I have a child who idolises Ricky Hatton for instance, and I was mortified to see the pictures of him in NOTW.

I've left him in no doubt it's wrong, but explained the pressures sportsmen come under, and the temptations that they face. I just don't understand that a silly mistake you can make when you've had a few beers can cost you so much, when in any other walk of life it doesn't. If they get caught once, they need help, if they continue to do it after receiving such help, in the long run, their performances will suffer and they will become a liability and no club would touch them.

And the point is?

Well it clearly hasnt ruined his .....

It's cost him two years of his career, and brought shame upon himself, and his family.

If you don't understand it by now I'm wasting my time explaining any further.

Maybe they shouldn't work bank holidays and be allowed to take holidays whenever!

It'll have cost him somewhere between £300K and £500K.

Shows the absolute lack of morality still exists at wigan. In days gone by it was buying the title at the sports detriment now its employing drunks and drug addicts. They should have sacked Hock bbut they didn't and now they will happily play him again with a big 'he's back's fanfare. I would be ashamed if Saints behaved like this. Wigan have no class. They can't even abide by the rules of his ban without trying to get special treatment.

Scum.

I was about to post something similar. Hock's next contract would have been way north of 100k, wigan arnt daft he'll be playing for them again, but if he's on much more than £30k i'd be astonished.

Its' not unique. Where I work, if any member of staff is found to be using drugs or alcohol then they are fired. There is regular drug and alcohol testing for that purpose, and that includes staff not directly involved in the use of machinery. There are many jobs in which the use of narcotics or alcohol results in danger to others and therefore they should not be tolerated within the workforce. That is the case with sport. Sport also has the added feature that when an athelete uses performance enhancing drugs they are cheating. So either you're a cheat or a danger to others. And then, of course, it is actually [iillegal[/i to use recreational drugs, although God knows who gives a damn these days regardless of the human wreckage they cause. But that's another argument.

To be fair they do want some acts to go punished, they wanted Danny Mcguires Career over when he held back George Carmont that time....

and I cant Wait for Phil Clarkes first comments on Hock...

"D'you know Eddie what people dont know is just how difficult it is to come back from a Drugs Ban and this Wigan team under Michael Maguire seem to do it better than Anybody else..........lets look at a couple of examples......"

Just as a matter of interest, what do you do?

I understand what you're saying, what I'm failing to see is how it backs up you're original point, and my answer to it.

Maybe , or maybe because of the break he will just play on longer at a higher level. As for the shame side of things it wasnt a bright thing to do but at least he's not a cheat. Plenty people in plenty walks of life take recreational drugs and tbh it's at there own risk so I'm not really that bothered, taking performance enhancers is a different matter though.

Cocaine is classed as a performance enhancing drug by WADA, and it is of course illegal.

there are plenty of professions whereby if you get caught taking illegal drugs "on the job" you will get sacked.

Well I've never heard of it enhancing many performances , at least not on the Rugby field anyways. Being illegal is a Police matter not a sporting one.

Of course, but it's very rare where you're then totally barred from being in a particular industry.

And you're better placed than WADA, with their host of scientists and resources, to adjudicate whether cocaine is a performance enhancing drug?

For the record:

[i"Aggressiveness increase
Alertness increase
Competitiveness increase
Responsiveness increase
Tiredness reduction
Weight loss"[/i

A bit like employing and welcoming back gamblers and cheats??

We didn't. It was all Martin Gleeson's fault, he made Longy do it and was subsequently binned off.

Quote ="No1 Saint"Well I've never heard of it enhancing many performances , at least not on the Rugby field anyways. Being illegal is a Police matter not a sporting one.'" cannazine.co.uk/class-a-substanc ... r-ban.html “There is a new flexibility in the revised code in relation to specified substances and this flexibility can be used to lessen the sanctions. However, cocaine is not one of the specified substances. Its status as a prohibited substance remains as it was before.” Wada has never used the term “recreational drug” and when deciding on whether to ban a drug, it uses three criteria: is it performance-enhancing; is its use against the spirit of sport; is its use harmful or injurious to the athlete? If Wada is satisfied that the drug meets two of these criteria, it is banned. Cocaine is believed to fit all three criteria."

Quote ="No1 Saint"Well I've never heard of it enhancing many performances , at least not on the Rugby field anyways. Being illegal is a Police matter not a sporting one.'" cannazine.co.uk/class-a-substanc ... r-ban.html “There is a new flexibility in the revised code in relation to specified substances and this flexibility can be used to lessen the sanctions. However, cocaine is not one of the specified substances. Its status as a prohibited substance remains as it was before.” Wada has never used the term “recreational drug” and when deciding on whether to ban a drug, it uses three criteria: is it performance-enhancing; is its use against the spirit of sport; is its use harmful or injurious to the athlete? If Wada is satisfied that the drug meets two of these criteria, it is banned. Cocaine is believed to fit all three criteria."

A metabolite in the cocaine is the performance enhancing element to the drug. I read about it just after Hock had been charged.

But aside from that, a cokehead on the pitch is a danger to a lot of people.


So you would never report a crime then?

No not really.

You cant argue with facts but I doubt performance increase is why Hock was on the snow and as for reporting a crime , it depends on the crime. Taking recreational drugs the answer is no as it's non of my business.