I cannot find it in my heart to feel for Zak due to how he has crapped on Cas, but I do worry how someone with such a small brain is going to occupy his time for the next 2 years. Wigan managed to keep Gareth Hock occupied during his ban & he seemed to be turning his world around with a lot of community work. It’s difficult to decide which one is thicker.

Stupid bugger, he isn't the first and will not be the last, I'm sure he is feeling pretty bad right now and will take him a long time to get over. A guy made a bad decision no need to hang him for it.

Last time this came up I’m sure someone said cocaine can also have a positive affect on performance on the pitch as well?

What a loving waste. Had the world at his feet. Would have been remembered for eternity by the Cas faithful if he had have helped them win the GF. A chance to shine in WC in Australia (That's two he's not played in and will probably never play in one now). All down the toilet and could also be the end of his career. I know Hock came back but he was a forward. Two years inactive from the sport will surely hamper him and he will lose some pace & fitness. That's even if any club trusts him again.

Is it definitely a 2 year ban? I don't remember confirmation form the Chase/Walker cases, only been suspended by their respective clubs ASAIK.

I know what you mean because no one would want any ill to fall on the lad, but this isn't a case of, "silly me, I've only gone and had a line and now I've got a police caution." This is, "If I snort this, I will lose everything I've built, my income, my self-respect, my standing in the sport, and cost a club that has put faith and money into me". But he still does it.

There are no helping some people, and he will go down in Cas's history as the man who cost them potentially their only Championship, and for what? A buzz in Pontefract? It beggars belief.

It may not enhance ability, but it does have an impact on confidence and the feeling of being a world-beater. That must enhance performance.

I think it sheer arrogance. First of all he should realise that he cannot do what his mates wanna do. Have some self control.

Secondly I think he was under the impression he either wouldn't get tested or it would be out of his system.

Class A idiot.

"No matter how it is abused (e.g., snorting, smoking or injecting) most of the cocaine impacts the brain. Its use results in a euphoria that only lasts five to 15 minutes. Studies that have analyzed how cocaine impacts athletic abilities have actually determined the drug decreases the user’s performance. This is because cocaine makes the user feel so good, they perceive everything around them in a better light, including their own abilities. Researchers found cocaine to diminish an athlete’s strength, endurance and overall performance, despite the user’s distorted perception that they were improving. It also impaired the body’s ability to regulate its own temperature."

Or perhaps he has a mental illness?

Unfortunately there are many talented people who just can’t help self destructing.

I don’t condone what the lad has done but I really hope the sport give him all the support he needs.

As already said, we don’t need another Terry Newton.

Didn't it already do that? Leeds put a lot of effort into supporting him - and Cas have done the same; what more can a sport do to ameliorate the consequences of an idiot making bad choices? Unless Big Nige opens a franchise of The Priory up at Red Hall, I think clubs can be forgiven for washing their hands of a player who repeatedly sabotages his own career - and the clubs success in the process.

As I've said - if players want to do a bit of disco sherbet to let their hair down, I have no fundamental issue with that - but at least learn how to flush it from your system afterwards, and don't play the mental health card if you fail to do so and are tested positive.

I also find it interesting that the level of support and understanding we should show these people seems to increase exponentially in line with how talented they are; no such wailing and gnashing of teeth was heard for Adam Walker, the average prop forward who tested positive for cocaine and was subsequently sacked.

Surprised it took this long to play the mental health card, with Chase it only took what two pages. Sorry but Hardaker's just an idiot.

My thoughts exactly. I know plenty of people with mental health problems who are doing their best to get themselves better and none of them have decided to take drugs or beat up students.

Regards

King James

I find the entire drug laws of the UK to be puzzling, we are OK with drugs that are very damaging to society but not to others which are less damaging. The performance enhancement is akin to a cup of coffee. Unfortunately, UKAD can only police what they are told. PEDs such as peptides could easily be taken in the off-season or in recovery, due to their short halflife UKAD don't really stand a chance of detection.

Anyway, it's a debate we have seen before here. I do wonder how Rugby manages to get a few players banned and the larger sport of Football doesn't seem to have the same numbers, I would have thought the player to ban ratio should be about the same.

I suggest you research mental illness a little more though having read some of your previous posts, I very much doubt you’d understand it.

