199 replies to this topic

[RP London]

this has brought RL as a game into disrepute in thir eyes.. but the fine shows that it is not stood for and that the RFL take it seriously and are very keen to stamp it out.. and as such the game claws back some of this feeling... for those in development areas trying to spread the game the fine was needed and it needed to be quite big to prove a point.. i feel sorry for cas fas but its a section of their support that has done this and it is the club who did not cope with it properly and sometimes you just have to look at your club and realise they cocked it up (KT i know you are doing this)// rather than blame anyone else.. if you get chucked out it is for more than this, nail in coffin maybe but hey its your own fans tht caused it.. and your club.. if you have fury then turn it towards the chairma who did not initiate a good enough inquiry and the fans who throw thing and chnt vile abuse

[amh]

I think people just want the RFL to be consistent and fair, and for that reason I fear one of the next clubs to maybe get a fine is my own - Leigh

Anyone who reads the papers or boards knows that in recent times claims have been made of racial abuse and trouble at Leigh. Now I was there for one of the games and can categorically state that one of the claims was unfounded. But I do not know about the other instances. I might add that Leigh fans have also made complaints against fans and stewards of other clubs.

If Leigh get a fine or whatever, then they have the right of appeal as do Cas

All clubs want rid of any trouble makers, maybe they don't work hard enough eg stewards not doing their job, but the blame has to lie somewhere in these matters. Cas have in my opinion received a very tough punishment, subject to appeal, because they are the first and been made an example of.

I just want complaints to be investigated thoroughly and fairly, situations to be avoided by proper stewarding, fans to be honest when they make complaints, and our game to be as free as possible of the people who cause the problems - not easy but then getting tough and addressing difficult situations is never easy

Oh, and people to not tar all the fans of clubs with the same brush when these stories appear - people in glass houses and all that

[Dave T]

Of course he's not on his own - there's always some idiots who stick together

He's definitley in the minortity though Dave

Loads of fans are disappointed with the decision and loads fo fans think it's unfair but not too many are blaming Gareth Thomas - some yes but not many.

Please don't take my comments the wrong way, perhaps I should have highlighted that it was a small minority that hold this view (rather like the small minority that caused this in the first place!).

I have always enjoyed going to Cas when I could, have found many similarities with our clubs over the years and have had a soft spot for them. That is the reason why I was so disappointed with most of the comments on the Cas board, as I have generally found the fans to be reasonable, whereas there is plenty of frothing at the mouth with a minority being reasonable and saying how it is.

My thoughts overall after a few days thinking about it is that the fine does seem high, as has been pointed out compared to other sports and cases of racism, but then I am proud that our sport sees fit to make a proper stand rather than paying lip service. This fine sends the message out to all fans of all clubs that this will not be tolerated, and I would be stunned if we hear further cases of chants like this in future.

[Outwoodtiger]

If I'm honest, I haven't got a clue whether £40k (£20k) is too high or not. I would suspect the fact that they fined them £40k (£20k) last year has meant they had their hands tied as they didn't want to suggest this is a lesser offence to last year's crowd trouble.

You got it right in the first sentence mate "You haven't got a clue" let this happen to your club and see what your opinion is then mucker.

You are so high in mighty with your postings, who do you think you are?

[Dave T]

You got it right in the first sentence mate "You haven't got a clue" let this happen to your club and see what your opinion is then mucker.

You are so high in mighty with your postings, who do you think you are?

[RP London]

You got it right in the first sentence mate "You haven't got a clue" let this happen to your club and see what your opinion is then mucker.

You are so high in mighty with your postings, who do you think you are?

my club got thrown to the side for no fault of their own.. i would have happily had a fine for somehintg that we had actually done than what happened to us.

what has happend is down to the club at cas and the fans that did this.. no one else's fault.. if you dont like it and know who did it thn shop them so the club can punish them for it..

but stop going off on one on here about how hard done to cas are with this... cas fans shouted it, cas didnt investigate it or deal with it properly and so are punished.. if you really think this one incident will cost you the liscnece then you dont look around you often enough.. IF you lose your liscnece its for far more than this... and that is also the fault of the cas directors and board and no one else.

