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

Well said. If Newton was the only sportsman in the world on hGH, I'm sleeping with Kate Middleton. The fact that no-one else has been caught is amazing. Who tipped them off over Newton? The more players caught, the better. It shows our sport is trying to deal with the issue rather than sweep it under the carpet. (Though how many players use the mask of anonymity available to them and 'retire' with 'career ending injuries' we do not know.)

At least our sport, like union, athletics etc. gives out real bans, unlike the nonsense ones in football. Look at Hock and Matt Stevens cocaine bans and those given to footballers for using weight loss pills.

On the betting thing, Long and Gleeson didn't try to fix a match or any element of that, they used inside information against the rules of the sport but not the law. The Pakistani cricketers were found guilty of fixing elements of a match. Completely different issues, hence the different punishments.

You still have to train like a mentalist for it to work properly though

hgh gives you a big chin...

It is illegal to possess (and much more serious to supply or intend to supply) drugs, but only those on the schedules to the Misuse of Drugs Act. These schedules are updated regularly. For instance, mephadrone (miaow miaow, or bubble) wasn't illegal to possess or sell a couple of years ago, when it was being peddled as plant food. Once the problem grew, it was added to the schedules, of which there are three classes, A, B and C.

The drugs taken by Gleeson were not in the schedules to the Misuse of Drugs Act but are a banned stimulant by sports bodies. For instance, some hayfever remedies contained banned substances, like steroid traces, and so "drugs" and "illegal drugs" are two different things.

Possession is the tricky part, defined as having "custody and control" of the substance. Passing it to your mouth is possession. Once it is swallowed, proving that the drug was an illegal one is a bit trickier.

Pretty poor set up then if the Chairperson of a club doesn't have any idea that a player has been suspended then subsequently banned for said player's involvement with a banned substance.

The testers do what they are told but if you believe testing is done fairly and squarely throughout our game then im sleeping with T-R-I-N-I-T-Y s bird as well.

No doubt i my mind certain other player who may be retired now have been caught at this level or higher but its been covered up or at least dummed down and i think some have not come to light for the good of the game.

Drugs are rife in RL from 16ys upwards, lots of young players are clean/healthy and hard training and good on them but i doubt you'll fine a full squad thats 100% clean at 18's.

Anyone who thinks that you'll comepete at the top level by eating fruit and training hard needs a dope test.

Just want to point a couple of things out to peeps here and there seems to be some stuff lost in all the gunsmoke.
Firstly the old regime at hull were not allowed to divulge any information about the pending and ongoing investigation by UKADA as per their rules wich the RFL sign up to, this is why the new owners knew nothing about this until they had taken over the club, not a cover up to gain a better price for the club.
Secondly, this "Cold/dietry" supplememnt is also a stimulant and if you look in to what its effects can be if taken in certain doses, it is a performance enhancing drug, giving the taker of it greater focus and sharpness on the field, this is why the substance is allowed in the off season as there is no on field advantage then

FWIW IMO Gleeson is guilty of being stupid, Cooper is guilty of agreeing to deceive and Rule is the ringmaster, I don't think his ban goes quite far enough where the others seem pretty fair on reflection, however as the RFL have stated in their statement, Hull FC have brought the game in to disrepute and I would not be surprised if they get a fine at the very least Afterall didn't Cas get stung by £40k for doing the same

I have seen no evidence of the amount of drug use you talk about and you don't seem to point to any in your post so I'm still believing it happens but I don't assume every top player is doing it like you.

The side-effects of HGH include a protruding brow, enlarged jaw (resulting in gaps between teeth) and big hands.

Sound familiar?

A friend of mine is an ex pro player; he tells me with certainty that use of HGH is rife within RL and has been since the early 90's - his view is that if every player using it was banned, there wouldn't be enough players left to stage a round of SL games.