Wouldn't a clause preventing a person plying his trade be illegal under EU rules regarding restriction of trade ?
Some good money here for a lawyer

But hopefully not the ones who may have missed the clause in the first place?

Not as long as Leigh pay him his contract terms with them I would think.

Wether preventing a player playing against his former club because of a clause in his leaving contract is legal strikes me as very odd. You don't sign contracts with former employers these days. Did anyone ever ?

Seems to me this is just hype and tells me Salford expect to lose on April 18.

Think most of their fans think so too.

I don't know enough about this story to make an educated statement on it, however I will say that come game day, it will pretty much depend on which Salford turn up, the good Salford or the woefully inept Salford.

Should the poor Salford pitch up at the LSV, then they are there for the taking apart... Hock or no Hock.

Koukash would then probably bail on the club, which would be bad news for them. Where on earth would they find that kind of financial backing again ?

Agree..The clause would have to be in place on the Salford contract he signed.

Perhaps it has something to do with the 'severance' deal he struck with his former employer though?

That is exactly what it will be Alan. Marwan is sticking to his guns on this one, although it does seem a very 'childish' clause to put in.

[urlhttp://www.sportinglife.com/rugby-league/news/article/480/9784100/rugby-league-news-salford-say-former-star-gareth-hock-cant-play-against-them-for-leigh-in-challenge-cup[/url

"As part of his release agreement that he signed with us, it was agreed that he couldn't play any competitive games against us," Koukash said.

"Gareth was fully aware of that. The discussions were with Gareth and his agent and, from what I'm hearing, Leigh were made aware of the clause. It's in black and white and agreements are made to be respected."

You cant really get much clearer than that. For all Koukash knew, Hock could have signed for another Super League club and therefore the clause makes absolute sense from a Salford perspective. If we hadn't been drawn together in the Challenge Cup this clause wouldn't have ever been discussed or known of to the general public.

Wouldn't be surprised if Leigh weren't aware of the clause, certainly seemed that way. MK's quote suggests it wouldn't have been Salford that made Leigh aware of it. And why should they.

Either way, if it's in a signed contract, it should be honoured. Will be annoying if it's Leigh and Salford in the million pound game.

If its an agreement with Gareth to get released then if broken it would Gareth who is sued by the Doc - we can have a whip round to pay his fine/compensation. When Wigan released him to Widnes they dealt with Widnes so insisted he didnt play against them - different scenario.