I genuinely didn't care what action Bradford took - it was a criminal case outside of the club's control and dealt with accordingly by the courts.

Nor did I care that Feka wasn't banned and I can't remember what Leeds did with their lot.

Problems on a pitch - RFL/club's call. Problems outside - law's call.

Simples.

FWIW I would have banned him from playing for Saints for a few weeks but not because I think he deserves it - just to shut up whining sensasionalists like this journalist mug.

Who actually cares?

Smith basically says nothing at all and do we really think stuff like this ''tarnishes the game''?

People just shrug their shoulders, they don't pick up on things like this and think ''look look rugby league is for thugs blah blah''

Hell worse happens in football practically every week, rape allegations, sex orgies, players beating up pedestrians in mcdonalds, does that mean everyone boycotts football?

So in conclusion, the ruling on pryce was fair, the way saints have dealt with it is no different to any other top clubs (leeds with walker and bailey), and stuff like this doesn't really tarnish the game because the majority of the population don't give a sh*t and similiar stuff happens in countless other sports week by week.

What a breathtaking article by smith, it says, err, nothing at all really.

Ignoring the current case at issue, which has been discussed ad-nauseum already, I don't think the issue is quite as "simples" as that. There is an issue which the sport and the club have discretion in addressing in terms of employees bringing their organisation or profession into disrepute.

My starting point for this sort of thing is always one of not believing professional sports stars should be subject to any different rules than the rest of us. In this instance, I think I, and many other people I know, would be very fortunate to retain my job if I was convicted of assault. I would also probably lose my professional registrations, with which there are parallels, even if not direct comparisons, with a professional RL player.

I'm not commenting specifically on the Prycegate incident, or even saying that these kinds of things should automatically result in censure in their working life, but it is a consideration, and not as simple as "work is work, everything else is law."

Its like that every week though isnt it?

The major difference of course is that you or I are, I would suspect, much more replaceable than the current Great Britain stand-off, irrespective of our level of professional qualifications.

It's more of a no-brainer for an employer to show us the door when they have much less to lose, even though our conviction may not even be public knowledge never mind tarnishing the image of our employers.

Now that I think about it, yeah. Just seems to explain the obvious inabit of detail.

I guess what I meant is that yes, the club have the option of disciplining the player for circumstances that were outside of their control but they have no obligation to do so.

The law is there to punish people for criminal offences. If the club want to take further action - cool. If they don't - cool.

Professional comparisons are a little bit twee. If you hold an accreditation (for example I'm a chartered accountant) and get convicted of a crime, it casts doubt on your character and trustworthiness to the extent that you may not be considered suitable to fulfil your role. The same sort of level of trust and duty of care don't apply to RL players.

Sure I wouldn't want Leon Pryce as my accountant/lawyer/local policeman. Good job he's a RL player and a bloody good one.

Read him only after a game, the column you are adressing really is a case of much of a muchness and is merly tabloid fluff to fill up a page in the YEP that cats up trees"stories" and YEP reader holiday offers cant.

Community service should be scrubbing graffiti off walls or some other ball breaking menial task etc , His last 120 hours was coaching kids at his former club a role which he has since taken up again a few months ago ( conveniently ) as his son plays there now.

I'd much rather Leon Pryce was coaching my kid to play RL than scrubbing walls.

Real deterent that

Most players do that cause they WANT to not cause they HAVE to

That is an excellent article. Best thing Smith has written in some time. Have the Saints knee jerkers on this thread actually read it? There's no anti-Saints or Pryce agenda in it at all.

He does bring up the Bailey and Walker incidents and isn't simply ranting for leon to be banned. He asks some interesting questions and I agree wholeheartedly with his conclusion.

Its' time the RFL introdcued a policy on off field behaviour and enforced it.

The NFL are doing it, the NRL are doing it. We should be whether it affects Leeds, Saints or any players.