Bingo! I ref every week and see lads of all ages can manage to have a dig at each other without resorting to homophobic insults. The fact there are no openly gay rugby league players tells you all you need to know about how far we need to progress as a sport

But should the punishment for being thick be as harsh as a spear tackle? This, plus the "hate crime" OTT comments and the misguided who think Baa Baa Black Sheep should be banned are what rub me up the wrong way (rub me up? Am I allowed to say that? Who knows these days?).

No one has ever thought that BBBS should be banned. It was a fabrication by the Daily Mail to discredit left wing councils in the mid eighties. The lie was carried on for decades by the right wing press and swallowed by gullible idiots like you.

This never happened!

To be honest what rubs you up the wrong way is irrelevant. Under its current deal, RL is picking up somewhere in the region of £17m from Sport England over the current 4-year funding period. That money is intended to develop the game, largely by recruiting as many people as possible to the sport. Then, along comes a clown like Hardaker with his pathetic playground taunts. At a stroke this potentially isolates the sport from a large segment of the population. Face up to it, in addition to gays there are swathes of the public who simply won't tolerate their kids being brought up with homophobic values. Then there's our sponsors who are at the end of the day trying to flog their products. This type of crap won't sit easily with them either.
So, quite apart from the direct offence caused by racist and homophobic abuse, our sport has a lot riding on matters like this. The RFL was right to ban Hardaker and Leeds are 100% correct in ensuring he puts in a stint working with a gay RL team in Leeds (which, incidentally, I'm told Hardaker was grateful to be given the opportunity to do in order to make amends to those he caused offence to). The reason they've done this is because they recognise how immensely harmful this can be to the sport - far greater than anything that passes as a "spear tackle" as seen in the modern game.

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It was probably a bad choice of words on my part suggesting simple stupidity would be the reason someone would resort to racist or homophobic comments. I don't believe there is a pro RL player in the UK who doesn't know that is a line you don't cross including Hardaker before he got done for it. So to be clear by "thick" I mean stupid enough to knowingly break a rule, not "thick" born of ignorance. So the ban fits for me.

Well said.

I don't agree with this at all.

Players safety ought to be paramount. Spear tackles could result in death.

Maybe I am 'old fashioned', but not too long ago people often used to say "[iIt's a free country, I can say what I like[/i". You never hear that said anymore. Then there was the old ditty of 'sticks and stones.......... etc.

I am not saying abuse/sledging is right. But it has always been a part of our game. It has often been used as a tactic to put players off their games.

Why is it that 'redheads/gingers' are regarded nowadays as fair game for abuse in the 'mass media' and everywhere? That can quite easily be regarded as 'racist', but it's rife now in the UK and elsewhere.

Wrong again I'm afraid. Birmingham city council brought in just such a recommendation in 2000. It was subsequently dropped when many of the black community complained that it was ridiculous PC posturing. Now who's the gullible idiot?

so they didn't?

Exactly but stand by for the righteous rebuke.

So the image of RL is unimportant? If Hardaker's actions had been condoned, would it matter to you if Sky, Tetleys and First Utility pulled out so as not to be associated with us, or if parents stopped their children taking up the game because of it?

What? The recommendation was put in place then dropped due to complaints from the black community. The point is that when it suits, some are all to keen to get the pitchforks out. Now, if these same people were to denegrate Dianne Abbott for committing hate crime with her infamous tweet a couple of years back, fair enough.

Whoa. No ones suggesting condoning his behaviour. That's about as likely as Sky et al pulling the plug because of it.