be interested to know what the 2nd was

As would I. I'd hazard a guess at it being alcohol related.

He's supposedly 'tee total' since his drink driving ban yet i've seen pictures of him drinking on social media many times.

Not alcohol related just being an related.

Wouldn’t get on the team coach after Wakefield game and I hear ongoing lateness for training thereafter.
I assume summarily dismissed with no payment.

Not great timing but the club are 100% correct.
I actually applaud their actions.

You wonder if he thought because it was Peet in charge he could take liberties. Peet is obviously a young coach, inexperienced and did not have that top level playing career and Hardaker has always struck me as a guy who rates himself higher than what most other people do. If that was the case, it’s a win for Peet and a feather in his cap to move forward with. There can be no doubt of his ability to make tough decisions.

A bit of short term pain for the squad losing a decent player but it could have plenty of long term gains.

One of my old bosses used to say to me with a wink 'nothing like a good old sacrificial lamb to the slaughter now and again to sharpen the senses of the rest of the troops'.

It’s a blow still as we are losing our best centre and it’s going to be tough to find an adequate mid season replacement with no quota spots available. That said if he’s been disruptive and like has been said 2 incidents have occurred in the last couple of weeks then we are better shut, I certainly don’t think he’s going to be the difference with us winning or not winning trophies, although he would have dealt with Hurrell better than Bibby did last week.

I can certainly go with all that. It’s an area that needs attention for next season (and maybe this if anything crops up). Hopefully Halsall gets some chances and nails a spot.

That was the first incident

I only used TJ as a comparison ... the first Wakey name that came into my head. I wasn't suggesting there was any similarity between him and ZH. Nottingham Tiger was a total buffoon who came on here prophesying doom from the moment we signed Zak Hardaker (who we got at decent discount, by the way), at times almost seemed to follow him around, and had the nerve to come back on here this morning to say he'd told us this would happen. Nearly 4 years later!

The guy was an idiot and a weirdo, and people laughed at him for that.

Now I’m intrigued Jukes.
Not that interested on the 2nd event but deep down we’re all busybodies lol.

For me the important thing in this is that the club has acted swiftly and, I’m confident with integrity.
Our standards dropped for several seasons and at last we have head coach who is putting principles first and foremost.
Peet is going about his business quietly and professionally. It’s early days but so far I’m impressed with the lad.

Your last sentence is absolutely spot on.
The club expects it’s standards to be adhered to and reacts accordingly when they are not applied. This needs to be applied from the ground up to the top of the club.

I’m actually very upbeat about this because as you quite rightly said the long term gains are invaluable.

This was a big blow to my confidence in Bibby tbh.

Up to this point, I've been a big advocate of him and that was predominantly based on his defensive efforts. As a reference point & I didn't want to tempt fate, but all the talk before the Wakey CC game was around Johnstone and how he's a danger. I personally wasn't worried, as I've seen him come up against Bibby a couple of times in recent seasons and I'm 100% confident in saying Bibby has had him in his back pocket, every single time (or at least defensively).

Now Hurrell ripped him a new one and it's undoubtedly damaged the rep Bibby has imo. I'm hoping he comes back from it, but for a lad who's there for his D, it's disappointing. I also can't help, buy think that if Gildart (a player I'm unsure about) was playing on GF, he'd have nailed the pass to Faz. We're then 4-0 up and it's different (especially when Field scores next).

Fine margins, but if you're gonna be weak in attack, you need to dominate in defence. Especially playing for a club that wants to win stuff.

Hearing from a very reliable source that Leeds have been in contact as have Fev.

Possibility he plays for Leeds for rest of this season then goes to Fev.

The amusing one given his issues is that Leigh have offered him the most money and are looking like a genuine option!

If we sell Connor Wrench to anyone, I'll be straight to work on my 'Powell out' banner. The kid is a class act.

that way he continues to be a SL player





shorter commute (slightly! - didnt Scott Taylor do something similar??)

Not aimed at you, but frankly - I don't care.

He's not a Wigan player/Wigan problem any longer, so he can ply his trade in Leeds, Fev, Leigh or the Outer Hebrides for all I care.

Good question, anyone on here clued up about the cap implications when someone is released like this ?

