It's the same Hardaker, but one is maturing. He was quality last season also. Shame we are going to lose him due to how the club handled his disciplinary.

Now that has me baffled, are we losing Hardaker, Bailey, both or neither?
Whose disciplinary did the club mishandle & in what way did they mishandle it?
Unlike many on here I am not privy to the internal processes & procedures at the club.
Or is it all merely hearsay & rumour mongering?

Hmmm if we're going to lose him due to how the club handled his disciplinary why has he really buckled down to work hard and promised the club he'd put 110% in to make up for it. And then be rewarded with the captaincy on Boxing Day.

Just doesn't make sense.

If we're going to lose him at some point, it'll be for either the challenge or money of the NRL or Union.

In that case you are just like everyone else.

As for Bailey,if he has been disciplined it will be kept internal.If he has been dismissed we can expect a statement quite soon?

I've seen a screenshot of a text from Bailey denying the sacking and other rumours.

And Chev Walker and Dwayne Barker, who seem to have been given "free passes" by the RL community for their part in the incident.

He is proving a point.

He felt he was handled badly and not consistently with others, and the instruction form McDermott for him to return to training straight away and cancel his holiday, in Zak's own words "will not be forgotten".

He was in discussions about a new contract before the episode with England. After then he called off all talks, and has not been back to the table since. His intention was to move at the end of his contract, back at Christmas time.

Hopefully, and I hope desperately, something will change there, and between them they can change his mind.

Well there is another 2 years for him to change his mind after this one. Though i can't imagine anyone thinking that getting kicked out of a world cup squad would earn them anything other than a kick up the .

To clarify is he upset that he feels others have got away with things and he has been punished?

There are many on here who would wish us to believe otherwise.

Yes. But the biggest point was that he ended up with no break at all because of it. As soon as the England issue happened, Leeds dealt with it and told him to get back in training and cancel the holiday he had booked. Every player other than him had a break of some nature.

These guys get paid to play sport, I have no idea what they have to complain about.

Oh dear, every now and again their employer asks them not to get f********d up on beer while they are expected to be ready to do their job. I get told when I can and can't book holidays, welcome to the world of grown ups with responsibilities.

Every other player at Leeds didn't get kicked out of a World Cup squad though.

well said,fully agree.