This is a tragedy - such a talented player, how to stop him self-destructing has to be priority.

A couple of differences that make all the difference (though in my opinion it should be the same).



1 - Barba was caught after taking it on Mad Monday, so it was out of competition and therefore not deemed as performance enhancing. Hardaker has been caught post game, in season



2 - Barba was caught by the NRLs internal testers, not WADA (or their local branch ASADA in Aus), so he only faces the sports internal sanctions. Hardaker has been caught during competition by the UKADA, similar to Gareth Hock, so faces the full wrath and mandatory suspensions imposed by WADA



As for why he would do it - because he's stupid! But also, the clubs know about these issues and actively promote certain nutritional advise for cleaning out your system within 48 hours, so it's not a problem restricted to one or two individuals, but few would be stupid enough to do it within the timescales that would show up on match day. Maybe he just didn't drink enough orange juice to clear his system.

Different ruling bodies and different sporting bodies ASADA / UKAD, NRL / RFL

No sympathy for zak what so ever,taking recreational drugs,drinking and getting into his fair share of fights isnt a sign he's in a dark place and needs help and support to get through it,ithousands and thousands of lads and lasses up and down the country do the exact same every weekend,they all arnt in need of help and support,its just what people do these days. The difference for zak is that his career and his teammates who are supposed to be his "bro's" careers depend on him not doing it,for me its just a sign that he's a stupid,selfish lad who deserves whatever punishment he gets.



Its a shame for castleford, £150000 is a big outlay for any club and regardless of how long a ban he gets im not sure how you integrate him back into the cas squad,he might or might not of made a difference saturday night but im sure theres a lot of cas fans,officials,coaching staff and most impotantly players who think they would of won if they'd had his playing talent on the field and didnt have his distraction off it. Im not sure how they forgive him and most importantly for the players,trust him going forward. Theres going to be nobody queing up to give them even close to there money back if they decide theyr best rid.



From a leeds point of view its been brilliant buissness getting £150000 when we did.

I have little sympathy for Hardaker, he's had plenty of chances to reform, but he persists in testing the tolerance boundaries of his employers and their fans. He has let everyone at Cas, Team mates, DP, fans and those who provide the funds, down. Even a big dumb unit like ZH knows the consequences of getting caught taking recreational drugs, yet he chose to take the risk and sod the consequences for those that depended on him to behave like a professional. After his numerous brain farts at Leeds, he should have grabbed the lifeline DP and the Cas board threw him and repaided them by sorting himself out.



The people I have genuine sympathy for are all those associated with Cas Tigers. They gave him their support and a chance to show his incredible talent. He repaid them by letting them down massively.



I agree with those that said GH getting £150K for the walking talking calamity waiting to happen that is ZH, was good business. Well done to the Sleeve.

And some were quite critical of the fee especially considering the original asking price was £300k.

To coin a phrase I've seen many a time on here 'The sleeve by plenty'....



Can't think of many players in the Super League era that we've shipped on and it not been the right decision.

Some good posts on this thread...

Who the hell cares, he's way past any sympathy. Get rid.

Have cas now paid the fee for hardaker or are they going to try renege on the deal once they terminate his contract

150k wasn't it

Turns out the class clown didn't even wait for the tougher times before he started acting up.

Next move in 2 years. Catalan chase the Dragon.

This (and then some)

As a player to witness, he's been a joy, especially when he's playing for your side. But when you enter the arena of pro sports, you've got to be just that.....professional. Unfortunately for Mr Hardaker, he was/ is a natural sports player who could afford to burn the candle at both ends. He's still a young chap, who can hopefully turn it around and have a few years where he can entertain the fans and add to his medal haul. We've all had demons of one kind or another, so I hope he isn't lost to the game and he cleans his life up.

He now needs the help from Stevie ward's charity or he will end up like George best and Gazza

This

Cannot agree. It’s not a tragedy. He is a plonker he is an adult in a privileged position have zero sympathy for him. I think we are over egging his talents as well. A good super league player was a very average also ran in the NRL.

Agreed. Not a tragedy in any way,shape or form. He's a daft lad who put a good night before his career and got caught.

At the moment it's just a shame, let's hope it doesn't turn into a tragedy ala Terry Newton.

This^.



None of us really know what's going on in his head, whether it's demons or idiocy. Yes he was a bit of a c0ck for us at the end, but he gave us a lot and was excellent at his peak. And as a human being surely we all have to hope he sorts himself out?

Obviously hope he sorts himself out but it’s not a tragedy. A tragedy would be if he had a career ending injury out of his control not being caught taking the old Colombian marching powder

I know a number of people have said they hope the sport gives him the help he could need.....i'm quite confident they will. The question is if he's prepared to help himself, without that the former is wasted and he's shown so far that he's not been prepared to help himself.

Zak has a choice to make, he can either view those who are able to help him as interferring which means he is likely to continue his roller coaster, or he can open up and accept the help and start the process of stabilising his life.



For his mental health and the good of the game let’s hope he chooses the latter.

Think theres a bit of over reacting going on. All his transgressions have been drinking when he shouldnt be,not showing up for work,getting into fights/attacking people and calling a ref or opposition player a derogatory name, thousands of lads his age do exactly the same, they havnt all got deep lying demons and arnt all goin to top themselves ...theyr just s. Zak being in the public eye dosnt mean that his problems are anything more sinister than all the others...He's just a stupider version of the thousands of others because his career is compromised by it.