A fine is a bit like closing the door after the horse has bolted though isn't it? What are players thinking getting drunk during a World Cup?

It's especially baffling considering Harris basically said the other day that the lax attitude of the Welsh squad in 1995 cost what was an excellent team a chance at the trophy.

So you have a Wigan coach saying that drink cost him a once in a lifetime opportunity, yet players still go out and get drunk.

That's a bigger problem than anything McNamara has done. Utterly baffling.

I agree.

Lets be honest, what message does a fine send out to the players that broke the rules?

What message would it send out to the rest of the squad who abide by the rules?

Representing your country is supposed to be the highest honour a player can do yet ignoring the rules and going out drinking is totally dis-respectful to not only the rest of the squad and coaching team but also to the supporters who pay to watch the games.

The players have only themselves to blame.

Hock tweeted something before about "McNamara being a coward", seems he's deleted it now.

The lad really needs to grow up. I can't believe he's 30, he acts and talks like he's 16 or 17.

Shock horror
RL players drinking , what ever next, singing songs and getting their kit off in public.
Tabloid exclusive , RL team get drunk after match and player exhibits equipment in public.
One unnamed elderly female fan declares it wouldn't have happened in my day, players just didn't do that sort of thing.
Veteran Kit lady from St Mary's by the canal ARLFC suggested that her and the rest of the young women from the soap factory took great pleasure in caring for the players equipment so it wasn't seen in public like that.
Another source close to the player quoted,"obviously we knew he had one but didn't mention it as having a one and a pair could seriously impede his career in the RFL "

Think about this, ever had a bad week at work then went for a pint when you should'nt have cos you had to be up next morning.
No me neither !
What a load of Bo##@cks, this has had more publicity than two great games Of RL.

I disagree. Missing a World Cup opening game against Australia was the best punishment and it sets a precedent that this behaviour will not be tolerated by the England coach. McBanana has gone up in my estimation with his handling of the situation.

I support him in dealing with the miscreants but he should have dealt with the press too instead of walking out.

To be fair he did give them numerous warnings....

are you a professional sports person? roosters players publicly say their decision to give up the booze during the play offs helped them win the premiership. just out of curiosity what is your'e connection to Hock?

It's such garbage, that it's probably his agent!!!!

Or to use another sport, Wigan fan Bradley Wiggins had to lead an almost monk like existence in order to have the year he did in 2012. He's struggled mentally to maintain that kind of devotion this year, and his performance has suffered as a result. Nevertheless, he managed it over a 10 month period in order to achieve the pinnacle of his sport.

That these blokes have not managed it for even a few days doesn't paint them in a good light. The interview Hock did with the BBC was embarrassing. He came across as someone without two braincells to rub together.

+1

I can never understand why anyone would be easily forgiving of a highly paid professional sportsman who damages his prep for a big event by going out partying.

It's not just about him. The guy may be letting down teammates, coaching staff, conditioners, medical advisers, dietary staff, employers, not to mention supporters - all of whom have invested a lot in his development and progress.

I hear it time and again that young athletes are just young lads, and should be allowed to go out and get sloshed if they feel like it. I could not disagree with that sentiment more. In fact, I regard it as the sort of hare-brained folly that could actually do harm if it reaches the ears of the young and impressionable.

Athletes are NOT like the rest of us. For the duration of their career, their body should be their temple. That isn't to say they can't celebrate victory or have a drink now and then, but there is a time and place - and the week before a massive Test match against Australia was most decidedly not it.

As for McNamara - I don't know what's been going on in that England camp to allow that bunch of players to think they could get away with this, but someone needs to investigate. As for his reaction - he did right to punish the worst offender so publicly. The others perhaps also needed more than a slapped wrist, but I don't suppose the guy could have kicked all six out - that really would have been reducing our chances in the WC. And he certainly should not have walked out of the press conference. This was a serious issue, but he could have dealt with it by being firm: "I'll make a statement regarding the disciplinary measures, take a couple of questions on it, and after that we're talking about the game."

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.