He was served with a six match ban (5 + 1) towards the end of the season.

So when will he be able to play again?
Do the friendlies count as part of the suspension?

Will he be able to travel to America for pre season training (I would imagine he would as he was banned by the RFL not a court)

If Isaac Luke and Jeremys Smiths bans from full International matches can be wiped out in pre season games I'll be pretty hacked off if Hock can use the last match of his suspension in our first friendly!

Total disgrace that especially Luke has got off free as a bird.

Hasn't Hock still got two games of his ban still to serve?
But you're correct if the rule applies to the Luke and Smith it should also apply to Hock.

After being given the six match ban he then missed the Crusaders final game in SL, followed by the play-off QF against Saints, the play-off eliminator against Catalans and finally the play-off SF against Saints. I believe one pre-season match can count towards a ban, meaning he'll be forced to miss the first game of the 2012 season, I think.



I don't see any reason why can't go on the pre-season trip to the USA. Had he been convicted by a criminal court of drug possession he may well have had to contact the US embassy in order to be approved for a visa.

isnt drugs offence a straight no go when getting into usa?

Never been prosecuted by the police though has he. He hasn't been done for possession or any of the like, just banned by the sports authorities.

He'll be able to go to America. Not sure about anything else though.

Ban was for 5 matches (1+4) not 6

Hock got a 5 match ban (not 6) and has served 4 games so far. You are right, one Pre Season Game can count towards a ban. So I think that will make him available for the opening day of the season and I assume (not quite sure how it works) he'll be available in pre season from Huddersfield (H) onwards.

That's disgusting. Luke should have got a serious ban for what he did

Suspensions picked up in international matches should only be able to be used up in internationals imo like it is in football. Obviously the suspensions couldn't start getting to silly amounts like 5 or 6 games as that may aswell be a years international ban but if we looks at Luke's 2 matches that should be internationals only. That would rule him out of the Anzac test next year (if there is one) and a match against England at the end of the season (again if there are any).

Considering what Luke tried to do I think even thats letting him off light.

I am not holding my breath with regards to Hock being able to play in the first match of the 2012 SL season. Afterall it is the RFL involved.

wonder how long it will take the buffoon to land another lengthy ban, if he picks up another within the first half of the season i would get rid, after what he's shown so far he simply isn't worth it anymore

That is correct. I posted during the play-offs the fact we lost games so had more matches meant Hock's ban would be worked off and gone with one friendly.

Can't agree mate. I think he showed some real quality in very small glipses and with a full pre-season and some match fitness I have really high hopes for him. I'm also confident the Wane can have a measure of control over him without taking away his x-factor! His impact next could be awesome.

If he does keep bring daft then I'm not sure what Wigan will do!

pass his phone no to Joel's agent ???

tbf I thought his performance v Wire in his last game was pretty good (until that stupid incident) He certainly caused the Wire pack a lot of trouble with his running and offloads.

Agreed.

Our first try came about because Ben Harrison shot out of the line to put a big hit on Gareth, which in turn left the gap for Deacon to wriggle his way over.

Correct, he was about the only one that looked likely to take the Wire Forwards on that day. I actually thought he was just about getting back to something like match fit and was really looking dangerous going into the play offs and then he got banned!! Hes a more than adequete replacement for Hoffman as a starting second rower once hes fit again. He just needs to control his aggression a bit more. Whilst Hoffman was probrably better at the basics and more consistant, Hock can do things with the ball in hand that Hoffman could only dream about. Two different styles of player, both as good as each other on their day but with different strengths to their game.

Hock showed some real glimpses of his talent and just look like he needed games under his belt to get his career back on track. The hatrick against Wakey showed he's still got that running power, his magic offload against Bradford to set up Richards showed he's still got that handling ability and pre moment of madness against Wire he showed he's still not afraid to mix it with any pack. He'll have a go and take the fight to anyone but the lad sadly proved he's still not the brightest button and thats something we'll always have to live with.

He'll win us more games then he loses us and he's like having a new signing in the squad for the second time in a few months.

I agree.

Not suprised read that off you really the amount of anti-hock you write . if it was up to you we should of got rid a long time ago

I think Hock will be awesome this season with a full pre-season with Waney and Mark Bitcon.A player can lose fitness and power but the skill is always the last thing to go.

I agree that Luke shouldn't be able to use trial matches to burn up his suspension, but this was probably agreed in advance to keep the NRL clubs sweet with releasing players. FWIW trial matches here are taken more seriously than I remember them being in England, with the schedules for them being put out weeks in advance and some reasonable crowds (as you'd expect with big name players playing on grounds they otherwise never would). They also get a bit of commentary in the papers.