Second drugs ban in ten years. I get that at 33 it probably ends his career anyway, but is two years long enough?

Maybe he should have got himself Kieron Cunningham's lawyer.

As they always do with this sort of thing.

The anti-doping agency didn't announce it.The RFL didn't announce it.Leigh Centurions didn't announce it.

Perhaps a New Labour style cover up was happening.

Strange how it only came out when the person involved spoke to the rugby league press.

How did Ritchie Blackmore get a visa to work at Leigh when he didn't have coaching qualifications?

Did they really bring someone from the other side of the world to be 'General Manager' and assist in finding commercial partners?

Some strange goings-on in New Labour heartland.Vote Burnham!

There were quotes from our Director of Rugby in the article so I'd consider it a Leigh Centurions announcement.

I'd expect the official announcement(s) to go out today, because weekends are a bitch.



Is it? Why?

I think the RFL are probably still undergoing due process, but Leigh and/or Sean wanted to move more quickly than that to put the news out there. That's why it's a League Express exclusive.



Um... WTF has this got to do with anything?

I'm not defending Sean at all, 2 years isn't enough and it's no deterrent for other players. Should just be a life ban, full stop.

On the random Ritchey Blackmore comment, I was involved at the club when he was there and he was nothing to do with the coaching.

Leigh no matter what they do are not big news. If 20 of the squad got 'done' for drugs it wouldn't be as big news as the guy that has come out as gay this weekend.

If they are the big news maybe that tells us everything about where RL is as a sport.

A fat gobsh*te as chairman, an arrogant coach....a club that overrates itself, which has missed out on finding any form of humility.

Anyway what is the big news

I think 2 years is a just punishment for a first offence, though I do think it should increase for subsequent offences.

I wouldn't favour a life ban for 2 reasons:
1. I believe that people can make daft decisions but still deserve a second chance
2. Taking a banned substance isn't always as straight forward as people think and it can be done by accident quite easily.

In this case if he's done it before then he deserves little sympathy in terms of punishment and perhaps the punishment should increase each time you offend? So 2 years for 1st offence, then 4 years for the 2nd maybe?

Having said all that, the sport shouldn't abandon him entirely. I have no idea what his general life is like but whether he has strong family and support networks or not this is a tough time for him so his friends and the sport should look after him.

While I can see your point for things like pseudoephedrine, Stanozolol and HGH are pretty hard to ingest accidentally in amounts that would generate a positive test.

I'd be in favour of a 4 year first offence ban, and a lifetime ban from all levels of involvement in the game for a second one.

Let's not get into the situation athletics is in with Justin Gatlin, where a bloke who has been dirty virtually his entire career is now back and looking likely to win medals on the world stage.

You shouldn't make the same mistake twice. Why should we look after him? If you took drugs at work and lost your job you wouldn't hear from them again. Why does RL feel the need to support drug cheats.

I read an interesting article about D Chambers from a fellow competitor that said athlete may still benefit from the drugs they have taken 2 year later in the way its molded there body shape etc. Not sure how true it is.

"Can't emphasise how big a story in the league express tomorrow. It's huge"

Someone keep tabs on this guy in case a big story does actually break. He won't be able to contain himself.

was he off sick the day you learned about not taking HGH for gains if you're a professional sports athlete?


I'm like that now at 34, i couldnt' tell you what primary colours are in French, damn you tonsilitis

I think you are all wrong, I think the big news is that Marwan has finally deleted his twitter account

That's not how it works but steroids (and HGH, though not other PEDs) do provide long-lasting, possibly even permanent, benefits even if not being used anymore.

Simple-ish explanation: If you exercise or take steroids, you get more nuclei and gain muscle. However, nuclei are very very difficult to lose. So while you may lose the muscle mass when you stop taking the steroids, you keep the nuclei. This means further training has a greater effect than if you hadn't taken steroids: your body doesn't have to create nuclei for new muscle cells, merely enlarge the cells around the existing nuclei. It's very similar to how if you go to the gym for years and then stop, when you start back, you'll reach your original level of strength/muscle mass in significantly less time than it took for you to reach that level of strength/muscle mass the first time round.

