Dave Brailsford and his aggregation of marginal gains system is legendary and why they do all that stuff. I think it was Jason Kenny who was refused permission to attend a gig a full twelve months before the olympics as it meant he wouldnt get the necessary amount of sleep thst night. He got the results too!

Not many people would be willing to devote themselves like that! It makes even more of a mockery of the fact that some "pros" cant go without a beer and then cant stop before they drink so much they cant get out of bed the following morning!

its not about hock going for a beer, its about hock not doing as requested, simple as that.

I have no connection to hock or any club, just tired of the world being sanitised by overblown press reporting.
What the players did was not illegal, immoral or even a bit risky.
My post was meant to highlight that 20 or 30 years ago this wouldn't have been considered news and shouldn't be today, it's Bo@@ocks.
It Gas hocks talent to pi@@ up against the wall, not ours and as for young lads, there wast one of them a young lad, they were all grown up professionals capable of making an individual decision.
I have no right to criticise any of them for their action, it may not have been my choice I would have made but it was theirs.

fair enough.
But they are professional athletes and their jobs are judged on performance and its well known alcohol has adverse effects on performance. And this is the present not the past they used to tell people cigarettes is good for health and stress.
Every player is invited to the England camp and they have rules to follow hock didn't he went home its not school its a job with big responsibilities.

Just because it's someone's choice, that doesn't mean they can't be criticised for it. There is such a thing as a wrong or stupid choice.

While I certainly agree that the press have relished it, it's not an unimportant issue on the eve of a World Cup tournament that might be very important for the future of the professional game in this country. The players concerned let the England team down and blew their responsibility. Therefore we have every right to be irritated with them.

Hock should watch the Sam Burgess documentary and cringe. That's a lad that's been through hell and worked tirelessly to succeed.

Hock has just as much natural ability but not even 1% of Sam Burgess's class.

I’ve always thought that Hock is a talent, at his best a very good player, but what IMO makes him different from some of the names mentioned in posts on this thread is WILLPOWER, the mental ability to stop the feeling of what he wants to do, and change it for what should be the overriding thought for what he should do, and do that. I think most world class people and sports people have this capability; it may be called strength of character.

I agree with the majority of posts on this thread.

I would go further however. I think that the team should not just go without booze for the tournament but they should go without sex too just like the old prize fighters did.

I mean Hock should be thoroughly ashamed of himself. Never mind looking within the England ranks - why not take the lead from the best players in the world.

Look at his opposite number in the Australian team, Greg Bird. When he finished his degree in Philosophy at Sydney University he joined a Benedictine Monastery and only leaves for matches and training. But Greg is not the only one who dedicates himself to his career in such exemplary fashion.

Just look throughout the whole of the NRL for more shining examples for our Gaz to follow.

I'm off on my high horse now...

That's very well put. I wonder what some of the people who thinks it's ok for players to break the squad rules and have a "few" beers do for a living themselves?

Maybe they blindly follow the rules too - who knows. Personally I don't drink - but I prefer not to judge others who do - providing they can perform on the pitch (or in the office if you prefer)

Steve McNamara had a duty to put out the best England team. He's only had 4 years to prepare for this game. He failed. If anyone seriously thinks that Lee Mossop/the other Burgess is better than James Graham or that Brett Ferres/Ben Westwood is better than Gaz Hock then go ahead, be my guest. I went to the game on Saturday and it was so obvious that England wouldn't sustain their good start because the bench wasn't good enough. That is solely down to McNamara. He chose to leave out better players. And whilst we are at it Micky Mac should have been out there too because Widdop wasn't up to it (meaning that Sinfield was moved to hooker to accommodate him).

When you manage a team you have to find ways of managing all of your disparate resources - not just the ones who are good little boys.

And I'd forgotten about Carl Ablett. Enough said surely...I rest my case.