They didn't have any option

My point exactly.

Any other player found to be guilty should be shown the door. This is not an isolated incident in my opinion.

We might end up with no team

Once his ban is up there's nothing stopping Wigan doing the same with Hock.

Wheather it's right or wrong i think the same thing will happen with Hock and Wigan.

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

And if his B sample comes back negative you will see me pulling nicky kiss down King Street in a rickshaw

This is nothing short of a disaster.

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..

If us humans are anything, we are without doubt falable and make mistakes.. I just wonder if Gareth realised the true consequences of his actions before sniffing that bit of powder.. I know its banned, but so is speeding but alot of people do it... How many times in the papers do people judge everyone else... I am of the opinion that "we" as a society have to take some responsibility for the actions of Gareth Hock.. It is our society that make cocaine abuse as normal as drinking a pint of larger on a night out.. yes there are consequences of take drugs as sportmen.. but how many people pick up the phone while driving and don't realise the dangers this poses.. Us as humans have a bizarre perception of risk and it therefore makes us prone to making errors in judgement....

Let those who do not sin, cast the first stone..

I am sure in hindsight Gareth wouldn't have touched the coke.. let him apologies to the many family/friends/ his child/children(if he has any) the club the fans and let him get on with his life... it must be hell for him at the moment and although disappointed with his actions, I can't help but feel for the lad...

Thanks for the memories Gaz...
I know he has let down many people.. but he is a Wiganer and lets hope he gets through this and takes his punishment on the chin and comes back a better man...(Whether its with Wigan or not)...

Teams(including us to be fair) were willing to give a guy who'd glassed his own girlfriend a second chance over here so aslong as Hock sorts his act out, accepts some terms and conditions and shows a genuine remorse i don't think we could be that badly thought of for offering a guy a second chance.

Yeah lets test half out squad and potentially lose more players





I completely disagree btw.

Why do we want to take the club down even more than it already is.

Use it as a wake up call instead, get a new coach in and I bet things will get better.

The easy street has just ended now for the players and they know it so why make it worse to appease some blood hungry fans pi$$3d at one guy and a team that's underperforming.

Why keep them if they are doing the same?

This has proved today how bad things have become, serious action is now needed. This club is currently dying on its feet.

Agree with a lot of that, although I don't condone Hock's actions in the slightest.

However bad this is for the fans and Wigan RL, it's a hell of a lot worse for Hock and his family.

He will lose his income for the next two years, and will not get a job paying anywhere near as well as what he'll undoubtedly get as one of the star men at Wigan RL.

As you say, I hope he sorts himself out and after the initial anger etc. is allowed to get on with his life.

Personally, I don't agree with those claiming he should be banned for life. Drug use for recreational purposes, although utterly stupid, hasn't conned us all into thinking he is a better player than he really is but it has cast a bad light on Wigan RL and the sport, and so he should be punished with a lengthy ban.

However, as others have suggested, everyone deserves a second chance. If he sorts him self out then I'm all for seeing Hock back in a Wigan shirt in a couple of years time.

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.

I feel for his family to an extent but as for feeling any sympathy for Hock himself.....................not in the slightest!

I'd consider giving him a 2nd chance dependant on a number of issues but he's got what he deserves at this moment in time.

Good.

I recall rumours of a drug culture when Millward was with you and a lack of support to sort it out (sorry if this has been discussed but couldnt be bothered reading all posts)

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.

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.

Yeah, because this is the only incident that gives any fan cause for concern. You say recreational like it is less serious, thank goodness people like you arent in charge.



Yes, lets. It shows them that their is a firm hand guiding the club who won't let any such incident happen again, that is the only thing likely to make them stop. If they throw tantrums it just shows what a pathetic bunch of babies we currently see playing for us.

I think we all can see how bad the dressing room is, this imo would make it stronger, they would finally feel like their is some control in the work place. Everyone may finally know what their job is again and we may see them starting to act like pro rl players.



So what do you propose, we leave them to it, certainly worked with Hock didnt it?



You give them far to much credit.

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

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.

Alan Partridge style

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

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.

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.