www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/38824929 Ben Barba has just managed to avoid a 12 month drug ban by switching codes to rugby union. Combine this with Denny Solomona 'retiring' from rugby league, Sandow refusing to honor his contract at Wolves and I'm rapidly feeling like our game is being made a mockery of. It is high time that rugby, league and union, had one over arching body to settle such matters. This for me would also include stricter enforcement on the 'tapping up' of players, which I appreciate would be difficult, and far more stringent enforcement of substance abuse. This article from the independent makes for interesting reading and while its slightly out of date it is a still very damning; www.independent.co.uk/sport/gene ... 86076.html Slight rant there I know, but reading the bbc article this morning really irritated me.

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/38824929 Ben Barba has just managed to avoid a 12 month drug ban by switching codes to rugby union. Combine this with Denny Solomona 'retiring' from rugby league, Sandow refusing to honor his contract at Wolves and I'm rapidly feeling like our game is being made a mockery of. It is high time that rugby, league and union, had one over arching body to settle such matters. This for me would also include stricter enforcement on the 'tapping up' of players, which I appreciate would be difficult, and far more stringent enforcement of substance abuse. This article from the independent makes for interesting reading and while its slightly out of date it is a still very damning; www.independent.co.uk/sport/gene ... 86076.html Slight rant there I know, but reading the bbc article this morning really irritated me.

I disagree. Rugby League and Rugby Union are different sports and governing bodies, same as basketball and football.

Solomona and Sandow and the Leeds hooker are contract issues whether they go to rugby union or not.
They should be sorted in the courts not by a joint taskforce with no teeth. They would have no legal standing and in Solomona's case, why would RU side with us?

As for Barba he is a massive talent but if we want to impose a ban on him, why do we care what he does while he is banned?
Unless his contract specifically says he can't play rugby union he isn't doing anything wrong in my opinion.
If he is still under contract and it does limit what he does while contracted, then that is a court issue. The Toulon place in that scenario is simply a matter of ethics. They are not showing much at the moment but that is not a reflection of our game.

If all playing registrations were held by a single over arching body then instances like this would not arise. Take Barba for instance how can it be in any way just that he avoids a drug ban by switching codes? While ever such a loop hole exists then players and clubs will exploit it. If say Israel Falou got a drugs ban from the RFU he could just move over to league and be able to play again.

Similarly Solomona has pretty much taken the out of rugby league as a whole. But do you honestly think any rugby league club would be above acting as sale have done? I don't.

The only way this can be ended is a single body which holds player registrations. It wouldn't be toothless as it would hold all the registrations, what's that sale you want Denny to play for this weekend, sorry lads, you'll have to wait 3 years or buy his registration from Cas.

Exactly this

Having said that, a ban for taking drugs, should cover all sports.
Obviously there are loopholes within RL. IIRC Catalan signed Bird ? when he had been banned in Australia, which again isnt right.
It shouldn't be too difficult for the sport to act as one in certain instances.
Of course, Union is another matter altogether and it's important for our sport to do everything possible to "win" the Solomona case.

That's a restraint of trade issue.

It's like someone sacking you from your job but then also stopping you working elsewhere even if it's in a bar in Ibiza

The sports are different. There should be an understanding between sports but no governing body in charge of both in my opinion. Apart from the law of the country.

Haven't read the Barba case so I don't know if recreational or performance enhancing but in my opinion anybody banned from a sport for taking performance enhancing drugs should have that ban carried across any sport that has a drugs policy.
If it was recreational drugs then that is a slightly different matter (again only in my opinion).

That is a good point. Cocaine is banned by WADA as a stimulant.

I'd be happy for them to be the 'judiciary' between sports. They are independent.

Surely both codes of rugby are signed up to the WADA agreement? Or does it just cover 'Olympic'sports of some such nonsense?

How can anyone seriously think that Rugby Union would sit in a room with people from Rugby League and make an agreement.
Get real. A waste of breath talking to them. Why we get involved at any level beats me. We use their clubs, does anything happen the other way? Doubtful. Let the courts sort it.

Well said Manuel.

Rugby is an Olympic sport.

Sevens is of course. And nines at the Commonwealth Games.

I would have thought tighter player contracts would be able to cover all other 'professional sports' for the length of the contract. I think the Solomona case has to be a wake up call for both League and Union, if players in both codes can retire and leave a contract behind, both codes will become more unstable. Regarding drugs all sports need a consistent code, otherwise we create a second, third and forth option for athletic drug cheats.

Creating a single governing body for both league and union will be a nail in the coffin for league. What needs to happen is for contracts to be tighter to protect both the club and the player better, and the anti-doping rules need to cover all professional sports persons so if they're banned from one sport they're automatically banned from all other professional sport.

The easier option for bans is to give them for a period of games and not a period of time. Give a 30 game ban for drug cheats and it amounts to the same as a 12 month ban, but if a player decides to move away from league then their ban just carries on when they return to the game