It was be fantastic to see him go to Leigh, him and Beaumont would probably go out on the lash together.

Peet indicates it frees up cap space in his Wigan TV interview. Doubt we’ll get to spend it mins but you never know.

Sounds like you lot have hung him out to dry in the end, when he most needed support. But it’s a two way street I guess. Must have been a tough call as your a weaker team without him…..

It’s funny that, cos we’ve put up with miles more of his s**t than any of his previous clubs have, yourselves included.

How so?

Just found this on the Examiner live about MPs interview...

Initial comments

Firstly, I want to put on record my best wishes to Zak. I told him this personally. There is a genuine desire from this club to see him be okay and to thrive as a person first and foremost. We all know he can play rugby but we just want him to have a happy and content life and whatever support he needs, the club and the game remain there for him.

The lads have all been involved in our culture and they wish him well as a friend first and foremost and that's how I feel, I hope he's alright.

How difficult it was to make the decision

It's difficult because there is a level of care for Zak and a want to see him come here and meet the standards. But as well, we know what we have to do for the best of the club, what culture we're trying to build and to have standards you have got to have accountability. Whether that's in team selection or people not remaining on the journey. Unfortunately, that's where it has got to.

Is the decision related to the initial incident that saw him dropped, or something different?

It's related, it's a consistent theme, we have standards and repeated breaches you could say, repeatedly not meeting what is expected. That's not what is expected from me specifically, I am a massive part of it, but it's the group, the club and what we want to stand for. Zak has been part of the conversations where we have said what we want to be about, as have all the team and staff. For that reason, it becomes an obvious decision even if it's not an easy one.

Was it a necessary decision to make a point about the importance of culture and stands?

It's no good saying all the right things and you never get your culture perfect, it's a life thing. Good things happen and bad things happen but what defines your culture is how you react to it. There are two sides to it - there is the care for Zak as an individual which I will continue to stress, but there's care for all the other individuals in the club, players, staff, fans and academy. We have to do the right thing for the majority.

How important is it to not let it be a distraction for the Salford game?

I can one million per cent guarantee it won't be a distraction.

How have the players reacted?

I don't know what they'll be like, I'm sure they will all touch base and reach out to Zak, as will I and encourage them to do so as a friend, but it's business as usual.

Do you feel let down?

No, not really, I don't take it personally. I'm disappointed for Zak because I know he did want to make it work here. But it's not to be.

Did Zak show he wanted to put it right?

Consistently. I think at heart Zak wants to make it work. But I think, as I said, there has to be accountability. People make mistakes, we've worked with Zak, as we do a lot of our players, people make mistakes, but like I say, we've got to see people learning from them mistakes and unfortunately that wasn't the case.

How long did it take to come to the decision to tear up his contract?

Well firstly, it wasn't just my decision. I had a feeling on how things should go. But there was collaboration throughout the club, proper processes, proper discussions and disciplinary process and in the end, multiple stakeholders, including the baord and the owners, it was considered the right thing to do for the club. I had my own opinion on what the right thing to do was from a team and performance point of view but there's more to it than that.

Did the leadership group have a role?

I'm not going to go into too much detail but the players are the culture and know what is expected. There's time we reflect on things that haven't or have gone well, we have regular meetings to discuss our progress. They weren't asked directly but some of them would be involved in conversations.

Will you look to recruit a replacement?

We always have one eye on that and there will be cap space, but that's not been mentioned at all yet. This was a standalone decision. In an ideal world, Zak would still be here, he's a quality player and a popular member of the group. Zak at his best adds a lot. That discussion might come up at some point but my mind is focused on this week's game.

Reading between the lines of what Matty Peet said about it gives a hint that there's more to it than just someone who had a few beers during an alcohol ban.

Understandably because of ZH's well documented mental health issues the club have done the decent thing for ZH, his team mates, the club and the fans by quickly drawing a line under whatever has happened and moved on with the minimum of fuss.

Personally I can't stand the guy, but that doesn't mean I think he should be hung out to dry for whatever has happened.

The club have gone above and beyond for ZH, and to be fair to him he's responded to an extent, but no employer can put the needs of one person above everyone else so it's absolutely the right thing to send him on his merry way.

That’s not actually true . See my post on the other ‘Zak’ thread.