I was told by a Saints fan (you know the usual "i have a mate that works at saints yada yada) and he claimed that Eastmond is suspended for because he had some kind of pop at Simmons and said something about wanting to go bath early.

Now I DO NOT think this is true AT ALL I have posted this simply because I want opinion on whether that could actually be classed as "serious misconduct"?


Moments like that though do make me love the RL Community. He stopped to talk just coz I had a Wigan shirt on. A few years ago when I was a naive enough kid to support Liverpool (eurgh support my dad's team Crewe now and yeah I know theyre pap but I feel better that way haha) I used to get abuse from passing men in cars (usually Utd fans) and you'd never get that in Rugby (well it would be jokey at least). Btw I'm talking full on abusive swearing "scouse 't' " etc at a kid.

BBC said its to do with gestures made towards fans after the Quins game. Suppose he can't handle a few people being annoyed at him for leaving the club who made him what he is over 10 years and invested time, effort and money into him to be shunted so he could move to Yawnion. Get rid. He's boring everyone now. League fans don't want people like that and I'm guessing most Saints fans do if his attitude is like that.

He shouldn't have reacted but what gives 'fans' the right to verbally abuse him, from a distance I might add, as he's leaving the field? Everyone involved is a moron.

I still can't help feeling that this is meat and drink to St Helens.

Surely they'll be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of unloading Eastmond early and not having to pay him the remainder of his contract.

His presence certainly seems to be doing more harm to them than good at the moment.

I agree that abusing players isn't on, but to be fair to some Saints fans, he has been absolutely dire this season. You can't help wondering if his new owners have told him to stay out of the action.

Chris Ashton got slated by all Wigan fans when he was offered peanuts by our then chairman and took a (reportedly) 100K + wage rise, which was a wise career move. His attitude was in question also with the shirt incident. Granted, Eastmond hasn't done that but if his performances are p*ss poor, he's sulking around and walking off the field without thanking fans, you can understand their grievances. They pay their money at the end of the day. I agree its a bit of both to be blamed really. Not handled well. At end of the day though these situations wouldn't be coming up if RL was defended a bit better by the RFL. Undoubtably, the international game in Union is far superior and is a great product. If Eastmond left for that reason and not money, thats his choice I guess.

This is what i would suspect.

Given his record with injuries, it could be prudent advice.

They can develop a young lad like Gaskell or Wheeler (their 6's but not huge difference between 6 and 7) if they're good enough, and bring in a big signing with the 200k wage freed up. Or they can invest in a quality 7 to replace him, so guess their situation ain't that bad. Never been 100% convinced by Eastmond when I've seen him the last few years. Few signs of class but also few signs of inconsistency and going missing in games.