I'm a saints fan. I fully agree with a zero tolerance policy on the matter - but I'm not totally convinced your just not seeing a storm in a teacup here...

I've watched it in full and see nothing to suggest it wasn't towards another player as opposed to the ref. I'm sure it will be open to further investigation by the rfl, and if it is concluded to be aimed at the ref, I'll be the first to throw the book at him.

As a thought, if the ref thought for a moment it was directed at him, do you not think he'd of stopped play and called him over to give him a talking down? He clearly shouts it, the ref would hear it - and yet nothing transpires.

Watch it again, the ref has just made a call against Leeds. Hardaker is looking at him.

I don't think the ref heard him, if it was to another player then surely that player would have reacted?

Looking at the angles I don't believe he was aiming it at the ref - the ref clearly walks across him, yet the insult is aimed directly in front of him - I'd estimate the ref was a good 5-10m to the left of him when it was said.

- a player wouldn't respond to that, they're 10 a dozen - especially after already winning the penalty. And there's no angle to show that a Warrington player didn't initiate/ respond to it.

The most stupid thing is doing it on camera, slap on the wrist for that. If more evidence (beyond the tv showing tonight) comes out to suggest otherwise, it becomes a lot more serious, granted - but without said evidence, it seems very little in it indeed.

The kick by Ablett was a far greater crime!

did anyone see Danny Brough's outburst after the Challenge cup game with saints ended ? I P**sed myself....He was shouting at Bentham and as he turned round the linesman walked passed him...Brough said "sh*t C**t" to him then turned back to Bentham almost in tears and clearly shouted "you F**kin Robbing Bas*ard" !!! Comedy Gold !! The RFL chose to ignore this just as they will with Hardaker. In all honesty if you look at it properly you will see that Hardaker was looking forward all the time and his direction never deviated as Childs walked past as Ablett's did, and he continued to look straight ahead when Childs had gone completely out of shot to the right. He was clearly speaking to a warrington player which doesnt excuse what was said but that sort of sledging goes on in every game in every place by the majority of players.

A player is guilty of misconduct if he;
(f) uses offensive or obscene language.
(g) disputes a decision of the Referee or Touch Judge.
...
(i) behaves in any way contrary to the true spirit of the game.
Hardaker guilty of at least two of these, probably three.
For me, the fact that it was homophobic abuse is the crux of the matter whether aimed at Child or not. Fans are told at every match that abusive language isn't tolerated and it shouldn't be tolerated from players either. I appreciate that adrenaline is flowing and players are passionate and if he'd just sworn, called whoever a c--- or similar then no big problem (unless it was at the ref) but the use of the homophobic language is unacceptable. Would we be even having this thread if he'd used racist language?

Does he say "fag" or "faggot"?

Either way pretty obvious it was directed at Childs, I know a few calls went against Leeds last night but I thought there were a few players that were gonna end up getting bollocked.

If that is picked up it could be a big issue, as far as I have seen homophobic is up there with racism to the RFL.

Its irrelevant who he was aiming it at.
He made a homophobic comment which is clearly heard.

Homophobia is as bad as racism yet if he had used a racist term this thread would probably
be on about 15 pages by now ...

And yet that's exactly what you did. You wished the injury ended his career. Nothing to do with heat of the moment. It was well after the incident. You're a fan not a player, what Hardaker just did (and Tomkins in the CC Final) was in the heat of the moment. Yours wasn't, it showed your character.


I have thanks. Not directed at the ref, unless Hardaker has very poor eyesight.


For some reason only you are saying it's directed at the ref when no-one else is. You seem desperate for it to be directed at the ref, hence your desperation in putting it on here with a little clip and a 2 year old article on the Leeds website about LGBT equality.


Is it? Whilst I think the word used elevates it above most other swearing, the sport would have to then make all swearing on the pitch unacceptable too. As I said, half the league would be suspended. A combination of watching/hearing on remarks on tv and hearing them at the game itself leads me to believe there is a massive amount of swearing and abuse going on between players all the time during games.