So everyone whose taken cocaine or any other banned substance has mental health problems, or does it just apply to top end sportsmen?

I agree and this may be an unpopular view but...... I think we need to stop calling every scenario that involves drugs a 'mental health' issue. I know people who suffer from mental health issues on a day to day basis and every day is a struggle for them. Now I understand the added pressures of elite sport can quite easily place people in situations where they end up suffering from some for of mental health issues. Danny Sculthorpe is a prime example, suffered a huge injury with added complications and due to not being able to work or earn for his family then suffered from depression. Plus being binned by us didn't help his cause either and if I remember correctly it came out that our club were in the wrong for handling that wrong.

The difference with Hardaker is that he is one of those people that like to get drunk on a weekend and take a line or two of cocaine to 'enhance' his night. It's not uncommon, it happens regularly in town and those who think it doesn't are delusional. His problem is that he's been given two or three major chances, Leeds have and now Castleford have. However his drug use isn't mental health related, it's stupidity related. Don't get me wrong this could quite easily turn into a mental health issue if he does get binned off, however I also think he needs a lengthy ban. Hock did. And Terry Newton did too. Both were self inflicted, however both had different outcomes. In Newton's case it was ban, see you later. With Hock it was ban, but work on building a positive influence in the community by condemning drugs. And on his return wasn't he told, one more slip up and your done period?

Long story short what I am trying to say is that Hardaker's drug use is not a mental health issue, however the situation could turn into one. Best scenario now is for him to be banned for 2 years like Hock and Newton. Followed by an enrollment with the RFL in a community program for those 2 years teaching kids and young adults the effects of drug use. Whilst possibly offering a course or two over those 2 years where he can become qualified in something for life after rugby as there is a small possibility that he may never play again. This way it vastly reduces the likelihood of another Newton situation.

It does, albeit relatively short term and if taken just before a match, it's a stimulant all the same so the games he was playing whilst using cocaine Cas gained an unfair advantage. I'd bet a few quid he isn't new to using it either.

Financially the £150k fee has being paid back, without Hardaker Cas wouldn't have got the £100k for winning the LL (Without him i don't think they would have won it), they wouldn't have got through to the GF either and all the financial reward that gives them.

what Cas and more importantly the RFL, UKAD do next will be something to watch for. So called recreational drugs in pro sport is massively under-reported, and with with more performance enhancing drugs even at amateur levels it's become a huge problem, and yet we have people on here saying they don't have a problem with someone doing a few lines and that taking cocaine is akin to having a coffee performance wise

I think another problem is that the people that Hardaker reportedly associates with in his spare time don't have anywhere near as much to lose as he does. He simply hasn't been able to recognise that for certain people, in certain positions, things suddenly become much less, shall we say, "acceptable" than they are for others.

A club statement from Leeds at the time of his arrest for assault made mention of "aspects of his lifestyle that he wants to improve" - he's clearly had support in improving those aspects, but reportedly continues to associate with individuals who have a negative influence on him.

Some people are making hardaker out to be a victim. He's had loads of chances, if he was less talented he'd have been discarded and forgotten about. IMO he's already had special treatment.

TBF I can understand it because no one wants a repeat of Terry Newton. However there comes a point where we must accept that individuals may just be in fact plain daft like Hardaker and draw a line.

without saying anything untoward leeds got rid for similar 'lifestyle' choices

Whereas I think you keep trying to help, precisely because of people like Terry Newton. It's of no use to anyone if a young person destroys their life. What happens after you 'draw the line'?

I'd rather we lost the Grand Final than win it with a drug cheat.
If he had played and Cas had won (which is a big IF) it would have been forever tainted.

He took a recreational drug (possibly). Am I the only one who doesn't actually think it's a big deal? Certainly not worthy of year+ ban

*edit* it it's not cocaine, I take it back

Hopefully. I believe WADA regard cocaine as a PED 'in-competition'. That's apart from the fact that it can destroy the lives of users and those involved in the supply chain and funds organised crime. There's absolutely no excuse as a (supposed) professional athlete for taking it. If it proves to be cocaine could be looking at a 4 year ban as it's difficult to come up with any extenuating circumstances for having it in his system.