Stupid boy. I just don't get the mentality that allows them to think they're not going to get caught at some point. I don't buy into the "pressure to perform" rationale either: it's just lazy & a desire to try to short cut hard work.

Having said that, he should be offered support & not just thrown to the wolves like Terry Newton was.

When athletes cite pressure as a reason, all I hear is that they're not taking ultimate responsibility, ie trying to deflect blame. It's their fault & no-one else's (or did I miss a memo & we've got the old East German coaches hidden around somewhere?).

There's more than enough information now in the public domain for anyone who does this not to know it's wrong regardless of the source or the reason.

If he does forge a career in RL after his ban is up it should be somewhere other than at Wigan. We have had enough of the consequences of rehabilitating drug cheats.

He's young enough to learn, I'd have no problem if Wigan backed him providing he's got the right attitude. FWIW, Hock was never a drug "cheat", in that he never took performance enhancing drugs. What Hock did was bad, but this is worse IMO, as it is directly cheating by taking a banned substance to improve performance.

Exactly

hock was a moron who did something outside of RL that had no benefit whatsoever to his performances on the pitch (but still against the rules). what this kid has done is blatant cheating and he has got exactly what he deserves

Hopefully he will learn

Read a quote from the club, specifically Rads, stating that we would be standing by him and are currently putting together a rehabilitation schedule for him over the course of his ban.

I think most are being a bit harsh. Yes it was dumb but he is an 18 year old kid. Most of us have done many stupid things when we were 18. I won't pretend to understand the pressure and desperation to play involved at academy level and his reasons for doing what he did. Hopefully he'll learn from it and get his chance in a few years time.

That is the right way to go in my opinion.

I kind of assumed most players would be on something anyway. The testing isn't exactly rigorous in rugby league. Puglsey was probably as guilty of failing an IQ test as he was a dope test given how relatively easy it would be to circumvent what little testing there is.

Can't tell is this is just very ignorant or an attempt to get a bite.

Players get tested during and out of season and are fully aware of the supplements they can take!
The RFL educate young players throughout the season.

Really? It's a sport where physical fitness plays an enormous part and where testing is pretty easy to avoid. Do you think the clubs in the NRL are outliers here?



There were around 530 tests done last year, which equates to just under 1 test per player per year. It's hardly rigorous is it?

Obviously you're in the know Adi on these matters.
Don't you think getting tested once is good!
I mean the testers don't exactly give you an appointment hence the word random.
Players train extremely hard all year round to achieve their fitness levels.