Zak's return?

All things related to the Castleford Tigers.
Post Reply
viva brad
Academy Player
Academy Player
Posts: 1089
Joined: 16 Mar 2011, 16:33
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by viva brad » 15 Dec 2017, 11:25

As silly as this sounds this could be exactly what Zak needed. He has gone straight from Junior / youth rugby and being a quality player at that level and then straight to professional with all the spare time and more money than most. He has never been in the real world for want of a better phrase. He had issues at Leeds but he was still within the "rugby club" environment with no real punishment or loss of standing etc

This time he can't have a slap on the wrist he can't just miss a couple of games, he will need to get out and earn a living on a much reduced salary and have to face the questions from many on why he threw away an opportunity that most others would give their right arm for.

Maybe this will be the wake up call that Zak needs he needs to realise what opportunities he has had and needs to realise that yep he may be a very gifted player but he needs to learn how to be a "professional"

I hope the club support Zak and get him through the ban, keeping him fit and on track with a healthy life style and bring him back to the game after the ban with a more mature attitude and a greater appreciation of what it means to pull on a player shirt

tigerfeat
Super League Player
Super League Player
Posts: 14604
Joined: 23 Jun 2014, 12:07
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by tigerfeat » 15 Dec 2017, 12:02

Good post mate if hes working a 9-5 job watching the clock every minute of the day you would hope he would make the most of it when he comes back to playing rugby for a living...
The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have
Vince Lombardi

sparky49
Academy Player
Academy Player
Posts: 286
Joined: 04 Jan 2013, 12:19
Location: Castleford
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by sparky49 » 15 Dec 2017, 13:01

If you break the law and go to prison you are not prevented from working on your release, you just have a record that means certain people may not hire you. The same rules should be applied to any player found guilty of taking drugs for the first offence then if he does it again then double the ban. Zak has done the crime so when he has served the time he should be welcomed back, we did give Dwain Chambers a chance when no-one would.

Fumper27
Super League Player
Super League Player
Posts: 13519
Joined: 07 Jun 2012, 08:10
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by Fumper27 » 15 Dec 2017, 13:17

sparky49 wrote:We did give Dwain Chambers a chance when no-one would.
That’s because everyone else knew he wasn’t a bloody RL player!!!

Sharlotiger
Academy Player
Academy Player
Posts: 1802
Joined: 05 Jul 2006, 23:02
Location: WAKEFIELD
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by Sharlotiger » 15 Dec 2017, 13:34

Scoopage wrote:The hard thing to do is forget about his quality as a rugby player and concentrate on the fact the bloke took an illegal substance and how he let team mates and fans down badly.because imo he is one of the top 5 full backs in the world doesn’t mean we should welcome him back.if it was a player less skilful from our squad say Hitchcox or Keiran Gill we would be wanting rid and a example made of them.you can’t be blind sided by who he his and how good a player he is.its just morally wrong
The huge problem with Hardaker is all the money we have paid out to Leeds for his services, not the sort of money we can just throw down the drain leaving him in a position to get another lucrative deal with some other SL team.
We need to help him through this period after all we have welcomed other players to the club who have actually tested positive for performance enhancing drugs.

User avatar
Flat Capper
Grand Final Winner
Grand Final Winner
Posts: 15173
Joined: 06 Jul 2006, 00:10
Location: Where ever I lay my fat
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by Flat Capper » 15 Dec 2017, 13:55

I thought resurrections were for Easter, not Christmas!
Image
Spreading the Cas gene pool

Dez
Academy Player
Academy Player
Posts: 471
Joined: 04 Aug 2014, 18:36
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by Dez » 15 Dec 2017, 14:06

Saulbic wrote:
Scoopage wrote:The hard thing to do is forget about his quality as a rugby player and concentrate on the fact the bloke took an illegal substance and how he let team mates and fans down badly.because imo he is one of the top 5 full backs in the world doesn’t mean we should welcome him back.if it was a player less skilful from our squad say Hitchcox or Keiran Gill we would be wanting rid and a example made of them.you can’t be blind sided by who he his and how good a player he is.its just morally wrong
Rangi got plenty of chances at cas. It's Zak's first mistake here, forgive and forget I say...
Did Carney get a second chance. Forgive and forget all that

fast hands
Academy Player
Academy Player
Posts: 825
Joined: 28 Mar 2014, 09:20
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by fast hands » 15 Dec 2017, 14:57

Was Zak stitched up ( although most of us know he was completely out of order taking a banned substance allegedly )
Conspiracy theory, 1, Leeds knew when playing for them, he was taking something illegal, ' never tested over a 2 year period. 2, Leeds sell him for £150,000 to near neighbours and rivals Castleford, knowing he is taking a substance.
3, Zak is pulled in for a drug test after playing against Leeds , and to save face, because of his immense talent he has helped Castleford win the LLS, and are favourites to win the Grand Final, probably meeting Leeds in the final.
Have LEEDS pulled a fast one, just asking like.

