One day someone should have a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng talk with that boy, he seems to have more issues than The Radio Times.

WIGAN RL 'HOTEL INCIDENTS' XIII

1-Chris Ashton
2-Jason Robinson
3- ?
4-Anthony Gelling
5-?
6-Matty Johns
7-?
8-Andy Powell
9-Mc Ilorum?
10-
11-Sir Gareth Hock
12-
13-Julian O'Neill

Anyone any other offers?

I think Morley would be up for that

, like Gallen has done for Carney

Bobbie Goulding at scrum half? Gleeson in the centres?

Who is making excuses for him? All were doing is refusing to slate the guy before we know the facts/details behind his removal from the England squad. Maybe some of those on here can fill us in on the details and confirm whatever has gone on merits a serious breach of conduct and expulsion from the squad.

The details may come out, or they may not - they don't always where Gareth is concerned, except for his really, really big foul-ups, when there is no way to conceal them. But to an extent, you're already hiding behind that.

What you've got to ask yourself is do you think the England managers would have done what they'd done if Gareth was completely innocent?

Seriously? Do you think they'd have taken such drastic action a week before the World Cup, and publicised it the way they have, if there was absolutely nothing in it? Or indeed if it was something fairly minor?

And you can apply this more or less throughout his career. Gareth cocks up, people try to defend him through misguided loyalty - some even get bolshy about it, trying to spread the blame to other parties, insisting 'the truth will come out, etc'. Except the only truth that usually comes out is Gareth was a naughty boy. Again.

He now represents your club, so you feel understandably miffed that the first thing he does of note is get in trouble in the England camp. But this is why Wigan sold him. You can only tolerate so much from a wayward child.

The details will come out, Marwan Koukash has confirmed that Hock will issue a statement and his version of events today. The fact England didnt do this in the first instance shows just how poor the management set-up. We are 3 days away from the first game of a World Cup, rather than hiding behind a "serious breach of discipline" comment which will get supporters, press etc speculating and detract from what we should all be talking about, they should have sought immediate legal advice and issued a statement this morning detailing the exact reasons for their decision. Everyone can then move on and there is no obscurity.

Unless Gareth Hock has been taking drugs, going out on the p*ss or fighting I am struggling to see what warrants immediate explusion from the squad and a serious breach of team discipline. Then you have to ask if he has been fighting/out on the p*ss there must have been more than him involved.

The sooner we know what has gone on the better.

It's probably worth noting that the statement from the RFL is "serious breach[ues[/u of team discipline", ie [iplural[/i. So reading between the lines this looks like a last straw dismissal to me.
The RFL have already said they won't make any more statements on the matter, so we'll only have Hock's version this afternoon sometime.
Although no doubt the gossip will continue for a while (especially if we're hammered on Saturday).

I believe its just Hock.

We'll all be interested to know, because yes, it has badly affected the build-up to prestigious tournament, and heads should roll.

But understand, from a Wigan fan's POV, this is a very old story. The last time Gareth was in trouble at Wigan, we had people whispering all kinds of calumny about everyone from the head coach to the kit-man, in order to exonerate the guy. And this was AFTER Wigan had stood by him during the drugs scandal - so loyalty to a favourite player can run so deep that at some point it may become irrational.

By all means try to widen the blame - others must have been involved, etc - but even if that's true, it doesn't negate Gareth's responsibility, and won't necessarily mean that he wasn't the instigator, the ringleader, the worst of the bunch, call it what you will. He's the one who's been kicked out. Nobody else. Which is a pretty damning indictment.

By the way, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the England management were in some way culpable. They are pretty useless themselves. The mere selection of Hock was the first big error they made, at least with regard to matters of team discipline.

Don’t get me wrong, if when the details are released and Gareth Hock is guilty of a major indiscretion then I and I assume the majority of other Salford fans will condemn him and be seeking questions from our own owner and management as to how they propose to avoid such instances happening at Salford. I would however hope that should there be any issues with Gareth Hock whether it be drugs, alcohol or anger related Salford and the RFL assist him as best they can to help him in order to avoid a scenario we had with the late Terry Newton.

