Re: hardaker : Thu Feb 22, 2018 12:00 pm  

wrencat1873 wrote:

There were strong rumours that wigan had signed him but, maybe that was subject to any ban ??
An awful bit of business for Cas though, having only just (July) paid £150K, ouch !

I imagine they will keep his registration though, so any new club wishing to sign him will have to pay castleford for his registration. As he would have registered with the RFL for 4.5 years (I think that was his contract length anyway)

Re: hardaker : Thu Feb 22, 2018 1:15 pm  

There seems a real lack of clear leadership at Cas. Rumors abound, all is not well in the drug addled State of Cas. Best tale I heard was that during last season when sniffer Zac was playing well Cas were nervous about losing him, the deal they had with Leeds was that he was only on loan from Leeds with an agreement that Cas would pay £ 150k at the end of the 2017 season. Zac`s form was attracting interest and under pressure from Zac`s agent Cas decided to clear up the situation, they paid Leeds the £ 150 k early and Zac was registered as a Cas player. Two days after the transfer was paid to Leeds Zac was tested. Cue the fall out at board level. Powell wanted to ride out the storm and keep Zac, pay him for two years to work in the community dept, keep his registration and play him again in two years. CEO wanted him sacked and won the backing of the board, not unanimous and the arguments and fall out have been raging ever since, resulting in the CEO getting the push last week, he still retains his shares as does Richard Wright the failed ex CEO as they are all waiting for Box to gift Cas the 14 million pound stadium, then their shares will be worth as few quid as the business will suddenly have a valued asset. Not sure that Cas would be able to retain Zac`s registration, surely he will be a free agent the moment he is sacked ? Understand that he was sacked back in November and Wigan actually signed him in November. So I don`t see how Cas can recoup any of the £ 150 K transfer fee cost.

Re: hardaker : Thu Feb 22, 2018 4:11 pm  

I'm not sure Cas can hold his registration they have sacked him. Doesn't he become a free agent once his contracts terminated,

Re: hardaker : Thu Feb 22, 2018 8:15 pm  

Wigan are in for him .

Re: hardaker : Thu Feb 22, 2018 9:41 pm  

bellycouldtackle wrote:

There seems a real lack of clear leadership at Cas. Rumors abound, all is not well in the drug addled State of Cas. Best tale I heard was that during last season when sniffer Zac was playing well Cas were nervous about losing him, the deal they had with Leeds was that he was only on loan from Leeds with an agreement that Cas would pay £ 150k at the end of the 2017 season. Zac`s form was attracting interest and under pressure from Zac`s agent Cas decided to clear up the situation, they paid Leeds the £ 150 k early and Zac was registered as a Cas player. Two days after the transfer was paid to Leeds Zac was tested. Cue the fall out at board level. Powell wanted to ride out the storm and keep Zac, pay him for two years to work in the community dept, keep his registration and play him again in two years. CEO wanted him sacked and won the backing of the board, not unanimous and the arguments and fall out have been raging ever since, resulting in the CEO getting the push last week, he still retains his shares as does Richard Wright the failed ex CEO as they are all waiting for Box to gift Cas the 14 million pound stadium, then their shares will be worth as few quid as the business will suddenly have a valued asset. Not sure that Cas would be able to retain Zac`s registration, surely he will be a free agent the moment he is sacked ? Understand that he was sacked back in November and Wigan actually signed him in November. So I don`t see how Cas can recoup any of the £ 150 K transfer fee cost.

Agree, reading their forum it sounds like it's all bit of a mess atm with little news coming out.

Just to think though they could have had ZH for that year for the money they were paying Leeds for just the Loan deal, not shell out £150k and hand him a 200-year contract, just because of a little interest. I know you can say it's hindsight but really with his past history and those that know him closely knew what character he was. They should have waited to do business with Leeds at the end of the year. At least then they could have seen if he'd have of got through a season with no screw ups.

Just on the highlighted bit, I know Gill was on their board but has he got shares in the Club? I know Wright got his shares in lieu of wages for nearly all his time as CEO of the club, not sure about Gill though.

