Perfect fit

to be fair Boyd was never banned for drug taking or sent home from his national team in disgrace.( I know what Hock did). so in that aspect chalk and cheese.

But your right in Australia today the subject of Les Boyd still brings out the haters, just the same as us talking about Hock.

I remember reading a piece earlier in the year where he was critical of the modern game. and people posted comments calling him a thug and a dinosaur. All this while they are watching a game with chicken wing tackles cannonball tackles James graham biting ears in a grand final, and not to mention pages upon pages of off field scandals and widespread doping. If people don't like a player they don't like a player they wont change.

Boyd was exemplary for Warrington RLFC on and off the field (except for the odd ten minute in the bin) if Gaz Hock can do that for Hull or wherever then fair do's. But he'll still be a scrote to me.

one mans villain CAN be another mans hero.

Hock so far ....has only been the villain.

It remains to be seen if he can sort his own head out and realise he has the skill and ability to become a hero for someone...somewhere.

Hull FC, thats a career graveyard these days.

Just looked on Hull forums apperently Lee Radford is not interested in signing him.

Is Koukash asking money for him? I can't really see anyone risking paying a fee for someone with such a poor track record and who will be 32 next year.

I saw his chin sticking out of the front door of the Mulberry Tree in Stockton Heath. Could be something in it.

Nothing in this rumour.

I bit the bullet from Hock last year so I won't rise to what he says anymore.

The issue with Boyd is that despite the Aussie hardman image, Australian rugby league is a fair bit more 'politically correct' about behaviour than our league is.

Boyd got a 12 month ban for elbowing Daryl Brohman in the face in State of Origin, which was a pretty big sentence, although you can youtube the 'tackle' and it was disgraceful, Boyd didn't even try to tackle him, he just smacked him with the elbow, and when a guy with Boyd's immense physical strength does that it's probably a potentially fatal assault. Boyd got so much notoriety because of sympathy for Brohman and the extent of his injuries. That was Brohman's Origin debut and he had to go off injured because his jaw was smashed to pieces, he never played representative level again.

So Boyd was the Eric Cantona/Luis Suarez type figure with a lengthy ban, and when he came back, he was three games in to his comeback and he eye gouged someone, which is pretty much a crime beyond the pale for any RL player and so he was shunned in the Aussie game.

As you say, Boyd then came to Warrington and apart from the odd fight and sin bin he behaved himself, just like Morley who had a chequered discipline record at Leeds and Sydney Roosters, was impeccable for us.

But you can see why Boyd was shunned in the Aussie game the way he was, because he was the hardest man in rugby league and probably one of the strongest players the game has seen, and if he is going round eggshelling players jaws with his elbow and then sticking his fingers in to players eyes it is going to make the game's officials seriously worried about the danger he poses to other players' health.

Back to the issue of Hock, I see these 'liability' players in simple terms...

does the benefit what they bring to you on the field, exceed the cost of the damage they do by conceding penalties/getting sent off and leave you short on the field/missing games and getting banned, plus the potentially disruptive influence in the dressing room and reputational damage to the brand of the club?

If they are a really great player, then perhaps it does, which is why Barca have just paid out so much to Luis Suarez

But on Hock, is he STILL the great forward that is worth it?

A few years back you would have to say he was head and shoulders above any British back rower in the game, he was an outstanding talent.

But now...? I don't think he is the force of old.

hock is clearly a bit insane, but deep down there is a world class rugby player there.... i might be going against the grain a bit, but i would give him a 1 year contract, with the option of a 2nd if he behaves.... it might take a coach like smith to get him under control.... if someone can, they are getting one hell of a plyer

£100k apparently which makes it even more mystifying. He is 30 now after all and given he's not got all that many years left in the tank even if the gamble did pay off and we got a straight edge Hock then we're not going to get all that much for our money anyway.

Hock reminds me of Alan Rathbone, half brain dead nutcase but one hell of a player, I loved Rathbone's motivation. I was ball boy one time and so close to the action I heard him loudly saying..."come on lads, let's fxxxxxx kill em" top draw motivation! We did beat them too, I just forget who it was now??

I don't think it has crossed TS's mind to sign Hock. TS has implanted his own ethos and standards at the club and I cannot see Hock fitting in with them. After all, one of the first things he did was to get rid of one of the best centres of his generation in Gleeson because he was a bit of a liability in his private life which was undoubtedly an unsettling influence.