I suppose me means to get him away from the company he keeps but he'd soon make new friends and who's to say they won't have similar 'interests'.

At the end of the day Hock needs to sort his act out and needs to prove to Wigan he's truely sorry for letting them down and continue to prove he's clean in the future.

If he does that theres no need for his future to be with anybody else bar Wigan.

Despite Hocks ban i still believe he will be a much sought after player both in Superleague and in the NRL should Wigan not offer him a contract following or before he has served his ban. The Australian clubs will no all about him and i have no doubt that he could be a success in the NRL if thats what he wanted to do.

However, not everybody wants to up sticks and move to Australia and in this case i certanly do hope that Hock can clean up his act and remain with Wigan.

The Wigan club that Hock returns too (if he does) could be completley different from the one he left in terms of culture and am sure Ian Millward would know all about creating and sustaining the right culture.

He seemed to do a good job of breaking the Wigan culture in his time with us!

He's probably right.

I take it that it's Hocks circle of friends that have led him down this path rather than team mates, and for all the boozing culture in Aus, there aren't many stories of drug taking (bar Johns). Taking him away from that group of people may well help him avoid being dragged into it again.

Of course, there are a number of factors that would mean Hock doesn't view that as an option as noted above, but that doesn't mean Millward is wrong in what he says.

Drug taking is rife in the NRL far worse than over from what i have been told.

Millward





Bless.

I can see where he's coming from, Hock won't be seeing all the same people that he used to take drugs with. However I'd still rather he come back to Wigan after his ban from a fan's point of view, the club just needs to test him a lot for a while.

I completely disagree. Had Wigan made Hock's position with the club clear Millward would have no reason to comment.

If Hocks future with the club was already on record then if that future was he would get a new deal once his ban was complete Millward would be basically saying in public IL was wrong. That would be an extraordinary thing for a coach of another club to do and I don't think even Millward is stupid enough to do that.

Had all ties been cut as Millward suggests he equally would have no reason to comment as there would be no story there for him to milk.

I think all this is obvious when you think about it and it all stems from Wigan's lack of statement on the issue.

Millward would have no story were Hocks future already decided and the fact he has commented is directly as a result of Hock's future position not having been made public.

Dave

Maybe the club have not yet decided/ agreed what to do with Hock. Maybe they have been waiting for the new coach to come in? Cant announce anything if there is nothing to announce.

Don't you think our little Millward might have a few things to say about Wigan in the months and years ahead?
If there's a hole in our bucket anywhere Millward will be trying to find it.
Probably through blind faith I trust the people at Wigan to handle Gaz Hock and his situation with the delicate nature it needs. The club will be trying to help him as far as they can and are able to, I'm sure.
I hope Hock is successful in turning it all around, the last thing he needs is Millward mouthing off and giving him the dubious benefit of his opinion.

Wrong. He bears the club no ill will whatsoever.

This is the impression I was given too. Saints on the other hand....