Given IL and the way he structures deals, id be stunned if this 5yr deal didnt totally cover Wigan in every way.

actually heard all that around 4 months back

Gaz Hock will be on a 5 year deal, not as a reward but as a punishment.

The common sense option is to give him a contract on a vastly reduced terms. However this is pointless if it just for 2 or even 3 years. If he performs at the level we know he can, he'll be off for far more at the end of that period. 5 years makes complete sense.

Fingers crossed it will also be subject to regular drug testing, and similar conditions.

I'd love for Hock to come back to Wigan and in all honesty I think he probably will but if he doesn't it's no big deal tbh. We're not the same club that the lad left and if any player doesn't want to be part of this new set up then so be it. The club isn't in a position anymore where it is desperate for any good players it can get it's hands on. We can afford to pick and choose to an extent in the knowledge that not only do we have options to bring in quality but we also have the option of promoting real quality from within our own set up. We have some fantastic lads in the u20's and the good thing for them nowadays is that when they do come into this Wigan side they know they have quality all around them that now play as a team.

As I said i'd love to see Hock back but I won't be crying into my beer if he decides(or we do) not to.

Have you all forgotten strict Visa rules in Australia?

A convicted "Drug cheat" (I disagree with that as cocaine isn't performance enhancing but thats for another debate) would never get a visa to play professional sport over there. Im pretty sure Mark Bosnich had trouble going back there during his and he's from Australia!

of course its performance enhancing, its also a narcotic and horribly addictive

It's been said before but the word "convicted" should apply to Hock's case as he was never convicted of any criminal offense following his failed drug test. Therefore unless he has any previous convictions that I don't know about he will have a clean criminal record. Whether the NRL will let him play following a failed drug test is another matter, although they don't seem to mind letting Greg Bird play following his assault case

Yes but you have to be able to "offer something to Australia" and I think that a ban for drug use in sport will mean he fails this. I know my auntie wanted to go over and she was accepted as a high level nurse but her husband was rejected because they "dont need accountants" so I think if thats the case then I think he will struggle but ah well if they would allow it then fine.

it isn't performance enhancing, it reduces coordination.

I have a friend who got addicted to it a couple years ago. Trust me it ISNT performance enhancing. It gave him bi-polar disorder and made him incredibly lethargic. It is most certainly not performance enhancing. But as I said that wasnt the debate I was trying to have so save that for somewhere else. The point was that he would struggle to get a visa when they took the ban into account (assuming they can)

Wendell Sailor played RL in Australia again after his ban for cocaine use.

I would get in touch with the experts at WADA then, they have it classified as performance enhancing.

Anyway, he was found guilty of having Benzoylecgonine in his system (not cocaine), which according to the interweb is a "solution used for the relief of muscle pain." Therefore it would clearly have a performance enhancing impact if it was allowing him to unnaturally relieve muscle pain.

The cocaine "parent drug" is probably not performance enhancing in itself when taken, but the side effects of the Benzoylecgonine are.

Pretty much how I feel too.

I would like him back, but I also think some people have selective memories when it comes to Hock. On his day he could be outstanding, but those days were few and far between for me and the performances in between littered with brain farts and daft offloads.

He has always had the physical potential to be something very special but I still feel he was far from the finished object when he was banned.

In the new systems i think he will have to work very hard on the thinking part of his game and his game awareness or he will struggle to get a place in the side. If he does improve in this area to the levels others have improved under MM then we will have one hell of a player on our hands.

I fully expect he will return to Wigan, but if he does not its not the end of the world, we improved significantly after he was banned, and while I do think he will be an asset if he returns we have shown we can comfortably cope without him.

Does it force users to offload rugby balls regardless of field position or even a suitable recipient?

Fair point, but IMO he wasn't backed up enough under previous coaches.

Knowing that he's an offloading forward, which is an effective tactic when used properly (see Solomona or Lauititi, for example), there should always have been people backing up his runs ready for an offload. I feel that will be better structured under MM, and I can easily see Sam and/or McIlorum benefiting from following him around!

Hock was good because he tried different things.

Give me a Hock or Feka or any other player with a x factor over some of the boring robots we see in SL these days.

Hock maybe. Feka does not have any x factor.

so what your saying is he also double dipped E's, bombed a bit of wizz and got of his tits on Strawberrys

Probably lol

What does he do other than drive the ball in straight and miss the occasional tackle due to lack of fitness/agility?

Feka entertains the fans. There is always that chance he's gonna go on a barnstorming run or crash over the line for a try. The same can't be said of many players currently in SL who simply are robots there to tackle and make minimal yards.

He never left Australia though did he? Hock would have to apply for a work visa to play there, which is where the problem may arise. As an Australian citizen Sailor wouldn't need a visa

A method of relieving muscle pain isnt illegal. These new drinks,air tanks.oxy chambers all do the same and they arnt banned.He didnt get a criminal record,he was'nt on performance enhancers it was stupidly a relaxant or recreational drug. He wasnt doing gambling tricks,kicking doors down and assaulting people or anything that MANY in the game are doing it just happened to be Gaz Hock of Wigan.

ok once and for all gaz is going nowhere,its the biggest wind up ever lol.. trust me guys n girls i knw. and be4 you all say eyyyyyyy its gaz himself hahah nope.... well i am related to him and very close,so i hope this puts an end to your sqabbling and mr hindley guy,, sorry your wrong he was winding you up,as some one said earrlier in the forum, he sick of people asking as he signed for wigan,, take it from me hes a wigan player and will be fora while yet lol.... good luck folks,,, luvs you alllllllllllllll

take coke before a game and it would enhance your performance, if your out of puff at half time take either coke or wizz and youll be a new person , it can be used as a performance enhancer and thats why its banned.

take steroids 10 mins before a game and will they enhance your performance? no they will not, that again dosnt mean they dont enhance performance