash from the club. and if he's not can i be the first to ask where his salary has gone? deacon must be on one hell of a wage!

Hock is getting nothing from the club.
Some of the younger players contracts have been increased.

Didn't IL state at the fans forum that money was still there if the right player became available.

Hock has made a mistake and is paying for it. IF he stays clean then there should be no reason why he can't play again.

Hock did a interview for one of the sunday papers. He said he knows he's made a huge mistake. He said he took coke because he was with the wrong crowd.

He took it to get high, not play better.

I have no doubt hock will be back when his bans up. That is how it should be, he got caught, served the time.

I for one would have no problem taking hock to saints when his bans up. As long sa he proves he's clean he should be able to get on with playing rugby.

Absolutley.

I agree with Brian Carney, and have said all along that imo a recreational drug, where there is no advantage to performance gained, is not as bad as deliberately cheating and taking peformance enhancing drugs.



Hock made a mistake. It is costing him financially, and it will take a massive effort for him to make a comeback.

If he can do this, then, imo the slate is wiped clean and no more should be said about the matter.

he still played at least 1 game whilst having cocaine in his system. cocaine is a stimulant, and therefore has performance enhacning benefits - therefore he played at least 1 game with a performance enhancing drug in his body.

whatever his motive for taking the stuff - and i dont doubt it was for recreational purposes - he still got the benefit of the banned stimulant whilst he was playing.

Hardly.

So is coffee.

Caffeine is also a banned stimulant above certain concentration levels.


reading around the subject of cocaine and HGH abuse by athletes - one of the side effects in uncontrollable aggression, which pretty much sums up both of Hock and Newton's careers.

"According to a recent study, it is estimated that 40 percent of NFL players use cocaine. Some use it recreationally, but others actually snort or smoke cocaine before games to "go crazy" on the football field. People on cocaine experience increased heart rate, energy, blood pressure, alertness, and dilated pupils. These effects of cocaine all lead to better performance on the football field for players, especially defensive linemen who have to overpower much larger offensive linemen en route to the quarterback." observer.case.edu/Archives/Volum ... /Story_44/ there are plenty more scientific research papers and case studies out there on the subject.

"According to a recent study, it is estimated that 40 percent of NFL players use cocaine. Some use it recreationally, but others actually snort or smoke cocaine before games to "go crazy" on the football field. People on cocaine experience increased heart rate, energy, blood pressure, alertness, and dilated pupils. These effects of cocaine all lead to better performance on the football field for players, especially defensive linemen who have to overpower much larger offensive linemen en route to the quarterback." observer.case.edu/Archives/Volum ... /Story_44/ there are plenty more scientific research papers and case studies out there on the subject.

So is Red Bull and other caffeine based drinks

As i read this i'm just thinking.... Stones and glasshouses Mr Saints35.

there are many theories on the hock situation.One that has not been mentioned. we will look after him get him back into the game and sell him to the highest bidder.making some of the money back we have invested in him. australia being favourate. we did this with a player that got sent down a few years ago john clarke i think. he came back after his time banged up, played about 5 games and got sold on. just a thought

Apologies. I have just read about him using growth hormone.

In that case I have no sympathy at all for him.

He is an out and out cheat and should be chastised as such.

So is caffine, and it has also been banned in the past by sports agencies.

And was Hock in a state to gain any benifit? The tests check for substances which remain as a by-product of the drug and there is no evidence whatsoever there are any positive effects after the "high". The drug largely impacts the brain and to a much lesser degree the nervous system.

You really are clutching at straws to say that there is any effect on performance from cocaine. The drug changes perception, a use may feel that they are performing better, but in actual fact there performance is worse. It also reduces the ability to lose heat, again having a negative impact on performance.

Quote ="saints35 bulls0""According to a recent study, it is estimated that 40 percent of NFL players use cocaine. Some use it recreationally, but others actually snort or smoke cocaine before games to "go crazy" on the football field. People on cocaine experience increased heart rate, energy, blood pressure, alertness, and dilated pupils. These effects of cocaine all lead to better performance on the football field for players, especially defensive linemen who have to overpower much larger offensive linemen en route to the quarterback." observer.case.edu/Archives/Volum ... /Story_44/ there are plenty more scientific research papers and case studies out there on the subject.'" So are you suggesting that Hock was taking drugs before playing? Here's another article: espn.go.com/special/s/drugsandsports/coca.html Hmm, little or no perfromance gains. www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/ ... cocain.htm Or another, vomiting, poor heat control, constricted blood vessels and so on. These don't sound very performance enhancing. What I like is the fact you seem to want to make Hock into somebody taking coke for it's performance enhancing properties which are far from proven. This would suggest that Hock would have researched the topic. Meanwhile, over in St Helens.... Mr Cunningham accidentaly took some drugs which are directly performance enhancing and managed to put the blame on an unquallified doctor the club were using.

Quote ="saints35 bulls0""According to a recent study, it is estimated that 40 percent of NFL players use cocaine. Some use it recreationally, but others actually snort or smoke cocaine before games to "go crazy" on the football field. People on cocaine experience increased heart rate, energy, blood pressure, alertness, and dilated pupils. These effects of cocaine all lead to better performance on the football field for players, especially defensive linemen who have to overpower much larger offensive linemen en route to the quarterback." observer.case.edu/Archives/Volum ... /Story_44/ there are plenty more scientific research papers and case studies out there on the subject.'" So are you suggesting that Hock was taking drugs before playing? Here's another article: espn.go.com/special/s/drugsandsports/coca.html Hmm, little or no perfromance gains. www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/ ... cocain.htm Or another, vomiting, poor heat control, constricted blood vessels and so on. These don't sound very performance enhancing. What I like is the fact you seem to want to make Hock into somebody taking coke for it's performance enhancing properties which are far from proven. This would suggest that Hock would have researched the topic. Meanwhile, over in St Helens.... Mr Cunningham accidentaly took some drugs which are directly performance enhancing and managed to put the blame on an unquallified doctor the club were using.

the fact that WADA classifies cocaine as performance enhancing is good enough for me.

as for Cunningham, I have put my thoughts down elsewhere on him - however, at the end of the day he got the WADA sanctioned penalty for the offence he committed (i.e. 2 year suspended sentence for unknowingly taking a substance with mitigating circumstances), as has Hock, as will Newton.

Whether any of those sentences is enough to deter future use of substances by players, is a different matter.

should have given Hock a 2 year suspended as his drug dealer might have conned the RFL into thinking he was a doctor too.

yeh whole different ball game now that he has confessed to taking growth hormone. will deffo be marked as a drugs cheat. Not a good way to end what was a very good carreer in rugby league. shame

Can't he just blame it on bad advice like Cunningham did?

Or say he was kissing a girl and it came from her mouth, as the tennis player did.

Mind you, kissing Gaz, I think we can forget that one.