Why would you say that? I've actually heard Wigan players using similar words in the past, including ones which could be thought to be homophobic (though I don't personally think they are in the context that they are used, I think they're just used as other swear words by players in the heat of the moment). But you see what I did was think about it for a second and understand the context it was said in. What I didn't do was make up a load of rubbish about it being said to the ref and then rush online to post about, maybe you should take a moritorium from posting for a few hours after a game? It seems like you have trouble composing yourself.


Oh dear.


Don't like being challenged do we. Never mind, I'm sure Leeds players, or god forbid even Danny McGuire, will do something else in the rest of the season to get you frothing at the mouth and unable to control yourself again.

The only thing I can't work out is why you didn't go with the kick by Ablett?


As I said, a letter or a word in Hardakers' ear about the language he uses. If he does it again the ban him for stupidity more than anything else.

Disgusting

Book should be thrown at him

So now we are to have a go at players,who say things in the heat of the moment do you think they are playing tidily winks or cards, bloody hell get a life

So you condone homophobic abuse do you?

Would that be your response to a teenager who gets called, "f...ing f..." at school?

Paul March, Cougars player-coach is having to serve a two month stadium ban 'just' for using a swear word when questioning a referee's decision. Not on TV, after hooter and mistaken identity anyway.

Did he?

If so then that's worse than Hardakers outburst which at least has the mitigation of happening during the heat of a game.

Neither is acceptable no matter who the comments are aimed at!
There are lines of acceptability that 99.9% of players adhere to 99.9% of the time but every now and then you get players crossing that line and they should be dealt with severely.

Back to JP, if he is on camera saying that then for a poster boy, former GB and England Captain, players spokesman and budding media pundit it's career suicide akin to Ron Atkinsons racist comment.

he gives a penalty away & says something, then as the camera goes on him your clearly see him say "you bent c¥nt" not nice but nothing will happen.

25th minute JP said it.

time the RFL grew some here. I don't follow RU but recall a player missing the Lions tour last year having been red carded for calling the ref a cheat.

The refs might not be the best in the world but the players should ALWAYS respect them. Yes sir no sir three bags full sir. It's a fundamental part of the game. It's not football. Kids are watching and doing it themselves. If anyone feels kids won't follow go and watch school football you will be shocked.
Whoever Hardaker directed it at is irrelevant. It was live on TV and is all over social media. If the press pick it up and run with it without action by club and RFL it will show the sport in a very bad light.

Edited Durham Giant

I saw that as well; the 'bent' element of the attack could easily have been referring to his decision making, but given that in certain circles it can also have homophobic connotations, it was a poor choice of words.

The myth that RL players respect the referee is well and truly out-dated now; this game provides two highly visible examples, but they are far from the exception - it's become a regular occurrence. Big daft lads, heat of the moment, tough contact sport etc - all nonsense excuses for conduct that is wholly unacceptable.

if we were to discipline players/coaches for using swear words then shaun wane would be banned every week
nearly every time the camera pans to him he is shouting obscenities and nothing ever gets mentioned.

i hate seeing RL players shouting and swearing at the ref but in the heat of the moment with tension and adrenaline running high then you can understand why.... however if a player directly swears or uses any sort of foul language to an official then he should be punished, i don't want to see RL players acting like footballers, and yes that includes danny brough!

Whether it was or wasn't mistaken identity, PM has a history of abusing officials and was serving a playing ban for the same thing at the time of his last alledged indiscretion.

How do we know it was homophobic? Maybe he was referring to the meat variety in gravy found in working class supermarkets like Iceland, frequented by people from Leeds.

After all, people call Matty Bowen a pudding because he's useless.

Regards

King James

Yep. I'm a Leeds fan, and would hate him to miss games, but the RFL must act on this. A ban is in order.

You've revealed an awful lot about yourself with this post.