The implications for doping in sport are huge. However, I still feel that a lifetime ban for first time is too severe because mistakes DO happen. 4 years first time and life ban second time round. If you get caught doping having already had a four year ban, chances are you didn't even stop doping.

Isn't the big news story re. the 1st openly gay player in pro RL?

Ian Roberts?

I have to assume that's what he was referring to; the Leigh player is of interest, but hardly earth-shattering.

Keegan Hirst was on 5Live this morning with Adrian Chiles - gave a very good account of himself and spoke well about his experience; sadly, that's the most attention RL has had on 5Live in as long as I can remember.

Why should we look after him?

Because he's still a human being. Rugby League is a very macho sport that doesn't allow much, if any, space for players to be normal human beings with normal emotions and problems.

So really nobody knows what's going on in most players lives and what their "real" mental state actually is.

The fact that regular workplaces don't give a flying one about their employees doesn't mean we should follow that example.

Rugby League takes a lot emotionally and mentally from players, we have a duty of care to look after them when they go through rough patches, even when it's of their own making.

It's having a morality at the heart of the game, something which makes our game stand out from others.

Do we need another example of the likes of Terry Newton to actually realise that sometimes players need a helping hand?

It's the "helping hand" he has had that has got him in this mess!!

What a load of nonsense. You get yourself onto a big mine or oil and gas job(Macho environments). These companies (Shell., Rio Tinto, BHPB etc) really care for there staff. One thing they wont accept is drugs or booze at work, Cross the line and you are gone.

Stop playing on the Terry Newton example. That's thankfully a rare case most certainly not the norm. Drug cheats in sport are taking them to gain an advantage and better themselves, ultimately financially. Once is bad enough, twice get F*cked. You've brought it on yourself.

Whats your thoughts on Lance Armstrongs lifetime ban? I'm sure you believe its victimisation as its unusual. I wonder if the UCI are helping him out.

What are you on about? Do you even know?

Being a rugby league player isn't like any other job. The highs and lows involved are huge compared to any regular job. The physical and emotional toll it can take on a player is tremendous. You don't get that working on an oil rig regardless of how macho it is.

God knows why you brought that analogy in because it doesn't even bear a moments comparison.

Why would I think Lance Armstrong had been victimised with his lifetime ban?
Where did I say drug cheats shouldn't be punished?

Answer those 2 questions before concocting more utter batttery.

So whats the huge story we are all waiting for?

A few raised eyebrows on this subject eh

Taking drugs/alcohol in the mining/gas/oil industry has the potential to kill hundreds of people immediately (as well as thousands later on through repercussions) as well as millions of animals as well as major pollution. There is a massive difference in the repercussions to that of RL player taking drugs/alcohol whilst at work so your comparison is utterly ridiculous.

Whilst employers don't always help out their employees, and even family & friends distance themselves from those with problems, in a civilised society, one that wants to lessen the detrimental effects not just on another human being but on others around them they try to help out.
Those that help try to do the right thing by society as well as the individual, maybe you are just one of those that walk on by when someone is on trouble on the street, I get that, what business is it of yours, why should you help right?

As for Armstrong, his punishment is ridiculous, he's being scapegoated for what is a far far worse problem within the sport reaching to the top of the tree, those at the UCI allowing doping to go on unabated with their blind eyes until it was so obvious. A lot of people aside from Armstrong got rich on his success and if you think he was the only big cheese to dope in cycling (& get caught) you're sadly mistaken yet others are regarded as icons/legends.
The UCI are only interested in themselves and self preservation plus money, not even recent changes of personnel within the hierachy have diminished that

Couldn't agree more

Interesting posts from Eadie and Fordy. Eadie has posted similar elsewhere but he manages to clearly implicate someone without mentioning their name in that one.