He clearly spat his dummy out under madge (as mentioned in the statement) and was accomodated.

Yet some of the ire on here for SW persists. Hope it was Waney himself who told Hock to "f-off to Widnes"

My only frustration, and reading back i seem to have voiced it in different/imaginative/absurd ways, is that we are 10 days from the start of the season and it's a kick in the teeth. Not the clubs fault at all. Just a kick in the teeth. We all guessed this was the case.

Hahaha i get it now.

its a wiganwarriorsfans rumour, probably from the all knowing CP and his loyal followers believe it word by word.

I think an even bigger question is will another club be able to control him? Wigan went far beyond the call of duty in their efforts to keep Hock on the straight and narrow.

Well finally the off season has given everyone something to talk about!

Bad timing for the club, but if what has been released is true:

Goodbye Gareth, and good riddance!

No one person is bigger than the club, so there was only ever going to be one outcome. (assuming the demands reported by the club are correct)

Hock Talented? Yes.
Loose Cannon? Yes.
Bad influence?. Yes (probably)
Grey Matter proficient? No.

We're better off without him, and with that monkey off our backs it's time for the rest of the squad to knuckle down, without distraction, and focus on the task ahead.

Were is that ? Not a clue who they are

And what wiganwarriorsfans rumour is that?

I hope the squad does knuckle down and not dwell on this especially the forwards. One mans loss could be another mans gain here and people like Faz have a huge opportunity to make a statement of intent. Boys like Greg Burke and Rhodri Lloyd also have the opportunity of a lifetime here. They need to go out and grab it by the horns because if they do this whole situation could have played a massive and positive part in their careers.

Just had a look at it. It's the usual suspects giving it the "I know something but can't possibly say" routine.

that its all wigans fault most likely

Before I go on let me say based on the press release Hock doesn't have a leg to stand on.

However there are always two sides to every story and a carefully worded statement to the press from one side won't give it.

He refused to train. Why? He wanted a pay rise? Was he on a pittance before? And so on. Basically were all his demands unreasonable based on the circumstances at the time? We have been told what his demands were but not why he made them.

I mean if IL was able to say "Hock was the highest paid player a the club but demanded a pay rise" then that would sound unreasonable but he could not say that. If on the other hand he was on an absolute pittance using the fact he asked for a pay rise against him in a press release is a bit naughty - even if it is if very astute.

In short the demands all look unreasonable if you assume everything was hunky-dory before he made them.

On balance I think the club is probably in the right but the hatchet job it has done on Hock is a good'un.

One mans Pittance could be another mans fortune?
I'd happily swap his wages for mine!

Go and have a read. The thread is much the same as this one with most now turning on Hock and calling him all the names under the sun, from the safety of a keyboard of course, a few with a more reasoned approach to it all and one or two who say it's not really Hock's fault.

One interesting twist on there is that if Hock or CPWigan tells anyone what happened, it'll put their life in danger.

Some of it has been edited by mods but it's pretty much the same as what 'Last Son of Wigan' has been saying.

While we're talking ifs, buts and maybes ... IF this is true, perhaps he was on less than we'd expect as part of his parole after the drugs episode. In which case, it's still Gareth who's the naughty boy for not being able to take his punishment. Of course, it's still a big IF.

The way the squad seems to have diminished in talent from last season it might not take to long for most S/L teams to be considered as our main rivals.

Just to add. I've heard a 3rd party mentioned in the rumours leading up to this and if it is true then Hock could well do with being a little further away than Widnes. It's also related to the same rumours involving Gleeson and I think Tickle at the time of his departure.

I don't take a paycut for anyone.

Why when I can get someone else to do it for me?

Good luck with that one, then, Widnes.

Unless it's not true, of course.

As I said, it's just something I heard before Christmas about the people who he was in bother with. I can see it as a reason he wanted to go to Aus but I can't see how Shaun Wane gets tied up in it and it ends up as his fault Hock is leaving.

As you say, it could all be untrue and more than likely is. Basically any renowned hard/bad lad get's in trouble in Wigan and they are invariably linked to this 3rd party wanting to break their legs, or arm in Terry Newton's case, rumoured, allegedly etc, etc...

We don't need to know if he was on a pittance or not and we don't need to speculate if he was on less money for being on parole after taking drugs either. [uThe fact we do not know [iwhat[/i he was paid means we can't judge if his demands for pay rises were unreasonable.[/u

That is the point I was trying to make.

Without knowing why he made his demands and what the circumstances were at the time he made them you can't judge if they were unreasonable or not.

We have just been told what he has asked for and what transpired when he didn't get his demands met and its clear there was a complete breakdown between Hock and the club (not training and trying to get sacked). It didn't happen all at once though and I have seen it happen in my own workplace were over time where people get disgruntled with their employer a bit at a time until they think they are in the worst job the world and paid the least for it.

That said unless he had very good reason to ask for a move to Oz I think he has been shown to be extremely ungrateful for all the help he received and for that alone I am very disappointed in him. At the time of his ban I would have been fine had the club sacked him but given they went the rehab route that was also fair enough. They must have felt like Hock has kicked them in the teeth.

I would still like to hear Hock's side of the story though and we haven't, only Wigan's.

"I have no regrets on leaving Wigan. I thank them for everything they've done, but what's happened since is between me and them."

Hock doesn't sound hard done too there.

I reckon Widnes will suit Hock perfectly. He can do his little cameos which will be lapped up by the fans regardless of whether they're losing heavily, whilst not getting too involved in the hard yards and tackling stints. Widnes are unlikely to be involved in any crunch games which unfortunately Gareth has gone awol from in his time for us.

Which Gareth Hock were you watching? In terms of the 'hard yards' he was, on average, Wigan's 3rd highest metre maker last year behind Lima and Mossop.

As for going AWOL in big games, surely the entire team is guilty of that? In fact in the CC semi final against Leeds Hock was one of very few players to actually have a good game. Last season he performed well enough overall to make the dream team.

Cheers