Difficult to see on what grounds - he not only didn't get clearance from the conditioner (that was another player/Long) he took Longs word for it that substance was ok to use, this he confirmed in his revised statement to UKAD, along with the fact that ultimately it is down to the individual player who consumes said substance to take full responsibillity for what he swallows. I do feel he has been nieve and paid the price, he will not be the first ot last - maybe the games governing body and clubs needs to change the current proceedure of how medication and suppliments are given to players ?

If we are talking inconsistency...

It's now nearly 3 years ago since the Drug Testing people turned up on mass at BV and Castleford. This led to the conviction or stitch up as some suggest of Terry Newton for the use of growth hormones.

The inconsistency is not his ban but the fact that as far as I'm aware this mass testing has never been repeated, certainly not at any of the "big" clubs.

Considering it in part cost a man his life and what he had left of his career the fact that since then no one else has been caught stinks. Now we are bing fobbed of with a few nobodies and a geriatric and broken centre. The stench gets ever stronger.

Hock took a genuinely illegal substance so he doesn't count. However until players at the peak of their careers are being found out then there will always be a lack of credibility because mark my words some of them are at it.

now here’s something to debate i think. i was unaware that the testers had turned up en mass at belle vue, i have no knowledge of whether this is a common practice but it would be good to point that out to those that band the name of wakefield around because of what happened with terry newton. my memory fades but i seem to remember at the time that terry newton was caught it was stated that his indiscretions with human growth hormone took place before he joined us – no matter really as it was his choice alone to take the substance.

none of us know what cost terry newton his life. we can all make assumptions. one thing is clear though, is that he took what he did, and if being caught was a component in his death then it's not the fault of the rfl/drug testing authorities that they caught him.

i don’t smell a stench in the game that nobody else has been caught (although i think there have been cases), maybe this is naivety on my part. i hope that you are wrong that “some of them are at it” but i suspect there is an element of truth in it.

my own personal stance is that the use of supplements is playing with fire. there is a massive spectrum of products on the market (just nip in to holland and barrett) which claim to help muscle growth and recovery times. are they produced uniformily in controlled environments all the time or thrown together? don't take the risk guys. there is no substitute for eating sensibly and training hard and therefore avoiding all risk. man up and eat some fruit, veg and some lean meat.

At around the time of Terry's failed tested, the drug testers said they are more likely to test young players (because they will be wanting to bulk up) and the older players (trying to prolong their careers).

Wherever there's a mix of money/profile/sport there's also the usage of performance enhancing drugs!

It's a fact, get used to it!

We'd all like to think that our players and our sport is the one that's clean but don't kid yourself because it's present in RL just as it is in RU, football, netball, hockey and every other sport including darts and snooker.

There are drugs available that WADA aren't even aware of let alone have a test for and when they eventually do find out about them it's often by mistake or via a whistleblower as with THG.

The sportsmen & women that get caught do so for a number of reasons such as being stupid and taking it too far because they're blinded by the glory brought by their new abilities. Because they don't have the funding for the substances that can't be detected and instead they run the gambit of avoiding the testers which almost always leads to being caught. Because they're given bad advice (it's all bad advice) by so called "trainers" or "conditioners". More recently the high profile cases have come to light because of a whistleblower who provides samples of a substance and names of athletes involved such as the THG and Marion Jones case.

That's a naive and idealistic stance. Just look at the 'benefits' these supplements can bring - and then consider that injections of hormone work even better. Look at the physique and muscle definition of top athletes in those sports where this isn't monitored (and some of those in sports where it is, or should be) and compare that with those of 15 years ago and tell me that you honestly think it's down to diet and training!

From a site selling supplements:

Without using HGH, your body will deplete all of its glucose for energy prior to dipping into the fat reserves. An HGH supplement skips this first step, going straight to the fat cells for glucose, which results in much more significant weight loss.

Your body needs energy to complete even the most basic functions, and because of this, you can lose weight even during periods of relative inactivity. HGH can even burn fat while you are resting and eating.

HGH also boosts the growth of new lean muscle cells, which helps your body becomes even more effective at burning fat and losing weight. This is why HGH has been very popular for athletes; they are able to more effectively build muscle mass all while losing excess fat.

Have to say Vasty I'm with FFF on this. The people who take drugs do so of their own free will and take the risk themselves.
Whether they are targeted like TN or not, you can't blame the testers. It's like blaming the police when you get caught speeding. If you accept the risk, you accept the punishment.

Reading his book you can tell there is much more to Terry Newton's death than those drugs.

Also, I can't understand why Gleeson took weight loss pills at all. We all know its hard but doing a slimming world plan properly could lose you couple of pounds a week. If you are genuinely over weight you can do 10 pounds. A professional athlete should already have that kind of will power.
building muscle or getting match fit is different but just losing excess weight seems a strange reason to take pills and risk your career.

The amout spent on masking and creating these drugs makes the WADA budget look small potatoes, so the manufacturers and suppliers are always numerous steps in front of the authorities.
The reality is you may as well let athletes use what they want, but the corinthian ideal of sport, makes this impossible.
The authorities will always take small trophies, but the huge majority will go undetected and that includes all the big names.
If the big players in this and the extent of it were ever outed the whole game and sport in general would be in turmoil.
As to wether it cost TN his life in any small part, we will never know, wether other clubs and players are at it, we will never know.
And thus the status quo remains.

I think Gleeson should stick to his guitar, do some turns and make a few quid. I can imagine a few folk turning up so see him and hearing a few of his stories in the process.

Terry Newton took the stuff to prolong his career. If you read about the benefits of taking growth hormone (which cannot be condoned as a short cut to fat-loss/muscle gain) it promotes healing, improves strength and endurance, burns fat, increases mental alertness and speed of thought and so on. That doesn't make it right - but he knew he was finished without it, and that desperation must have clouded his judgement.

The trouble with slimming world and other conventional weight loss plans is that they affect athletic performance - you are deliberately witholding nutrients from the body.

I feel desparately sorry for anybody caught in that situation - and Gleeson probably fits the bill. The likes of Dwayne Dibley who use it purely to gain competitive advantage are low down cheats. The likes of TN were never going to get back to the top of their profession, but were desparate to stay in it.

Spot on, it's refreshing to see someone post who see's that not everything is black and white. The hang em high no excuse drug cheat scum brigade need to see that there is often mitigation. That doesn't mean we soften the punishment - rules are rules. However a bit of compassion and a sense of proportion never goes a mis.

the one off red dwarf

Which can be seen in the ridiculous state of the Tour de France which is now almost unstagable as a serious event due to the massive amount of doping over the last few decades. It's only a matter of time before they pin something on Lance Armstrong who they're gunning for with a vengeance even though he's retired.

I think there's some confusion here. The drug that was in his system was for weight loss, however he took the overall suppliment (consiting of various different drugs) because he was feeling tired and needed more engery. Or that's how it reads to me anyway.

I'm gonna get me some HGH it sounds mint