Just been on the Wire board and the thread on this topic contains the usual moronic posts from Wire imbeciles.

I hope they never replace Saints as our main rivals, or God forbid ever actually win the League. I'm not sure I could cope with the explosion of inbred muppetry we'd be subjected to.

How have so many of you failed to read the article properly?

To me, it looks like the journalist made the GT comparison, and not Smith.

it is embarrassing, isn't it?

and going to the effort of emailing officials to lay out of thick you are really is cringe worthy.

Read the article it explains all very clearly. Don't know how some on this board are getting some of the some impressions out of it.

Read the article again.



The 3 quotes are the only quotes from Smith and nowhere does he mention Gareth Thomas.

I think people need to calm down a little.

As someone as already said, good humoured chants/songs etc are all perfectly fine and JM will be expecting them. But people spitting bile from the touchline should be punished as they should if they were being foul and abusive to any player.

Wouldnt be a successful week without a big over reaction about something on here

I have read the article. It says that Smith believes that there is a precedent for the Monaghan case and then it goes on to refer to Thomas' case. A precedent is a legal case which forms the basis for future decisions in similar cases. Thomas' case is similar in certain aspects - it concerns abuse - but very, very different in others.

In any event, the point here is that RL needs to err on the side of caution, it needs to be a lot more sensitive to issues around sexual orientation. The article can be read in a way that appears to suggest Smith made the comparison, because it uses the word "precedent". I'm sure that if he did refer to Thomas' case it was merely to point out that the RL had a disciplinary procedure in the case of abusive chanting. Whether or not he even mentioned the Thomas case is one issue, but the fact remains that the article suggests the cases were similar without making it clear that the subject matter of the abuse is very different.

I make no apology for the fact that I find homophobia deeply offensive. Given the Thomas episode I would expect senior people within RL to be going out of their way to show that there is no place for bigots in our game. I don't think it unreasonable to ask Wire and Smith to make it clear that the cases of Thomas and Monaghan are very different. It would be very easy for them to issue a short press release.

I have read the article properly.

Your post speaks for itself.

The journalist used the Thomas case as an example of a player recieving abuse. Tony Smith doesn't even mention Gareth Thomas, it's the journo you have an issue with not Tony Smith.

The journalist is saying Smith believes something. That something is that the Thomas case is a precedent. The journalist isn't quoting Smith directly but he is saying what Smith's views are. I can only conclude that you and the others who don't seem to follow this are being deliberately difficult.

Here is the relevant part of the article:

"Smith acknowledges that opposition fans are eagerly awaiting their first glimpse of Monaghan. He is also aware that the Origin star will be subjected to a verbal barrage over his simulated sex act with a dog, but has backed the player and believes there is a precedent he can use to silence abusive fans.

Last June, Castleford Tigers were fined £40,000 ($64,000) after their supporters aimed homophobic abuse at Celtic Crusaders winger Gareth Thomas, who had revealed he was gay. And Smith is more than ready to demand that the league bosses do the same when Super League returns in February."