That's irrelevant. You said cocaine is nearly harmless and it absolutely isn't. Wether the legalisation would affect it (or the harmfulness of other drugs) doesn't change the fact that right now the production and shipping of cocaine across the world causes misery to a large number of people. I don't dispute that alcohol causes problems too, but again, were not talking about alcohol are we.

You can have a shandy, you can have 1 or 2 pints but with cocaine people just get ‘on it’ and can’t stop when they are on it, I’ve been on days/nights out where lads I’ve been out with will come out, have a line then go back home straight away and just sniff it all day, all night and into the next day. It’s an epidemic in my opinion, far worse than alcohol.

I beg your pardon?
I’m proud to say I’ve never even touched a cigarette in my life never mind something like coccaine.
Why would having an opinion on it suggest someone has used it? Strange...

Spotted you, lovely little tantalizer you were wearing.

But we didn't did we? he continued to do it so blatantly whilst he was suspended it was impossible for the club to ignore it.
Maybe he wanted to be sacked.

Cas offered Hardaker contract fairly early on during his ban, but it was soon withdrawn when we found out what he was doing (through the company who were employing him to clean bogs).
Steve Gill was pretty clear - Hardaker’s “lack of change” meant Cas didn’t want him back. He was proved right with the drink driving incident and Zak’s time in rehab.
Now if he’d come back as good as he was in 2017, it might have been a different story. But he spent his ban developing an addiction so he’s not a patch on the player who left the game in 2017. Anyone who expected him to return as the same player he was is naive in the extreme.

Stalker!!!

What a load of rubbish!! If Cas (or Leeds) had recognised his addiction issues and took proper steps to help him address them, perhaps the drink driving would never have happened? We’ll never know. Whilst he is entirely responsible for his poor behaviour, what we do know is that the investigation into his drug use uncovered serious PTSD issues from something that happened in his youth. Wigan went the extra mile with him and his residential rehab has hopefully helped him deal with his issues properly and for good. Time will tell.
The truth is a player of ZH quality will always be snapped up after a ban because of their immense talent. He’s played 8 games and getting better every week and whilst he might not have hit the form he achieved in 2017, he’s certainly on the right track.

Leeds did and put plenty of support in place for him. But you can only help someone who wants to be helped. In the end, they had enough and got rid.
He wasn’t actually a Castleford player when he spiralled out of control, so there wasn’t a great deal the club could do. When he was first suspended and the club terminated his contract, they found him employment but again, you can only help someone who wants to be helped. At that time he didn’t and he ended up with the drink driving incident. I hope that has given him the kick up the backside he needed and that the rehab has turned his life around.
The PTSD you mentions isn’t accurate either, and the incident you refer to isn’t something that happened in his youth but during his last season at Leeds. It’s not appropriate to make public on a forum though.
Blaming othr clubs for Hardaker’s troubles I’m afraid is well wide of the mark. Players are responsible for their own conduct, particularly when they don’t even have a club. I’m afraid Cas can’t be held responsible for the fact Zak developed addictions when he wasn’t even part of the club.
To be honest, in Wigan’s shoes I’d be more concerned about his attitude after the game - joking and laughing immediately after a defeat in those circumstances is indicative of someone who doesn’t gave a monkey’s chuff about how the team do.

What did you expect him to do, Cry like a baby and throw the toys out of the pram? Maybe that’s what you wanted him to do, but the good thing for Zak is that he rose above it, rather annoyingly for Cas fans.

Well usually, you’d get some kind of serious interview about how disappointed they all are to lose and that they’ll work hard in training to put things right etc etc etc.
Zak didn’t seem to care about the result - in fact he seemed to find it funny the team had thrown away a massive lead.

I’d say he was embarrassed.
To be frank I thought it was refreshing from the usual post match sh*te most players give about being disappointed and working hard in training, in a thick, rough, scruffy, northern accent.

Unless said player has an Australian accent or is LMS.
Guess we all have different perspectives, mostly influenced by our preconceived ideas.

If you read my comments you’d see very clearly that I said Hardaker was responsible for his poor behaviour and I’m in no way blaming Leeds or Cas for what he did.
You’re suggesting that he only had addiction issues after he was sacked by Cas which is laughable. The man has been troubled for a very long time, it just happens he only got caught when he was at Cas.
Leeds May indeed have provided support and Cas May have done also but with hindsight they obviously didn’t do enough.
At least Wigan insisted on the residential rehab, risking him missing Pre-Season training and knowing his performances would suffer. The big picture is that Wigan have gone a lot further in supporting him than his previous employers did and I hope for his sake and the club’s that he’s through the dark days.