Saulbic
New member
Posts: 16
Joined: 05 Oct 2017, 21:37
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by Saulbic » 15 Dec 2017, 16:09

Dez wrote:
Saulbic wrote:
Scoopage wrote:The hard thing to do is forget about his quality as a rugby player and concentrate on the fact the bloke took an illegal substance and how he let team mates and fans down badly.because imo he is one of the top 5 full backs in the world doesn’t mean we should welcome him back.if it was a player less skilful from our squad say Hitchcox or Keiran Gill we would be wanting rid and a example made of them.you can’t be blind sided by who he his and how good a player he is.its just morally wrong
Rangi got plenty of chances at cas. It's Zak's first mistake here, forgive and forget I say...
Did Carney get a second chance. Forgive and forget all that
Bit different....

JIN JER
Academy Player
Academy Player
Posts: 1047
Joined: 27 Apr 2017, 10:53
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by JIN JER » 15 Dec 2017, 17:14

fast hands wrote:Was Zak stitched up ( although most of us know he was completely out of order taking a banned substance allegedly )
Conspiracy theory, 1, Leeds knew when playing for them, he was taking something illegal, ' never tested over a 2 year period. 2, Leeds sell him for £150,000 to near neighbours and rivals Castleford, knowing he is taking a substance.
3, Zak is pulled in for a drug test after playing against Leeds , and to save face, because of his immense talent he has helped Castleford win the LLS, and are favourites to win the Grand Final, probably meeting Leeds in the final.
Have LEEDS pulled a fast one, just asking like.
No....

Le Van
Academy Player
Academy Player
Posts: 386
Joined: 28 Aug 2015, 18:43
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by Le Van » 15 Dec 2017, 18:08

fast hands wrote:Was Zak stitched up ( although most of us know he was completely out of order taking a banned substance allegedly )
Conspiracy theory, 1, Leeds knew when playing for them, he was taking something illegal, ' never tested over a 2 year period. 2, Leeds sell him for £150,000 to near neighbours and rivals Castleford, knowing he is taking a substance.
3, Zak is pulled in for a drug test after playing against Leeds , and to save face, because of his immense talent he has helped Castleford win the LLS, and are favourites to win the Grand Final, probably meeting Leeds in the final.
Have LEEDS pulled a fast one, just asking like.

To be perfectly honest I believe a huge part of all the Zak situation was The Loiner Connection !!!!

Here we'd got, by default admittedly, one of their best players who was now playing even better than he did for them.

He'd endeared himself to all the supporters in every interview since day one from admitting that he didn't care if they won or lost to wanting to be a legendary photograph as a Cas player on the clubhouse walls.

The kid was absolutely flying whenever he played them and tore them to pieces whenever we played them last season. We loved him in that selfishly cheeky little way of " he's ours now not yours and just look how even better he's gonna get with us "

As much as it pains me to say that the best team won at Old Trafford I do believe that his absence was the biggest single factor in our defeat.

It's also strange that I feel incredibly disappointed just watching any highlights from last season when he is in the team... even though there were games ie Salford and Dragons away which I feel we would have lost without him.

InTheKnow
Academy Player
Academy Player
Posts: 1258
Joined: 22 Feb 2014, 21:44
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by InTheKnow » 15 Dec 2017, 19:22

Doesn't he have 4 years left with us? We keep him on a contract but paid less for next 2 years to look after himself and keep himself in shape while working elsewhere then have him back. As long as things are good between him and the club.

takethetwo
Academy Player
Academy Player
Posts: 1413
Joined: 17 Sep 2016, 10:17
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by takethetwo » 15 Dec 2017, 20:14

Fumper27 wrote:
sparky49 wrote:We did give Dwain Chambers a chance when no-one would.
That’s because everyone else knew he wasn’t a bloody RL player!!!
That made me laugh aha

takethetwo
Academy Player
Academy Player
Posts: 1413
Joined: 17 Sep 2016, 10:17
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by takethetwo » 15 Dec 2017, 20:18

And to clear a few things up, I know alot of Zak's circle pretty well, and Leeds doing us over is not the case. He's been the same ever since he lived in Ferrybridge with his grandma. Been on coke since he was 18.

