Its a good question? Also if you suffer from say mild asthma which often ends up being prescribed steroids.What are they saying you can't play.

He's been done before! he should be on the ball in terms of what can and cant be taken. Lets move on!

If any athlete can remember 50% of the products that contain prohibited substances or substances that cause the synthesis of prohibited substances then I'd be exceptionally impressed.

Also, they better check the site every day!



You can be banned today for something that wasn't banned yesterday!

UKAD have a programme for supplements called Informed-Sport which is designed to ensure athletes can get supplements that are free from banned substances. But should one of those products be contaminated by the manufacturer or distributor, and you fail a test because of it, you're going to get a ban.

There's too many banned products, too many ways to fail tests and on top of that we're hardly catching any of the 'cheaters'.

We're also preventing our athletes from using products that can ensure long term recovery from injuries - if players were allowed to supplement the natural levels of human growth hormone in their systems then they would recover from injury more quickly and completely and we'd likely have fewer players with busted bodies at the end of they careers. But it's a banned substance because it can help build more muscle mass.

Lets face it, you can be banned for having your own unsupplemented blood injected in to you (if you were training at altitude at the time it was taken) which is all kinds of crazy.

Most of the time its not up to the players though. Thats especially at pro and semi pro level. The days of players just taking remedies or supplements willy nilly are long since gone. If Penky is not cheating or does not think he is cheating then I would put good money on whatever he has taken or applied has been okayed by somebody at his club.

As I pointed out in my previous post, there is a UK based scheme called Informed-Sport which lists supplements verified by testing as clear of banned substances.

However, if you don't have access to a chemical analysis lab & a very secure method of product delivery, any compliant product can be tainted and become non-compliant. The responsibility still falls on the athlete.

If, as an individual, you want to guarantee avoiding banned substances then you're going to need to grow your own food, manufacture your own supplements (or avoid using them) and have a chemical analysis kit with the ability to use it effectively. You should avoid accepting any medical assistance that requires the use of any substance at all.

All of this should prevent positive tests - but you better hope that your body doesn't begin to malfunction in any way that raises levels of hormones, etc. associated with doping. They'll have you for that too!

Of course, I'm taking this to the extremes - the reality is that the authorities do little enough testing to make it look as if they're taking the issue seriously when they know full well that the testing process is inadequate, that dopers are achieving negative test results and that (potentially) innocent athletes are getting snared with false or unfair positive results.

The current system is and has been a farce for a very long time. Until the public realise that this is not a black and white issue then nothing will change.

Hmmm, that last sentence in the mr. chairman's post is a bit slanderous isn't it?

Who knows what the future may bring with regards testing and other players, but rumours have been circulating all season and during that time before the "worst kept secret" broke on Monday, these and other boards do themselves no favours when even our own fans engage in the nudge, nudge, wink, wink approach.

One of the saddest things I've seen this season involved Sean.

Ironically it was after we had beaten Salford in the CC and as I was on my way home I caught sight on Penky, outside the Hilton Park (Our House), pint in hand.

Of course the rumours were in full effect then and given their clarification it now adds to the pathos of the image of a man who'd given a lot to get the club to where is was on the pitch but he himself was to blame for the situation he found himself in - possibly the lonliest man in Leigh at that point.

Mr Chairman, do you have a reason for placing comments like that about ALL the Leigh Clubs?

Well having read the article about this in the Leigh Reporter I think had this gone to a proper Judge and jury the evidence would have been thrown out

That is nothing to do with my biased Leyther views but how I feel. I have served on a jury incidentally.

The ONLY Jury you have been on is Juke Box Jury.

Deeks ,why would Penky having a pint after a game be a sad sight?Surely he would be entitled to celebrate a very good win.

Because he had played so well for us for the past couple of seasons or so and should have been playing in the game but he was off with his injury while Bob had to do the full 80.

As such our win coupled with what was rumoured/known just made me think he cast a lonely figure outside the pub on his todd.

Add your own "" if need be.

Err, I thought he was caught with Human Growth Hormone in his system, not steroids?

Like I said before, PED use is RIFE in most top level sports, and not just the elite players and athletes either. He got unlucky he was caught.

Any news why Jamie Acton hasn't played for a few weeks ?