I don’t think it’s laughable to be honest, his substance use became an addiction when he was banned, not during his time at Cas. I don’t think anyone can say he wasn’t a cocaine user when he was at either club, but he certainly wasn’t an alcoholic. Cas regularly monitor the alcohol levels of players and he just wasn’t ringing any alarm bells.
I think we’re more or less on the same page though. Player welfare comes above club rivalry and I hope his rehab has allowed him to deal with his issues and that he goes on to do well in the rest of his RL career and afterwards too. I just doubt it’s going to happen.
For me, he doesn’t look like he wants to be at Wigan and he doesn’t look like he cares about whether the team win or loose. I never got that impression when he was at either Leeds or Cas.

Well that narrows it down to two!

Quote ="nottinghamtiger"I don’t think it’s laughable to be honest, his substance use became an addiction when he was banned, not during his time at Cas. I don’t think anyone can say he wasn’t a cocaine user when he was at either club, but he certainly wasn’t an alcoholic. Cas regularly monitor the alcohol levels of players and he just wasn’t ringing any alarm bells. I think we’re more or less on the same page though. Player welfare comes above club rivalry and I hope his rehab has allowed him to deal with his issues and that he goes on to do well in the rest of his RL career and afterwards too. I just doubt it’s going to happen. For me, he doesn’t look like he wants to be at Wigan and he doesn’t look like he cares about whether the team win or loose. I never got that impression when he was at either Leeds or Cas.'" I couldn’t disagree more regarding the last statement. One of the best parts about rugby is that the players will smash each other for eighty minutes then shake hands and have a chat after the game win, lose or draw. They are friends at the end of the day. No different to Tierney and Tomkins having a laugh with our players the other week. Regarding Zak’s commitment to Wigan, I’m satisfied. If you watch the replay to one of our tries on Friday, Hardaker is punching the air in the background. The image at the top of this article (https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theg ... tch-report) shows his thoughts to scoring his first Wigan try. Following the conversion to this try, he ran back to his kick off position to a standing ovation from Wigan fans and his face lit up. Now I appreciate I may have gone a bit over the top citing these examples but I believe you’re just seeing what you want to because of your dislike for Hardaker and/or Wigan’s acquisition of him. I recall you being very vocal about the fact that Cas could and would go after both parties citing precedent from football cases - which doesn’t seem to have materialised.

Quote ="nottinghamtiger"I don’t think it’s laughable to be honest, his substance use became an addiction when he was banned, not during his time at Cas. I don’t think anyone can say he wasn’t a cocaine user when he was at either club, but he certainly wasn’t an alcoholic. Cas regularly monitor the alcohol levels of players and he just wasn’t ringing any alarm bells. I think we’re more or less on the same page though. Player welfare comes above club rivalry and I hope his rehab has allowed him to deal with his issues and that he goes on to do well in the rest of his RL career and afterwards too. I just doubt it’s going to happen. For me, he doesn’t look like he wants to be at Wigan and he doesn’t look like he cares about whether the team win or loose. I never got that impression when he was at either Leeds or Cas.'" I couldn’t disagree more regarding the last statement. One of the best parts about rugby is that the players will smash each other for eighty minutes then shake hands and have a chat after the game win, lose or draw. They are friends at the end of the day. No different to Tierney and Tomkins having a laugh with our players the other week. Regarding Zak’s commitment to Wigan, I’m satisfied. If you watch the replay to one of our tries on Friday, Hardaker is punching the air in the background. The image at the top of this article (https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theg ... tch-report) shows his thoughts to scoring his first Wigan try. Following the conversion to this try, he ran back to his kick off position to a standing ovation from Wigan fans and his face lit up. Now I appreciate I may have gone a bit over the top citing these examples but I believe you’re just seeing what you want to because of your dislike for Hardaker and/or Wigan’s acquisition of him. I recall you being very vocal about the fact that Cas could and would go after both parties citing precedent from football cases - which doesn’t seem to have materialised.

Quote ="WARRIOR5"I couldn’t disagree more regarding the last statement. One of the best parts about rugby is that the players will smash each other for eighty minutes then shake hands and have a chat after the game win, lose or draw. They are friends at the end of the day. No different to Tierney and Tomkins having a laugh with our players the other week. Regarding Zak’s commitment to Wigan, I’m satisfied. If you watch the replay to one of our tries on Friday, Hardaker is punching the air in the background. The image at the top of this article (https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theg ... tch-report) shows his thoughts to scoring his first Wigan try. Following the conversion to this try, he ran back to his kick off position to a standing ovation from Wigan fans and his face lit up. Now I appreciate I may have gone a bit over the top citing these examples but I believe you’re just seeing what you want to because of your dislike for Hardaker and/or Wigan’s acquisition of him. I recall you being very vocal about the fact that Cas could and would go after both parties citing precedent from football cases - which doesn’t seem to have materialised.'" They were dreaming if they thought they were going to get money out of Wigan and Zak,they sacked him

