If that's your view then Lee briers should have been booted out of the game years ago.

why what has Lee Briers done to get booted out of the game ??

In a game where you're hardly paid top drawer sporting salaries, I think a two year ban was about right. To ban him for life would have been insane. He made a mistake, but he's hardly Tony Montana!

As for the little digs at Briers', well, I hardly think anyone knows for sure what he does in his spare time. He's been partial to the odd shandy over the years, but any of these cockayne assumptions are probably just bo11ocks to be fair.

On a more sensible point, it'll be good to see Hock playing again if i'm honest. Always enjoyed his style of play. He's one of a minority of GB/England players who have generally caused Aus/Kiwi's problems in the past. Having said that, and as others have eluded to, expecting too much too soon from him may be a bit unfair. I've no doubt the bloke is in shape etc, but two years from the game will provide a massive challenge.

Who said Briers? That's certainly not the name I heard pre-season when there was some interesting news from Warrington.

I assume you are on about smoking and drinking too? Lets hope you do neither of these things.

Meanwhile in Holland, drug use down and so is crime and many states in the US are decriminalising...

they can have guns in the US too does that stop shootings

....... go one hand em out in Norley Hall that'll work a treat.

ahh Legalising Drugs thats a good one......
put a cold pint of Carling on a table and a small bag of cocaine which one would you want your own child to have a taste of....?

Tough call that one, carling tastes like e, so nice to have another option

Not much gets my goat


self righteousness about drugs does.

And no, i don't and never have.

But please ppl grow up. drugs are more of a symptom than a cause in most cases

Spot on, but Hock the king, not right for me, expecting to see a cross between Wally lewis and Rambo.

In my view the fella deserves a second chance, especially as it was a recreational thing.

I think it is a little in poor taste that he is being built up like this thread has attempted.

Anyone who knows anything about drug taking knows that it can be in response to a feeling of pressure and the need to escape.

If Hock read this thread having spent two years on the sideline, the past few months of which, at least, spent building himself up emotionally for a last chance at a profitable career that could put him and his family into a more secure future.

He would probably feel even more pressure than he is no doubt putting himself under.

Also, what is all the doom and gloom, you are one win (in hand) off level on points at the top of the league, yet someone seems to want to build poor hock up as the 'Saviour' to a poor season.

Behave.

Ill conceived thread originated by 'a' spoilt fan

All I am saying is don't put someone like Hock on a pedestal he doesn't deserve it. Once again drugs are the cancer of society and need to be prevented from entering our game, they are for the weak willed and drug dealers will seek them out and get them hooked and yes that includes our children. Have the last word if you must but I stand by what I said. Good luck for the rest of the season.

Fair enough you are entitled to your view, you may have had personal experience (i don't mean taking drugs) that has formed your opinion, you may not.

For me, you have a simplistic view on this issue.

Agree to disagree seems good here.

I don't think anybody is tring to "put him on a pedastel" we are talking about a player who was arguably the most dangerous SR in the league before he was banned, can you blame fans for being excited about his return? His ban has now nearly finished hence he has done his time, its now time to move on and forget it everybody deserves a second chance.

As far as fans from other teams go, like it or not its jealously and a bit of fear that leads to the negativity sorrounding Hock, nobody goes on about Ryan Hudson saying things like "he should never be allowed to play again" thats because hes not considered anywhere near as dangerous a player as Hock. It would be very interesting to hear if some of these fans were still crowing if a star from their team was to end up in the same situation.

I for one am very excited about the return of Gaz Hock, not as any kind of saviour but as a destructive player that has spent 2 years keeping himself fit and proving that he still wants to play the sport.

I agree with most of the above.

But why resort to the 'jealousy' argument ?

Do Wigan fans really believe we are jealous?

I honestly believe that Hock would walk into most if not all SL sides so yes there is an element of jealousy, like I said if it wasn't jealousy then why did nobody complain when Ryan Hudson came back??

I also think that Tezzerwolf should bear in mind what happened to another "Tezzer" when the RL club he played for did not give him the support he needed.

Excellent player yes.

Ryan hudson much much less so.

Hock being such a good player means he has a higher profile = Much more attention and discussion.

It does not automatically mean everyone is jealous.

I am not jealous at all.

Yes he'd get in our side playing well.

If i remember he was also prone to brain farts, giving away silly penalties and having plenty of 'off par' games.

By your own rational, i could assume you are jealous of most of the Wire team, as most would get in your first 17.

But i won't assume that.

Exactly.

I for one thought Newton was a for most of his career. (not because of his drugs revelation)

However, he needed help and got very little.

Other lines of work would probably get sued to death over something like that.

I never said everyone was jealous, I said that Jealousy leads to a lot of the negativity he has recieved on here since it was announced that he was, a. Returning to training b. signing for Wigan. I don't care about individual peoples jealousy and I don't assume that any individual is Jealous.

I absolutely agree that he was prone to brain farts but that was with a much less impressive coaching set up than we have now.

Lastly no, i am not jealous at all of most of the wire team as in my opinion there is only a centre, a winger, a hooker and a prop that would get into the Wigan team, after all we are reigning champions with much the same team as we have now.

Going forward, if Hock scores in a match.....should be be allowed to cheer him?

Your opinion is probably true but unfortunately unless you have your head in the sand you as well as most on here know there is a massive problem with drugs in our sport unfortunately (or fortunately in my opinion) not many get caught. If all the players that were doing things they shouldn't be in their private lives were caught and punished accordingley we wouldn't have a sport. Sad but true!

Seriously?? you would Cheer for a cheat if he scores?!!

Done the crime, done the time..... Don't get me wrong i hate drugs, but i'm big enough to give someone another chance. We have far worse problems in our world, drugs just grab the headlines. Our town centres on saturday nights need to be sorted and thats down to drink... But thats for another thread on another forum

Vectrabeast, i think we agree on most things in this thread.

Wigan peer. I agree, but lets's be honest if this was one of our players or saints, then this thread would be almost identical but on a different board and the roles reversed...

I think this is something of a sweeping statment.

Andrew Johns is still remembered as one of the world's greatest players despite, by his own admission, having taken recreational drugs during much of his career.

Wigan fans of my acquaintance feel the same way about him. Even though Johns played for Warrington, I don't know any who would immediately brand him a 'drugs cheat' as soon as his name is mentioned. Most, while they might feel that his appearance for Wire was a bit of a gimmick, still regard him as one of the greatest ever RL stars, and rarely mention his drugs issues.