But 5 years!? madness

Isn't it dependent on performance?

I haven't read the detail the headline news is sufficient when it comes to Hock - personally I think he should have done a stint in the lower leagues.

Nothing like rewarding a drug taker with a bumper contract.

I really hope Wigan don't make a fanfare of his return. He should be brought back in slowly and with a low key reintroduction.

There is a performance related clause in the contract. He has been training with them so I'm sure they've been in a position to judge his progress accordingly and have given him a Super League contract accordingly, so I don't see why he should play lower league RL if Wigan think he's ready to play for them again.



As I say, we all make mistakes and Hock deserves another chance. On the flip side, how about rewarding the determination to better oneself and overcome an addiction for which we will never quite understand the motives?

Hilarious isn't it? I told a few non-RL fans about this today and they couldn't believe it. Embarrassing for the game IMO.

I'm going to take a different tack because he made an error in taking a recreational drug for which he recieved the deserved ban, I'm more interested in that he is returning as a prop; is that a permanent thing or has his ban given the likes of Farrell, Tuson and Mossop a chance which they have taken, and the best fit for the Wigan squad is to have the returning Hock come into the front-row.

Reckon it's more of a fitness thing, as training on your own is very different to playing in the first team. Or maybe he has just beefed up so much that he is just a monster, only a few weeks and we'll see if he's a contender for the Four Nations.

Pretty shrewd I reckon.
I imagine it'll gave been at a good price with a clause to get rid if necessary.

Silly thing to do but served his punishment.

I doubt there's any clubs in super league that have a squad that's whiter than white whether it be drugs or other serious misdemeanours.

Hock was a good player before, but prone to having mind explosions. I'm curious to see how he'll be now he won't be stoned half the time.

Good luck to the guy. As I understand it, he has used his time away from the game productively and he'll be a better person for it.

I just hope they are making him live with Shaun Wane to babysit him like they do with some of the idiotic footballers who aren't responsible enough to be trusted to live on their own.

The lad has almost done his time.

If Wigan want to give him a 5 year deal so what,they obviously believe in him.

I wonder if, during his lay off, he learned anything about ball retention.

If he did, Wigan have got themselves a player. If he's still the same old (well, older) Gareth Hock he'll be back to his "barnstorming run before dropping the ball in a flurry of elbows and chin" and a 5 yr deal would be a risk.

In terms of the drugs ban, though, he's served it now and we should be reintegrating them (and educating them properly). Some of these guys really are thick as pigswill, I think that's sometimes forgotten.

spot on
ive always bin a fan of him on feild, on his day a verry dangerous second rower, one of the best when hees on form.

5 year deal for an average player whose been out the game for 2 years?

As they say,desperate clubs do desperate things.