The blame should only be widened as far as it needs to, if other players have been involved and are guilty of the same breaches as Gareth Hock then they rightly should be publically named and punished as well. I think it all stinks of poor management from McNamara to be honest and I wouldn’t be surprised if reports are correct that the Wigan element of the England camp are unhappy and disgruntled at the manner in which Hock has been removed from the squad. If he thinks he is bringing the squad closer together doing this, McNamara could have potentially done the complete opposite and created a divide/rift. It could and should have been handled far more professional.

Bear in mind we also heard this when Hock was kicked out at Wigan - that all the players were really upset.

If so, it didn't show in public.

Gareth has a small minority of quite vocal supporters who will promote any bit of guff to try and create the impression that he is a guy more sinned against than sinning.

This is koukash (SP) twitter comment:He added: "I once went out with lads for a few drinks, overslept in the morning, missed work, got fined but not sacked from my job."


Might shed a bit of light on what's happened

If he had a brain a Hock autobiography would be an interesting read!

Awaits the "I am not a bad boy" story in the Daily Mirror.

No doubt it's Shaun Wane's fault again!

So we can't criticise Hock without all the facts but McNamara and others involved could and should have handled it more professionally. Right.

I dont get your point at all. How can you criticise somebody without knowing what they have done? Obviously McNamara and others are fully aware of what has gone on and have come to the conclusion he shouldnt play for England during the World Cup. I have no issue with that, but I do have an issue with how they have gone about it all. We are 3 days away from a World Cup, is there any need for issuing a statement to the media like they did? I dont think there is. By all means drop Gareth Hock and dont play him throughout the tournament, report he's injured if you like but I fail to understand what has been gained by all this unnecessary speculation and attention. It could and should have been handled a lot better.

sorry but we do know whats happened, he got ed after a match and didn't turn up the next day. Players have been sacked for less. we heard the same when he got dumped from wigan "we don't know the full story" blah blah.

Unfortunately (from the point of view of England's prep for Saturday) it looks like this story will widen to other players.

This tweet from a BBC sports reporter, apparently his interview will air on BBC NW Today at 1:30

#EXCLUSIVE Gareth Hock told me feels unfairly treated by England.Says wasn't alone in breaking the rules.Interview on @BBCNWT & BBC outlets

an ex-saints strawberry blonde prop, current leeds full back and current wigan number 9

Exactly, Hock gets no benefit of the doubt. He's done something that has lead to the management booting him out of the squad on the eve of one of the biggest matches of the last decade. The management may have been able to handle it better but this is typical Hock.

No we don’t. We’re just assuming and speculating. Don’t get me wrong it looks more and more likely that he has gone on the p*ss after a game and missed training, which if confirmed is pure stupidity on his behalf and warrants a disciplinary. It’s not the punishment (i.e missing the tournament) I am disputing, but the manner in which it has been handled. It can only have a detrimental affect on our build up not only to the Australia game but the World Cup as a whole.

It’s blatantly obvious if he has indeed gone out on the p*ss he wont have been alone, I therefore assume England will stick to their principles and the other players involved will be publically named and shamed with their punishments also made clear.

How can players drink before such an important game. I have paid for good seats and expect players to give their best which means not drinking alcohol. In fact, like tuigamala, Leuluai of Leeds and Hanley, I don't think they should drink at all. It just takes a bit of willpower.
When I went to watch the World Cup in Australia in 2008 I heard on good authority that alcohol was banned on the plane yet one player bought a bottle of Jack Daniel's in duty free and consumed the lot on the plane. Pathetic.

You don't like the assuming and the speculating, but you're doing an awful lot of that yourself with regard to the other players.

There are degrees of infringement. For example, some players may go on the lash the night before training and still turn up the next morning. They'll be reprimanded but as they were there for work, it won't be deemed as serious as those who weren't. Others may turn up but with the wrong attitude (as happened with a certain player shown the door at Wigan a few seasons ago).

Going on and on about others being involved is grabbing at straws. This scandal may widen, but that won't save Gareth, who will probably not get selected for England again as a result.

The other thing is - you're very concerned that the England management team have handled this badly because of the World Cup's proximity, but you still want all the other culprits publicly named and shamed as well (presumably to try and spare a Salford player's blushes). You can't have it both ways. We either limit the damage done to the WC to another colossal Gareth Hock brainfart, or we rope lots of others in and completely destroy our chances.

You have the perfect title for it there in your first part of your post