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Zak's return?

Posted: 14 Dec 2017, 22:24
by Saulbic
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/r ... -1-8908563

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

Thoughts?

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 14 Dec 2017, 22:39
by Nu Shooze
Bit of a dilemma really, given the culture DP has tried to instil and his constant references to it. On the other hand, Zak was the main reason in our stepping up a level last year and that will be hard to replace.

Tough one but, personally, I'd keep him.

Certainly knows where the white line is; no disputing that!

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 14 Dec 2017, 22:47
by lidds
Glad we finally have a thread to discuss Zak......

Could you not have posted that non-news story in one of the many that are already here

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 14 Dec 2017, 23:04
by TT Tiger
Got told today that the band substance in his system was only alcohol. Does that change anything?

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 14 Dec 2017, 23:33
by takethetwo
TT Tiger wrote:Got told today that the band substance in his system was only alcohol. Does that change anything?
Hahaha I very much doubt that. Not a chance in hell that he was only done for drinking.

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 14 Dec 2017, 23:36
by old cas lass
TT Tiger wrote:Got told today that the band substance in his system was only alcohol. Does that change anything?

Alcohol isn’t an illegal substance.
Certain won’t be that.

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 14 Dec 2017, 23:38
by Saulbic
I heard he's gonna be banned for the first half of the game against saints

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 15 Dec 2017, 02:12
by TT Tiger
old cas lass wrote:
TT Tiger wrote:Got told today that the band substance in his system was only alcohol. Does that change anything?

Alcohol isn’t an illegal substance.
Certain won’t be that.
Banned not illegal is what all the releases say. Not saying it’s true just what I’ve heard.

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 15 Dec 2017, 04:42
by caslad69
No brainer for me...with Zak back in the team we are a better team.

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 15 Dec 2017, 05:29
by Scoopage
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

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 15 Dec 2017, 07:18
by Tamworth Tiger
Can't see it being less than 2 years unless he really is innocent

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 15 Dec 2017, 08:41
by gateman
IF any of us break the law today i would bet it would not take as long for us to be in front of the judiciary as its taking SILLY ZAK to appear , they have only had three cases to deal with from the rugby league only RANGI as been tried you would think with the time its taking they are mowed out with work

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 15 Dec 2017, 09:20
by Saulbic
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...

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 15 Dec 2017, 11:05
by andymc133
If he gets a 2 year ban and we stood by him and found him alternative employment would he still on return have 3 years left on his contract or would the time banned be counted as contracted years

If so he would have 1season left with us before being free to move on elsewhere seems too big a risk to me if this is so but if he still had 3 years with us after his ban then might be worth a gamble

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 15 Dec 2017, 11:19
by mart0042
I think it's a tough one. If the player was a fringe squad member we wouldn't be having these dilemmas. That we paid a big fee for him and he's one of the best in his position, it make it difficult.

Until the club know what is going on, I guess we wait.

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 15 Dec 2017, 11:25
by viva brad
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

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 15 Dec 2017, 12:02
by tigerfeat
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...

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 15 Dec 2017, 13:01
by sparky49
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.

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 15 Dec 2017, 13:17
by Fumper27
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!!!

Re: Zak's return?

Posted: 15 Dec 2017, 13:34
by Sharlotiger
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.