TBH I'm surprised Wigan are the ones that have got in their first if that's true. I know they stood by Hock and that might be the reason they feel they have experience with a player with off-field issues. They know what a massive off-field liability he is and has let England & Leeds down several times as well as Cas. Do they really need that in their changing room, even if he is the best FB in our game, I doubt it? Saying that if the contract has some severe clauses, it could be a way to get a WC FB for nothing.
Saying that knowing the Wigan way, I'd have thought the conveyer belt of young players they have is the way to go, rather than the ZH route, especially what that would teach all their up and coming players. Which is basically it doesn't matter how many times you screw up and the Clubs you play for, you can always land a job of one of the biggest names in the sport.

Isn't Wigan's interest linked with how long the ban ZH get's anyway. I've read if he gets the 2 years, they're not going to pursue him but if it's say 6 months, they are.

Re: hardaker : Thu Feb 22, 2018 9:49 pm  

bellycouldtackle wrote:

There seems a real lack of clear leadership at Cas. Rumors abound, all is not well in the drug addled State of Cas. Best tale I heard was that during last season when sniffer Zac was playing well Cas were nervous about losing him, the deal they had with Leeds was that he was only on loan from Leeds with an agreement that Cas would pay £ 150k at the end of the 2017 season. Zac`s form was attracting interest and under pressure from Zac`s agent Cas decided to clear up the situation, they paid Leeds the £ 150 k early and Zac was registered as a Cas player. Two days after the transfer was paid to Leeds Zac was tested. Cue the fall out at board level. Powell wanted to ride out the storm and keep Zac, pay him for two years to work in the community dept, keep his registration and play him again in two years. CEO wanted him sacked and won the backing of the board, not unanimous and the arguments and fall out have been raging ever since, resulting in the CEO getting the push last week, he still retains his shares as does Richard Wright the failed ex CEO as they are all waiting for Box to gift Cas the 14 million pound stadium, then their shares will be worth as few quid as the business will suddenly have a valued asset. Not sure that Cas would be able to retain Zac`s registration, surely he will be a free agent the moment he is sacked ? Understand that he was sacked back in November and Wigan actually signed him in November. So I don`t see how Cas can recoup any of the £ 150 K transfer fee cost.

It says a lot about Powells ethics when he's wanting a smack head to stay on and do community work. What role model to the young and impressionable!

Re: hardaker : Thu Feb 22, 2018 9:57 pm  

Not sure the dates all add up in that story. His permanent move to Cas was announced late June and he failed his test early September. Don't think they sacked him as early as November going by the strong stories of them setting him up with a job with a club sponsor and Powell still talking in January about how he could come back for them when whatever ban he got had finished.

Re: hardaker : Thu Feb 22, 2018 9:59 pm  

I'd hate to see what state he gets in if he gets a long ban, the words coke, massive and addict come to mind. Hopefully, he gets the help he needs but he's already been that way with Leeds. Like people say about drug abuse and recovery, you have to hit rock bottom to get back to the top.

Re: hardaker : Thu Feb 22, 2018 10:04 pm  

PrinterThe wrote:

Not sure the dates all add up in that story. His permanent move to Cas was announced late June and he failed his test early September. Don't think they sacked him as early as November going by the strong stories of them setting him up with a job with a club sponsor and Powell still talking in January about how he could come back for them when whatever ban he got had finished.

Nah they don't really. Like you say until the latest episode of the life of Zak, Cas was waiting to see what ban he gets and had got him a job with one of their sponsors, so something suddenly changed all that. Maybe it's why Steve Gill 'went'.

Re: hardaker : Thu Feb 22, 2018 10:15 pm  

Shifty Cat wrote:

Nah they don't really. Like you say until the latest episode of the life of Zak, Cas was waiting to see what ban he gets and had got him a job with one of their sponsors, so something suddenly changed all that. Maybe it's why Steve Gill 'went'.

Yes I'd imagine that Cas now have a good idea what ban he'll be getting (they'll know if there's was a potential technicality that could see him off). Maybe also he's taken the mick with the job they set up and that rumours he's been speaking to Wigan would seem like a slap in the face to them given they were standing by him.