I ran the Whitchurch half marathon many moons ago + 1 of my quite stocky fellow running mates sprinted past me in the last 200 yards to the finishing line where he requested for a cigarette from his wife but yes he was a smoker but a hell of a runner to for a man that weighed prob nigh on 15st.

Fair enough, but cmon, we can't say that smoking has no effect on aerobic performance surely.

Of course it has an impact... unless that other poster is Mo Farah it doesn't mean much that a fat guy ran past him.

Warrington players in drinking/smoking shocker.

I've been going into town centre/S. Heath pubs since the mid 80's, and have regularly seen Wire players either
a. enjoying a few drinks
b. p155ed
c. hammered to Ollie Read levels.

I've got nothing against professional sportsmen enjoying a couple of snifters (Brian Clough even encouraged them BEFORE games), BUT, these are supposed to be exactly that. PROFESSIONAL. Hanley didn't drink at all. His career didn't turn out too bad, did it? Pity a few of these "playboys", don't take a leaf out of his book.

Many top athletes and sportsmen and sportswomen are teetotal because they recognise that alcohol is a poison to the body, they want to be in the best physical health they can be, and they have the intelligence and self control. Something lacking in RL players generally.

Maybe Russell was still ed when he was trying to gather that kick.

RE Hanley I read that Sinfield never drank either.

Smoking is bad for everything other than fish....
I wasn't making a point...I was informing you that John Woods seemingly had no less effectiveness and was one of the most naturally gifted players I've seen....but he smoked like a chimney!!

Just a quick trip to Google, to see several top level Aussie players involved in "shenanigans" which have ended up in bans, proves a point. Todd Carney and our own Joel Monaghan are cases in point. 9 times out of 10, all these incidents are alcohol related.

Can't these people "tone it down a bit", and realise that professional sport is a relatively small part (10 years at the top, unless you're REALLY good) of their entire lives.

... and these are just the booze ones.
They don't include the numpties who engage with "recreational pharmaceuticals".

Now, I'm not advocating an Oliver Cromwell style of puratinism. Just a level of reasonable level of self discipline.

Not much for a "professional", is it?

I'd have Dave Taylor in a heartbeat baggage allowance of not. We seem lightweight in the front row depth again.
I thought the whole reason to let last year's best forward at Wire, Sims, contract to run out was to add beef?

Strangely enough though, in the days when players worked 5/6 days a week ,trained twice a week & smoked & drank without enforced limits , the games were just as exciting & the effort put in by 26 working blokes during a game was non stop.

These lads are supposed to be professional ATHLETES.

They can drink and smoke all they want when they retire but will you EVER see Adam Peaty, Chris Froome, Andy Murray, Mo Farah or thousands upon thousands of other actual true professionals drinking and smoking?

Would you !

These rugby league players who eat (remember that interview with Bailey and Lineham when they said ordering pizzas was a regular thing?), drinking and smoking (how many times have we seen this over the years, not just with Wire), are a in disgrace.

They are professionally paid to be athletes and you aren’t an athlete just at training and the game, athletes are athletes in their whole life. True professional athletes time their sleep, weigh their food and live the life of an athlete 168 hours a week.

I remember watching a video with City’s David Silva who was offered a Bakewell tart to eat and he only had a bite and said that’s do as there was too much sugar in it to eat the whole thing.

I think rugby league players need to get their heads into 2018. Wake the up boys, the game is on its and we need them to become true professional athletes to take this game forward.

I've said it before. Rugby players are thick.

Do you think that’s what Roger Federer and Anthony Joshua do?

It’s more like something Ricky Hatton did and he wasted his career with his stupid lifestyle between fights.

Phil Chadwick said there are 10,080 minutes in a week. So you ask yourself all the time during the 10,000 - Is what I am doing getting me the best I can be for the 80?

Interesting discussion here but it's all based on the hypothesis that our players were out getting smashed in Stockton Heath, just because of one post reporting a second hand story. Interesting how this story hasn't been on twitter or been corroborated by anyone else on the forum, or maybe Stockton Heath is that bad these days that nobody other than Wire players and Wolvesno1fan's partner goes out there.

This story has legs because we have lost 2 from 2 and look crap so its good fertile ground to believe it. Classic tabloid stuff.

Lack of fitness might not be the issue. If we had been leading these games going in to the final 20 mins and then slacked off shedding late tries and the players were blowing I'd be asking questions, but if the issue is poor attacking structure and a high error count the problems are elsewhere.

Also haven't we often complained that one problem at Warrington, especially when it comes to giving young players a shot, is that there's [itoo much[/i emphasis on fitness and the physical side of the game from our coaching set up...?

Imagine there were two young halfbacks coming through the Wire academy today, a young Andy Gregory and a young Chris Thorman. Andy Gregory likes his beer and parties and carries a bit of spare timber but is a real true halfback that can break a defence, and that you don't see around much today. Chris Thorman is a more limited player but he does everything right. Says yes sir to anything the fitness staff want, eats what he's told to, gets the hours of sleep in, dedicates himself in the gym. The Gary Neville of rugby league.

Which of those two lads is going to get given a shot by our coaching staff?

My bet is, Andy Gregory gets shifted out early and ends up signing for Leigh or Oldham trying to rebuild his career part time. Garry Schofield would be all over the media complaing that there's a halfback genius in the lower grades who nobody looks at but SL coaching staff turn their noses up and say that lad hasn't got what it takes to prepare himself for the modern game. Meanwhile the young Chris Thorman gets his gig as the future of English rugby league, and when we come up against Australia, people say, why don't we produce players like they do.

My friend, not even a rugby fan, had no reason to invent the story of the players at the reception in the lake district.