Quote ="WARRIOR5"I couldn’t disagree more regarding the last statement. One of the best parts about rugby is that the players will smash each other for eighty minutes then shake hands and have a chat after the game win, lose or draw. They are friends at the end of the day. No different to Tierney and Tomkins having a laugh with our players the other week. Regarding Zak’s commitment to Wigan, I’m satisfied. If you watch the replay to one of our tries on Friday, Hardaker is punching the air in the background. The image at the top of this article (https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theg ... tch-report) shows his thoughts to scoring his first Wigan try. Following the conversion to this try, he ran back to his kick off position to a standing ovation from Wigan fans and his face lit up. Now I appreciate I may have gone a bit over the top citing these examples but I believe you’re just seeing what you want to because of your dislike for Hardaker and/or Wigan’s acquisition of him. I recall you being very vocal about the fact that Cas could and would go after both parties citing precedent from football cases - which doesn’t seem to have materialised.'" They were dreaming if they thought they were going to get money out of Wigan and Zak,they sacked him

And saying things like "we'll learn from us mistakes" as opposed to "our"

Quote ="WARRIOR5"I couldn’t disagree more regarding the last statement. One of the best parts about rugby is that the players will smash each other for eighty minutes then shake hands and have a chat after the game win, lose or draw. They are friends at the end of the day. No different to Tierney and Tomkins having a laugh with our players the other week. Regarding Zak’s commitment to Wigan, I’m satisfied. If you watch the replay to one of our tries on Friday, Hardaker is punching the air in the background. The image at the top of this article (https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theg ... tch-report) shows his thoughts to scoring his first Wigan try. Following the conversion to this try, he ran back to his kick off position to a standing ovation from Wigan fans and his face lit up. Now I appreciate I may have gone a bit over the top citing these examples but I believe you’re just seeing what you want to because of your dislike for Hardaker and/or Wigan’s acquisition of him. I recall you being very vocal about the fact that Cas could and would go after both parties citing precedent from football cases - which doesn’t seem to have materialised.'" Maybe. But let’s be clear - I don’t dislike Hardaker as a person. In fact, my dealings with him at Cas were very positive. But you could be right, I don’t think he wants to be at Wigan so I’ll notice things that affirm that view. Other people will do the opposite! I was also very clear on your last point that Wigan had done absolutely nothing wrong in signing him. Hardaker’s use of banned substances meant he breached his contract with Cas so we could peruse him for financial loss. When I brought this up with the club I was told that Cas had “found a solution” they were happy with. I have no idea what that was, but reassured that something happened that wasn’t made public, whatever it may have been. Whatever has gone on in the past, as Iva said throughout, Hardaker’s wellbeing and welfare are the main priority. Let’s hope he has turned a corner. I guess only time will tell.

Quote ="WARRIOR5"I couldn’t disagree more regarding the last statement. One of the best parts about rugby is that the players will smash each other for eighty minutes then shake hands and have a chat after the game win, lose or draw. They are friends at the end of the day. No different to Tierney and Tomkins having a laugh with our players the other week. Regarding Zak’s commitment to Wigan, I’m satisfied. If you watch the replay to one of our tries on Friday, Hardaker is punching the air in the background. The image at the top of this article (https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theg ... tch-report) shows his thoughts to scoring his first Wigan try. Following the conversion to this try, he ran back to his kick off position to a standing ovation from Wigan fans and his face lit up. Now I appreciate I may have gone a bit over the top citing these examples but I believe you’re just seeing what you want to because of your dislike for Hardaker and/or Wigan’s acquisition of him. I recall you being very vocal about the fact that Cas could and would go after both parties citing precedent from football cases - which doesn’t seem to have materialised.'" Maybe. But let’s be clear - I don’t dislike Hardaker as a person. In fact, my dealings with him at Cas were very positive. But you could be right, I don’t think he wants to be at Wigan so I’ll notice things that affirm that view. Other people will do the opposite! I was also very clear on your last point that Wigan had done absolutely nothing wrong in signing him. Hardaker’s use of banned substances meant he breached his contract with Cas so we could peruse him for financial loss. When I brought this up with the club I was told that Cas had “found a solution” they were happy with. I have no idea what that was, but reassured that something happened that wasn’t made public, whatever it may have been. Whatever has gone on in the past, as Iva said throughout, Hardaker’s wellbeing and welfare are the main priority. Let’s hope he has turned a corner. I guess only time will tell.

Of course its not driven by organised crime fangs here and abroad responsible for murders and making shed loads of money fromnthis illicit trade. Grow up!

Read the rest of the thread and grow up yourself.

He's always got you as his stalker to keep an eye out for him

He's the Jed Maxwell of Castleford, Mask and all

Almost 3 months later, and still nothing.

Have we binned him off on the quiet?