Shock horror, Hardaker is guilty of......erm......feck all. Any wonder he'll be off to NRL, who could blame him

Thought he was found guilty of assault AJC?
Difficult one for the club as Zak was out until the early hours and has been found guilty of assault.
Do the club slap his wrist, suspend him or say Zak is really really sorry for letting the club and himself down and it's being dealt with internally?
Personally I would suspend him for a month and fine him a couple of weeks pay and make it public one more indiscretion and he is out on his ear.

Leeds announced that Hardaker had received a written warning after his world cup misdemeanour. If he survives this latest incident he must now be in the last chance saloon.
You get the feeling he is not learning from his mistakes.

Funniest post of 2015

A written warning generally only lasts for 12 months - I think there's some people massively over reacting here...

I was under the impression that it's been acknowledged by the club that when all the facts were taken into account they were a little harsh on Zak after the England storm in a tea cup.

You may well be correct that his written warning has expired.
I don't remember the club acknowledging they were harsh on Hardaker after his World cup exit but they may have done. I do remember certain posters on here claiming that was the case but nothing official from the Club.

Not guilty of anything...apart from assault, which he found guilty of.

I think people are playing this down a little "just a couple of black eyes", "a bit of bruising", "a couple of punches". I for one wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of even one punch from a rugby player, particularly in my own home.

We obviously don't know the full details, but what we do know is that one man was assaulted by two rugby players in his own home in a "nasty attack" in the words of the police. Yes, he's a young lad, but that doesn't make this acceptable. We can't jump to conclusions because we haven't heard both sides of the story and probably never will, but the facts speak for themselves!

From a Leeds point of view, the coaches and senior players will probably be wondering why he was out until 3am and beyond just days before the start of the new season.

The only question that really matters is whether the silly sod actually starts to learn from these things that "somehow keep happening" to him. If he thinks he's just unlucky, hasn't done much wrong etc then he's an accident waiting to happen. His offences may not be that much individually (although I think some seriously underplay the impact of getting punched in the face) but they are entirely consistent with a young bloke who has yet to grow up.

I suspect Hock a few years ago probably thought the same. Like G1 if I were Hetherington I'd be pressuring BM to get Golding up to speed on the basis that to date there's every chance Zak doesn't change his ways.

Hopefully he'll start to realise that a hell of a lot of the problem is getting into these situations in the first place and change the way he operates. It probably also doesn't help hanging out with younger players if he's daft. Maybe he should go round to Sinfield's house on a Friday night and play board games, discuss Marxism and drink hot chocolate.

I have thought this myself in reading many of the replies here. What proportion of men do get in fights when out drinking, seeing as it is so 'normal' to do so? Am I the exception to the rule for having never punched someone or been punched whilst on a night out, or having ever been with a friend who has while on a night out?

The way it is being spoken about by some as 'the norm as a man in his 20s on a night out' doesn't justify it, it just means that more people have an issue with self control and restraint than making it ok. Otherwise does that mean that there is a problem with me for always having diffused or walked away from potential situations in the past rather than just indiscriminately lamping whoever is there at that time? How many punches become unacceptable when (potentially) just innocently minding your own business? Is it after 3 it becomes unacceptable? If so, please all come find me on Friday night at the game while I am minding my own business, not antagonising those around me and lamp me a couple of times - so long as you only do it twice the PoPo should leave us be because no crime will have taken place..! But as a man in my 20s, if I am not decking people who I pass by myself, I have to accept that people can and will do it to me as it is just what happens in life at that time.

calm your little cotton socks. as you were completely making up things i thought id try help.

you are aware that i knew you said "if" i was just taking the because you based pretty much 95% of your comment on conjecture as such you may have well have not said anything.

ever heard of the saying "if youve nothing nice to say..."

If we haven't heard both sides of the story and we don't know the full details then really the facts aren't really facts.

I love a bit of hyperbole.

To answer this and more of what SRV wrote. No one is actually saying it's fine or acceptable for them to get into the situation they got into. I and others questioned the way it's been described as a "assault". It's all very well portraying the student as some poor innocent lad who was minding his own business sitting in the corner eating some beans on toast whilst wearing his favourite Ramones t-shirt (even though he couldn't name you a single song of their's) and Hardaker and Minchella just randomly set about him. However as the YEP article pointed out, he confronted one of the men.....for all we know he could have done so in a confrontational way, for all we know he could have thrown a punch himself.

What we've been told
1, Hardaker & Minchella and several others enter the shared accommodation at around 3am, it's safe to guess they were probably making a bit of noise.
2, student goes to confront one of the men, seemingly upset/angry at their presence.
3, he ends up with a few bruises.....now I'm not saying it's right he's ended up with some bruises but it hardly sounds like Ronnie and Reggie Kray have just gone to town on him.

Let's face it, he's happy with £400 and a "I'm sorry" letter......doesn't strike me as some "nasty assault", more so a heated argument where he got his backside handed to him.......and again I'm not saying that's right or that it's fine that they punched him, but I'm not naive or PC enough to realise stuff like this can and does happen in the heat of the moment. Futhermore, whilst people are bringing up Hardaker's previous misdemeanours as some sort ot character profile as some sort of further proof of guilt in this episode.....his previous faults were bad language and not understanding he was under a curfew......hardly the crib sheet of the hothead some have come to think of him as, he's hardly been an ill-disciplined player physically on the pitch to suggest he just randomly likes to set about some student.

Who do you think you are..Ronan Keating??