How can any club prevent this from happening again ?

This was a group of youths , what exactly are you suggesting any club should do next time a group of what is essentially children take it upon themselves to be ' naughty ' ?

Why am I not surprised that this the only Rugby League story I can recall hearing on Radio 2 news

Also, at the last Rugby League game I attended on Sunday, a section of my team's fans sang about the sexual practices of a member of the opposistion (a song I have heard at 10s if not 100s of games) there were plenty of stewards about and nothing was done, can I expect the management of the club I attended to be punished or is it only Gareth Thomas who is offered this protection

You can't prevent it completely. However Castleford were not fined simply because the chanting happenedThe tribunal was chaired by his Honour Judge Rodney Grant who criticised the club for failing to take steps to stop the homophobic chanting, for failing to identify the perpetrators, for failing to challenge the chanting and for their failure to undertake a meaningful inquiry afterwards.'"

The fact that you say it is naughty like that, shows the problem.
If we were talking abouta youth throwing coins at someone, then no one would doubt that they should be ejected from the stadium. It doesn't matter how young they are, it is how serious you regard the offense.
The point I think (and it is only my own conclussion) is that the RFL see this as more serious than Cas, and many supporters.

For me, they should have been confronted by a steward(s), and if they failed to stop, should have been ejected.
The same as if they were hurling racial abuse or sexist abuse to the cheerleaders etc etc.

Again, only my opinion, but I reckon if these youths (do we actually know their ages?) were away supporters, they would have been dealt more severely as more likely to start an incident with home supporters.....and that would be incorrect to treat the two differently.

You don't think that if there were more openly gay men in the sport than homosexuality wouldn't be a novelty on the rugby pitch, and there would be nothing to chant about?

Just wondering, is it still ok within the world of rugby league to call ginger people names, for being ginger?

I'm surprised to see you on here Starry - I thought your approach to threads about theG word wad demand that they be locked

and are you saying that is ok?
I think you've hit the crux of the discussion on this subject. We all accept it goes on. The question is do you want it to continue or do you want it to be stopped.

How the RFL can fine a club such a ridiculous amount is beyond me. All clubs have these morons - how the hell are they expected to stop anyone chanting.

I hope Cas win their appeal.

There is no instilling sense in this man. He's just been on the radio now bemoaning his treatment by some unpleasant fans. If he only stopped appearing in the media the morons could be stomped on. Now another bunch will appear from somewhere in response to this.

This was a non-story, going nowhere until a blatant self-publicist decided to raise his profile by wringing every last drop out of it.

In their desperation to be seen to be doing the right thing, the RFL has made something which would by now have long since disappeared off the radar, and could have been dealt with within the game, in to another chance for the entire sporting media to have a pop.

Will they ever learn.

And there lies the problem as the fine is related to the lack of action taken by Cas (in the panels view) which indicates that the RFL had to do something as Cas did not appear to be doing anything.

its a bit of a chicken and egg situation.

its also the reason why people referring to Thomas as a 'shameless self-publicist' really dont get it.

Maybe you are right, but someone has to tread that path first, Thomas is doing that, Roberts did it a decade ago. This is why it is 'shameless self-publicising' its showing it can be done, and making it an issue shows that it wont be accepted and the game will stamp it out.

We need people like Thomas to do what he is doing to change the attitudes of those within the sport, but also show to those outside it we would welcome them in.


Though some find it easier to blame the faggot for making a big deal about it. The big drama queen

No not at all , only when the thread drifts to discussing children and some posters appeard to be ' getting off ' on the subject did myself and others request it be locked , and also in this case it isn't the fact it was homophobic chants , it could have been racist or anything else , my argument is quite simply in the PC ' no win no fee ' litigation world we live in , I really dont see what Cas or any other club can do to stop this happening , or what action they were expected to take

And nobody has answered that question yet and nobody will , it really is an impossible situation for any club

it isnt, and it has been answered, on this very page