casjunction
Academy Player
Academy Player
Posts: 1883
Joined: 22 Jun 2012, 16:48
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by casjunction » 15 Dec 2017, 22:47

Just hearsay but l am led to believe that the drug culture both performance enhancing and recreational is more prevalent in sport thanin the general population if this is the case it makes one wonder about the effectiveness of the agencies charged with policing sport.
Wiggings and Armistead both escaped sanction whilst clearly in breach of procedures but escape sanction.
We then have the ludicrous situation with Zac and the inordinate length of time to come to a decision.
If guilty surely two year ban ,l have not read anywhere of an appeal.
So why oh why the delay.

WF10
Academy Player
Academy Player
Posts: 1564
Joined: 18 May 2014, 19:01
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by WF10 » 15 Dec 2017, 23:06

Saulbic wrote:https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/r ... -1-8908563

I'd have him back, knows where the white line is.

Thoughts?
Arf.
removed post it again and you will join them on a 48 hour ban read the AUP

Adelaide Tigurrrr!
Academy Player
Academy Player
Posts: 587
Joined: 31 Mar 2011, 09:29
Location: Adelaide
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by Adelaide Tigurrrr! » 16 Dec 2017, 00:53

A lot of people on here are hypoctites.

They would be willing to get rid of other players who are not as good as Hardaker. In my view there should be no difference between the best player or the most junior. Get rid of! If Hardaker stays it means the team spirit and high morals that DP has instilled mean absolutely sod all.

People say Hardaker should stay because we paid £150k for him, well we all knew that was a gamble the club took and he still shafted us. If he stays and we have to pay him his full wage then it will cost the club another £250k for him to sit on his arse. And then people moan we cant buy quality players.

Finally, I read the Andrew Johns autobiography. Johns suffered from bi-polar and for years during the season he would get absolutely drunk and be found slumped in the corner of pubs. His club, his team mates, supporters and journalists all knew he had a problem but because he was the worlds best player everybody kept quiet. So he never had to face up to his problem, or suffer consequences for his actions, until after he retired and got arrested in London for possession of drugs.

gateman
Championship Player
Championship Player
Posts: 6696
Joined: 31 Mar 2016, 12:40
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by gateman » 16 Dec 2017, 09:12

Most of our fans are expecting a two year ban , sooner our dirty washing is put out to dry it will be better for all parties concerned, the club can not move on till he as been in front of the powers that be, can anyone tell me why it takes so long to appear in front of these people

drleftie
Academy Player
Academy Player
Posts: 819
Joined: 17 Jul 2006, 09:05
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by drleftie » 16 Dec 2017, 10:11

Adelaide Tigurrrr! wrote:A lot of people on here are hypoctites.

They would be willing to get rid of other players who are not as good as Hardaker. In my view there should be no difference between the best player or the most junior. Get rid of! If Hardaker stays it means the team spirit and high morals that DP has instilled mean absolutely sod all.

People say Hardaker should stay because we paid £150k for him, well we all knew that was a gamble the club took and he still shafted us. If he stays and we have to pay him his full wage then it will cost the club another £250k for him to sit on his arse. And then people moan we cant buy quality players.

Finally, I read the Andrew Johns autobiography. Johns suffered from bi-polar and for years during the season he would get absolutely drunk and be found slumped in the corner of pubs. His club, his team mates, supporters and journalists all knew he had a problem but because he was the worlds best player everybody kept quiet. So he never had to face up to his problem, or suffer consequences for his actions, until after he retired and got arrested in London for possession of drugs.
I'd be very surprised if there wasn't a clause in every player's contract relating to their wages during a suspension. He won't be getting paid £100k a year to sit at home.

TT Tiger
League One Player
League One Player
Posts: 2308
Joined: 23 Jan 2014, 15:02
Contact:

Re: Zak's return?

Post by TT Tiger » 16 Dec 2017, 11:00

I look at it this way. If Zak does get a 2 year ban. In 2 years we have the chance of getting who I consider to be the best full in the world last year. As a club in a results driven business I could not over look this. The second thing is I do not wanting coming to Weldon Road in 2 years getting a man of the match performance and scoring a hat trick for Wigan. We are in a position where we can keep him and not sell to rivals. And so from that point of view I’d keep him. That’s my opinion and I know we all have our own.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot], Amazon [Bot], Bing [Bot], EvaTiger78, gateman, Google [Bot], orrsome, Semrush [Bot] and 88 guests