I'm sorry, but I'm sick of seeing "mental health" being wheeled out as an excuse for general bellendery. It's an absolute insult to those with genuine problems.

This is almost like Wakefield 2015 and the Tim Smith/ Kevin Locke fiasco. Both were sacked a week or so before the MPG. Least Widnes have a few more weeks to recover.

Widnes has been looking like a relegated side all season. Chase may have just made that more likely. Purely from a HKR perspective, with this and the Gigot news, everything is working in our favour. We just need to take this opportunity....

Gigot's ban was repealed just before he played a blinder against Leigh in his 1st game back, everyone questioned why & he almost certainly helped Dragons win that game.

Chase is a different entity & possibly a victim of his apparent low IQ & other issues. Regarding Rangi, he is either a force in the game or being carried dependant on the day in question.
While at Leigh I saw very little of the 'magic' he is revered for, he is certainly excellent at playing the 'sick note' position though.

An end to Rangi's sporting career & a 'regular' job might have the potential to be the catalyst to his rcovery & wellbeing, who knows ?

I hope Chase can overcome his demons but ultimately he is done for in this sport.

I think many more players will be guilty of taking coke/recreational drugs .Remember Hock saying he thought he'd be clear before chance of being tested . Unfortunately people from teens to 40s are regularly taking something on their nights out and it is normal in the circles the players are moving in.Are they role models and should they know better? Undoubtedly yes but Chase isn't a naive youngster and his bad choices have reached a peak it seems.A shame for him and Widnes.Im sure there will be more to the story than released but he has my sympathy from the human aspect of it if not the professional sportsman side.Hope he comes out the other side of this and finds the right path

Undoubtedly one of the most talented individuals I have seen play for Cas. He did things that no other players could even dream of, particularly in his first spell at the club.
Unfortunately, his problems are down to poor decision-making, perhaps as a result of mental health issues.
Constantly putting himself into volatile situations led to numerous club warnings and suspensions. Deciding to go out and get hammered (alone) in places where trouble was likely to occur (the middle of Pontefract, a Featherstone game) is not a decision made by a sane individual. Likewise, taking crack less than 24 hours before a game suggests a man not making rational decisions.
Without saying too much, he has also made some very bad decisions in his personal relationships and isolated those who would be best placed to help him.
His actions, to me, speak of someone who has serious mental health issues.
Having met him a good number of times, I can also say that in a personal level he is polite, friendly and willing to give his time freely. He was always happy to spend time talking to my daughter and doing photos at games and never came across as arrogant or aloof.
I hope he gets the help he clearly needs.

Phew, thank Christ your qualifications as a psychiatrist put you in a position to correctly analyse & diagnose Rangi's demons as simple bellendery. That Terry Newton was another one.

Chase is undoubtedly talented, but having been given numerous chances by various clubs, he persistently lets down the people who invest in him. I don't buy the mental health story either - I work in mental health, and I can say with certainty that snorting coke is not an antidote or a form of self-medication - if anything, it exacerbates existing problems, and at 31 and with a family and an enviable international career, he has significantly more opportunities than most people with debilitating *actual* mental health issues.

Does he have problems? For sure - but I'd suggest his biggest problem is that he's as thick as mince.

Did Newton ever go to a rival team's match that didn't concern his own and start a fight with a rival fan? Because that pretty much smacks of bellendery. Sure Chase may need help, for being addicted to being an idiot.

Ever considered that a person's behaviour may be linked to their mental health?

Or vice versa?