Do all those who think that he's a role model and so should be banned therefore think that Amy Whithouse, Pete Doherty and the rest should be barred from earning a living as musicians? Or that the works of The Beatles, Bob Marley, Charlie Parker, Led Zeppelin, Ozzy Osbourne, Ray Charles The Sex pistols and the many hundreds of other known drug users should be wiped from the face of music history?

Gareth Hock is an entertainer, and thats what he gets paid to do. There is nothing more cringe inducing than professional sprtsmen trying to paint themselves as whiter than white.









Granted, having heard Babyshambles, there is a good reason to ban Doherty. It did occur to me that if there was ever a good and valid excuse for banning someones works on the grounds of drug abuse, that was it.

Thats an unfair post in view of my comments I didn,t say I approved all I said was it,s none of my business if players choose to take recreational drugs that don,t increase their playing performance.

Anyone who thinks youngsters or indeed adults will be influenced by finding out Hock has taken cocaine now that is bizarre.

If a person wants to take drugs for whatever reason they will do so and not because Hock or any other person in the public eye does or has done. I am in no way condoning what Hock has done but if he wants to abuse his body then thats his affair surely ,yes he should get a ban plus a hefty fine but dont agree he should be banned for life, like scooter says should everyone be banned for taking drugs in music ,sport or any other job in the public eye .

Yep he could be banned for 2 seasons but if he had shoved a glass in a girls face he,d be able to resume playing after his custodial sentance was over. On the other hand if he,d been filmed repeatedly kicking someone senseless in the head after a night out he could play straight away if for example he,d been given community service.

Now I think thats odd don,t you ?

Hock as a "pro sportsman", as are the pop stars et al a previous poster refers too, have influence & to deny that is fatuous. Fortunately we have a governing body they can be rightly ban offenders from the game. If the punishment was significant then more within the game would think twice.

And as have many posters have clearly stated cocaine can act as performance enhancing but whether Hock took it as such is irrelevant, its illegal and also a banned substance from our sport. Throw the book at him.

Agreed, should face the same punishment my company would do to me..immediate dismisal.

People seem to have accepted that these players are still playing rugby league and for me their offence is much worse as Hock is only damaging himself. I just wonder if he played for us and doing a superb job would people still feel the same .

Scooter nik,just look at my name,if i took any e i would loose my job and massive pension!!! (not paid by your taxes though!) but serving our country for over 15 yrs!.i have never sniffed,swallowed or injected any e,since i had a smoke on a spliff at 13yrs old,which made me so ill i could not swim for northern counties at Blackpool Darby baths(yes the salt water ones)Any so called proffesional sportmen know the rules,so bollox to Hock if he is guilty,he should get the two year ban and whilst banned should be tested every week if he wants to continue in RL.If he is innocent then good luck to him!You don't have to tell me about young one's as i have experience with my nephew what e does to them,also my daughter who is a club 18/ 30 rep in Europe tells me that Northerners are the worst and she was born and brought up in Somerset.Currently in KOS if u want a cheap deal!!!



Bollox its took me ages to post this!!!

Damn, and I thought your name was Robert David!

Point taken, but as it's your job to uphold the law, it is only fair and right that if caught breaking those laws that you should lose your job.
Gareth's job is to play RL, not to uphold the laws of the land.

IMO it's the law of the game that is wrong, not the punishment.

Surely it is a greater offence to assault someone in the street than to poison yourself?

Use your fingers to type instead of your truncheon!

if kids choose to follow there sports stars example in taking drugs they are sad and need to get a life. Like was said about the musicians like the beetles and ozzy osbourne?? do you still buy there albums YESS so what is the diffrence with Hock everyone calling him a scrote cause he chooses a drug the doesnt affect anyone else you or me so leave him to it. As i already said yes it is an illegal drug and hes should be punished but fine is suffiecent cause it doesnt affect his playing potential. Cant belive so many people think it is so uncommmon im 19 and i will tell you now 7/10 people out on the town at weekends are on the stuff

You expect a sports governing body not to follow the laws of the country?

Don’t know what field you work in, but in the automotive game most employers have a no drugs policy, with the help of [url=http://www.altrix.com/default.aspthese[/url I've previously dismissed 2 people for working whilst under the influence of drugs and would happily do it again.