Quote ="stpatricks"When do you discard a player? Is a serial offender not in more need of support to tackle their issues? look were the choices of Scott Moore and Malcom Alker have taken them. Has RL let them down? Or is the level of support you get dependent on your RL playing talent?'"
But look at someone like Ryan Bailey. In trouble with the law as a young lad, went to prison. Leeds gave him a second chance, and he became one of the most decorated players in SL history.
There is no black and white in any of these matters, it is all shades of grey. What works for one player, may not work for another.
A player like Scott Moore was given multiple chances. Every time a new indiscretion came out, his career went further and further down the spout. He went from Saints, at a time when they were one of the most dominant forces in SL, to Bradford in League One, all in a matter of ten years or so. I cannot comment on the support he received at his plethora of clubs he played at, but it certainly seems that clubs were willing to help him in his career.
The fact is, some players you just cannot help. But that is not to say that we don't continue to help players with issues.
With Hardaker, he has had his troubles, he will serve his ban and then time will tell. Perhaps whoever signs him will get a coke fiend, homophobic, aggressive thug. But maybe, they'll get a reformed character with a will to make good on the promise that allowed him to get a deal in the first place.
Nobody here knows what will happen in 2019, but one thing I do know is that he deserves a chance to redeem himself. Hardaker knows that this is the last chance saloon, and any indiscretions in future, could see him out of the game entirely.
