Personally imo the lad needs to be given a chance not just thrown on the scrap heap at the first sign of trouble. The most worrying thing of the whole episode is AP is almost defending his actions by saying that his punishment was harsh. I think in these situations the clubs should publicly condemn what the player has done and should be seen to not condone actions of this sort by issuing a fine or impose sanctions of some sort. Behind closed doors they can say what they want and have their own opinions but because we are apparently a family sport, we need to be seen to be doing the right thing.

Could the RFL impose a Standard of acceptable behaviour, for anyone wanting to be registered to play in their completion, in a similar way they supposedly demand certain standards of facilities and finance from the clubs wanted to enter their competitions?

Anyone else surprised that the HDM article says he is 5' 11''. He seems shorter to me, but if that is his height he should be able to compete for high balls better than he does.

he could be 5'11 - players tend to look smaller on the pitch than they do up close

Actually, not just RL players - things in general look bigger when they're closer. It was covered in an episode of Father Ted once.

I hope and expect the club would take some disciplinary action against him but wouldn't expect them to make it public.

It's a shame this sorry episode ever happened, but given I'm not privy to any of the real facts, I can't pass judgement on it.

AP is no fool, he wouldn't say he's been dealt with harshly if he didn't believe it. If the club are willing to stand by him and give him another chance, shouldn't we?

Rovers fans shouldn't forget that they supported Ben Cockayne years after he repeatedly kicked and stood on a man laying prone on the floor.

Shhh! Mike Smith might get him confused with Ben Crooks and he'll end up at ours

Basing judgement completely on the evidence in the HDM article then I would have said to sack him (bringing club into disrepute).

However, it's a bit naive to make that sort of call based upon one news article as I probably don't have the full story. That said, he's been convicted by a UK court of law so I would tend to believe that the HDM have things right in this case.

The other option would be for the club to come out and say "We know that he's done wrong, but we're going to work hard with him to get him back on track", but this may be unpleasant for some as he is a role model to kids around the area as well as being a rugby player.

For the challenge cup final, if fit, I would put Horne on the wing and Shaul at fullback.

Indeed, and we read and heard condemnation from your fans for the last 4 years. At least the club did punish Cockayne via suspension, rather than pat him on the head and tell him he was hard done to.

Can you imagine the reaction on here if Hudge had said what Pearson did? Double standards of the highest order.

I agree with you. I dont care about any d1ckswinging between fans of our clubs. I couldnt care what Rovers did or didnt do with Cockayne I would still be very disappointed with our Clubs reaction and Pearsons comments to this incident.

Imagine if the crime was the same though!

He never got much grief for the other misdemeanours as far as I an remember, only the incident that he could quite easily have killed a bloke. Yeah I think that was it.

Yup, that's why the players look like Borrowers to away fans at your place.