Not much chance of it being well written seeing the original poster is the ghost writer

Me too
Hock could have been an absolute legend of the game but due to his weaknesses' he has failed big time

Could have been the best 2nd row of his generation.

He had more than his share of support.

There comes a time where you have to take responsibility for your own actions and not lay the blame on others otherwise you waste whatever talents you may have .

Unfortunately Hock wasted his considerable RL talents .

I hope it isn't just at moan that Wigan/Koukash/Salford treated him shabbily and he was whiter than the coke he snorted. He had the ability to be the best English second row forward Wigan have had since Bill Ashurst.

i was dopey enough to buy long's autobiography, i aint going near this one.

Its well known that MarioRugby is actually former MEN writer Neil Barker who has actually wrote the book for Hock. He has also posted the same about the book on the Salford forum as well.

And he's had a right panning from them too! Hopefully he & Hock can do the same as this guy did when his book "bombed"... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK3k1S2w_cw

And he's had a right panning from them too! Hopefully he & Hock can do the same as this guy did when his book "bombed"... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK3k1S2w_cw

Hock's greatest strength was also his greatest weakness, his hundred mile an hour game, unpredictability and intimidation/tough man routine were what allowed him to sometimes dominate games. It was also what also meant he gave away a lot of penalties, dropped a lot of ball, offloaded in bad positions,

In my opinion his disciplinary issues covered for a player who was always going to have a short time at the very top. Perhaps in earlier generations he could have become a real legend, but the way the game is played now needlessly losing the ball or giving away needless penalties, ragged defence just cannot be carried , and a team cannot carry a highly paid, first team player spending a long time off the field for disciplinary problems in a salary capped sport. He was always a player who needed to be outstanding to outweigh his negatives.

www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyl ... ation.html

www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyl ... ation.html

[iStill[/i not spending any pennies on it (and i wouldn't wipe my aris with the Mirror). I'll be content with a walnut & tangerine in my Santa sock, thank you very much.

www.scratchingshedpublishing.com ... e-real-me/

www.scratchingshedpublishing.com ... e-real-me/

A whole 160 pages eh?

Heavy stuff

Coincidentally, the same number of pages as Winnie the Pooh

And probably as factual , swap Eeyore for Hock and honey for Columbian marching powder and it'll probably be the same book

If you get an idiot who can't write anything worthwhile for toffee, writing about another idiot, I'm surprised it amounted to 160 pages. Although, knowing Barker, he'll probably have bullet-pointed most of it to make it look more than it is.

Quote ="TheButcher"If you get an idiot who can't write anything worthwhile for toffee, writing about another idiot, I'm surprised it amounted to 160 pages. Although, knowing Barker, he'll probably have bullet-pointed most of it to make it look more than it is.'" His journalism style is suited to tabloid reporting. If he wrote for the Telegraph or Guardian he would write in a different style to suit the readers. Apart from the law regarding libel, postgraduate journalism courses cover little else. An interesting piece on Micky Mac from before the Grand Final www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... c-10211904 Don't 'bullet points' use up fewer words? People use them rather than a long winded paragraph after all.

Quote ="TheButcher"If you get an idiot who can't write anything worthwhile for toffee, writing about another idiot, I'm surprised it amounted to 160 pages. Although, knowing Barker, he'll probably have bullet-pointed most of it to make it look more than it is.'" His journalism style is suited to tabloid reporting. If he wrote for the Telegraph or Guardian he would write in a different style to suit the readers. Apart from the law regarding libel, postgraduate journalism courses cover little else. An interesting piece on Micky Mac from before the Grand Final www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... c-10211904 Don't 'bullet points' use up fewer words? People use them rather than a long winded paragraph after all.

Having met a few journos in London I was really surprised that the best could literally swap writing for The Sun one day to The Times the next without missing a beat. I knew a woman who became a lead writer for the Evening Standard business section. She was writing informative articles within a week of having moved there from being stuck writing about women's issues.

It is the worst sporting biography I have ever read and I've read some awful tripe over the years.
No depth to Hock's character at all. I already knew that he is from Norley and he's a hard lad but still know nothing else about him other than he can't stand Keith Mason. Zero anecdotes about either Hock or the game in general that could have at least broken the tedious list of one line comments.
Quite how this got past any sort of review at the publishers is beyond me unless they thought the intended audience has never got past the Janet & John stage at primary school.

I sincerely hope that no one has bought me it as a Xmas stocking filler
Hock is the biggest waste of talent that i have seen at Wigan in the last 30 years,He had the world at his feet and should have gone on to be one of our all time great players
Sadly we all know where is at present and why

I got it for a birthday present and was genuinely looking forward to reading it in the foolish hope that I might get an insight into his character and what actually makes him tick.
I put the blame for the shambles fairly and squarely on the author who can't take any pride in his final output which must have his English teacher from school squirming with embarrassment or spinning in his grave.

Mason eh ? That's interesting.


I heard that the Parramatta move fell through for him, because his current partner, has a young child with mason, who put the blocks on them taking his kid down under.

Now that would have been interesting if he had expanded on that!
I thought it was because Mason is a soft shoite who tried to start trouble but hadn't got the balls to see it through. A poor man's Ryan Bailey if you like. Not having a pop at your recent signing by the way!

Well, if this book doesn't tickle your pickle, there is always Wiganosophy.

""it's either a work of deep and philosophical insight peppered with (albeit accidental) moments of pure hilarity, or a work of pure hilarity peppered with (albeit accidental) moments of deep and philosophical insight. I'm not sure which."