To true and the same can be for any person not just rugby league players he will be locked up I hope and that is one more scum bag of the street

It would be good and a sensible use of some of the money in the game (it wouldn't need a lot) to help players transition into a life outside of RL when their playing days finish. This goes beyond that though.

While the accusations are very serious they are still just accusations unless and until that Bolton jury decide otherwise.

On player welfare more generally, I think the parallel with the armed forces mentioned earlier is generally an accurate one.

Ultimately the individual bears personal responsibility, but putting programmes in place to help ease the transition... well it can't do any harm, and I can't imagine it'd be massively expensive to at very least raise awareness and outline options.

Well said....

Alker has been suffering from mental health issues for years by all accounts and it's sad that it has come to this. Horrendous for the victims and tragic for Alker as it will be difficult for him to come back from this. One of the best players to wear the Salford shirt in my near 30 years supporting the club and it's sad to see.

It's not about feeling sorry for Alker, it's about what the sport can do to give retiring players who may not have any skills outside of being a good RL player support so they don't end up in the same situation thus avoiding creating victims in the first instance.
As a sport we can't do anything after the fact for the victims, however we can try to give players avenues into education if they would want to do so, guide them on being money wise ready for retirement (which can happen at any point).
Nobody is saying they should have an extra leg up after they retire but help prepare them for when their careers come to an end, you do that and situations like Alker's are hugely less likely to happen, it also means that mental health problems and alcohol abuse are less likely.

I remember when I was forced to leave the Army for medical reasons, I had zero support, nobody to hold my hand, no advice, nada. But what I did have was a decent education before I joined up, had recognised professional qualifications in an industry that fortunately for me was looking for what I had to offer so found a job before I was eventually discharged. I'd already being blocked from getting a better job due to some cockwomble but I was far from institutionalised like many who find it really hard to get back into civvy street especially infantry lads (we're going back best part of 30 years so things have changed since)

I'm sure you'd rather see situations that are reported not to happen at all right and would approve of systems in place to try to avoid same?

And yes, I agree, some people will do wrong no matter how much help they are given, we have some current examples of that in RL circles. If the help/advice is already there and not taken/taken on board then there's not a huge amount more clubs/governing body can be expected to do, however rehabilitation can work in some instances. Giving people a purpose and getting their self respect back can make a massive difference in how people look at life and how they go about living it going forward that not only is better for the individual but better for society as a whole (i.e. they don't become a serial criminal)