Thought he spoke magnificently on the 'problem' of drugs in our sport. Well done Mr.Cullen, we need more people who speak honestly and from the heart on the issues in the game.

As a life long wire fan, i liked Cullen. At times i questioned his team selection, and at times i questioned his coaching skills.
But i NEVER questioned his integrity as an honest,hard working, committed RL man who said it as it is.
If he says it, believe him, it will be true.

An excellent piece on BnA.

What did he say?

He just expressed his honest concerns about the presence of drugs in RL, and the steps he would take to eradicate the problem. Nice to see someone willing to speak their mind for a change, unlike the grovelling speccy prat from the RL who just denied that anything was wrong at all.

Must admit, Cullen has a fantastic way with words. Aswell as being a tremendous coach, he seems to speak the opinions of the majority of supporters and isnt afraid to voice a contraversial opinion. He is a real spokesman for the game and a coach I really respect, a credit to the game IMO.

Cheers mate, makes a change from the other idiots on this board who always think he talks b*llocks. He speaks from the heart and his analysis is spot on.

No worries! I mean yes, when we speak on behalf of our teams some of us do sometimes make irrational comments about players and coaches.. but for me Cullen is a credit to Widnes and the game of Rugby League. Speaks more sense in one show of Boots 'n All than Eddie Hemmings does in a whole series!

I think there could be a niche market here for my [i"Some say he talks e but I think he's a cunning linguist"[/i t-shirt idea.

Is Paul Cullen still on leave from the day job? Can't seem to recall him returning...

He has been summoned by the RFL to explain his remarks on Boots n All , apparently

Perhaps the time to revert back to ' Klingon '

Hasn't missed a game I don't think TBH! The club said it was upto him nothing said he was definately staying away, presume when Cullen needs to be back home and with his Wife he will be but when not he seem's to be with the side, shows a tremendous character from a guy under such immense pressure in a top job and especially at home with the family!

Been at every game and quite a few training sessions thus far, massive respect for king cull.

Good luck with the RFL Mr Cullen. You'll need a JCB to dig their head out of the sand before you start talking to them.

It shows that you may well know what the truth is and choose to speak it,but if someone takes issue with you over it then you may well end up in hot water. Some things are best kept secret.

Well if they do as thorough an investigation as they did into Sean Long's betting allegations I don't think there's much to worry about.

Dont forget , this is the same RFL, who let KC of with taking performance enhancing drugs because we needed him beat the Aussies . Because he had never done it before or never been caught.

The Vicar

Can someone be prosecuted or banned for speaking the truth,or what they believe to be true and may have evidence is true? I don't see how really?

No they cant , he could however possibly be looking at a ' bringing the game into disrepute charge ' , although a slapped wrist ' dont be a naughty boy ' scenario is more likely

i really believe this could actually backfire on cullen. shame really since EVERYBODY knows about drug problems in RL

It wont backfire, the Cull will use his full dictionary of words to get himself out of it.

By not making a coherent sentence thus confusing the enemy in to submission.

That's probably any chance of a licence for 2012 gone for Widnes now.

I think Cullen is right. The off season isn’t used to entirely honest effect by some players imo. I’ve heard all kinds of rumours, even from people within the game, about drug abuse. I know that most serious gyms are rife with drugs, so it would be easy for any player to get hold of them.

I think the culture at the Wire, when PC was in charge, was probably the reason he parted company with them. The board wouldn’t back him on certain, undisclosed, issues. Given the strong rumours doing the rounds at the time, it isn’t hard to guess what those issues may have been.

PC cannot now go pointing the finger at individual players. That would be wrong in itself, and could lead to him being sued. This is a typical RFL ploy to discredit what he is saying, by asking him to do what they know full-well he can never do. He was referring to a general culture within the sport that is clearly causing him some concern. Given the stature of some of the players recently banned, you’d have to be concerned about just how common drug abuse is within the sport of Rubgy League.

Perhaps BOOTS ‘N’ ALL wasn’t the platform to be so strident about it, but I guess he was just being ruthlessly honest and talking from the heart. If your own children are playing the sport, with a possible view to becoming a professional, you cannot blame him.

I'm sorry but I couldn't disagree more. This will be old news in 2 weeks time, let alone 2 years. It won't effect anything.

I was just being cynical

www.widnesvikings.co.uk/article.php?id=953 Following Paul Cullen's appearance on ‘Boots and All' earlier this week, the RFL have said that they are going to write to Paul to seek clarification from him on some of the points he made during the course of the programme. Paul is away from the club today but he has confirmed that he looks forward to receiving a letter from the RFL. Paul and the Vikings' view of the question of drug abuse in rugby league is that it is a pernicious problem which should be stamped out wherever and whenever it is discovered. In order to eradicate the problem of drug misuse we need constant vigilance in the monitoring and testing of players. We strongly support the RFLs testing regime and believe that even more resources need to be directed towards supporting its activities. Greater vigilance and the creation of a ‘zero tolerance' culture in the game will greatly assist the RFL in its efforts to eradicate any trace of drug misuse in our sport. Player education and the most stringent drug testing regime are essential in this process and the Vikings are fully behind the RFL in their commendable efforts in this regard. Seem's King Cull is happy to speak out more!

www.widnesvikings.co.uk/article.php?id=953 Following Paul Cullen's appearance on ‘Boots and All' earlier this week, the RFL have said that they are going to write to Paul to seek clarification from him on some of the points he made during the course of the programme. Paul is away from the club today but he has confirmed that he looks forward to receiving a letter from the RFL. Paul and the Vikings' view of the question of drug abuse in rugby league is that it is a pernicious problem which should be stamped out wherever and whenever it is discovered. In order to eradicate the problem of drug misuse we need constant vigilance in the monitoring and testing of players. We strongly support the RFLs testing regime and believe that even more resources need to be directed towards supporting its activities. Greater vigilance and the creation of a ‘zero tolerance' culture in the game will greatly assist the RFL in its efforts to eradicate any trace of drug misuse in our sport. Player education and the most stringent drug testing regime are essential in this process and the Vikings are fully behind the RFL in their commendable efforts in this regard. Seem's King Cull is happy to speak out more!