Edited by RP London, 01 July 2010 - 02:14 PM.

[Outwoodtiger]

Of course he's not on his own - there's always some idiots who stick together

He's definitley in the minortity though Dave

Loads of fans are disappointed with the decision and loads fo fans think it's unfair but not too many are blaming Gareth Thomas - some yes but not many.

No Iam not in a Minority Kenilworth Tiger, please do not think you can speak for every other Cas fan, THE WHOLE THING IS AN OUTRAGE!!

Edited by Outwoodtiger, 01 July 2010 - 02:17 PM.

[BringBacktheBiff]

No Iam not in a Minority Kenilworth Tiger, please do not think you can speak for every other Cas fan, THE WHOLE THING IS AN OUTRAGE!!

couldn't agree more

[Maltese Falcon]

I feel sympathy for Cas and the majority of their right-minded supporters.

But if I thought that outwoodtiger represented the consensus of opinion at the club, then I wouldn't feel one ounce of sympathy.

[RP London]

No Iam not in a Minority Kenilworth Tiger, please do not think you can speak for every other Cas fan, THE WHOLE THING IS AN OUTRAGE!!

it would be an outrage if we let people get away with chanting homophobic or racist abuse in a ground.

[3owls]

C'mon mate of course it is graded, the criminal law makes a distinction for a start, as you do if you consider it for a second. Would you consider calling the ref names as the same if people started abusing some disabled fans for example? This doesn't mean there arent many grey and difficult areas but that doesnt mean doing nothing. It could be argued that the RFL could find themseves in trouble if they don't tackle it or appear to tackle it.

Just because criminal law makes a distinction it still doesn't make it right in my opinion. Two men are attacked in different incidents,one is gay and one is hetrosexual, the attackers of the gay man receive sentences of four years because it is classed as a hate crime while the attackers of the hetrosexual man get sentences of two years because there were no aggravating factors. Is one persons life more important because he chooses to be gay? Is one person afforded more protection because of his sexuality? in my opinion no, it's crazy. Chris riley was the victim of some disgusting chanting from leeds supporters on sunday, "You're just a ###### ginger b******d". It's not the first time i've heard it, james graham cops as much grief as anybody, but what if chris riley was also gay, is it ok to abuse him for his physical appearance but not his sexuality? You can be sucked in by the PC brigade if you want but to me there is no distinction whatsoever for unnecessary abuse. The R.F.L have rightly taken castleford to task but are prepared to let other teams and their fans get away with unsavoury language and behaviour. The next time somebody is chanting "you fat b*****d" at a player have a look around to see if there is an overweight child nearby that is upset and embarrassed, maybe it's a child that is bullied at school because of their size. Could you honestly tell me that is less offensive than a chant alluding to someones sexuality. All players have the right to the same amount of protection, not just the so called minorities. I've noticed a sharp decline in spectator behaviour and this is no time for the R.F.L to be selective in their punishments.

[RP London]

Just because criminal law makes a distinction it still doesn't make it right in my opinion. Two men are attacked in different incidents,one is gay and one is hetrosexual, the attackers of the gay man receive sentences of four years because it is classed as a hate crime while the attackers of the hetrosexual man get sentences of two years because there were no aggravating factors. Is one persons life more important because he chooses to be gay? Is one person afforded more protection because of his sexuality? in my opinion no, it's crazy. Chris riley was the victim of some disgusting chanting from leeds supporters on sunday, "You're just a ###### ginger b******d". It's not the first time i've heard it, james graham cops as much grief as anybody, but what if chris riley was also gay, is it ok to abuse him for his physical appearance but not his sexuality? You can be sucked in by the PC brigade if you want but to me there is no distinction whatsoever for unnecessary abuse. The R.F.L have rightly taken castleford to task but are prepared to let other teams and their fans get away with unsavoury language and behaviour. The next time somebody is chanting "you fat b*****d" at a player have a look around to see if there is an overweight child nearby that is upset and embarrassed, maybe it's a child that is bullied at school because of their size. Could you honestly tell me that is less offensive than a chant alluding to someones sexuality. All players have the right to the same amount of protection, not just the so called minorities. I've noticed a sharp decline in spectator behaviour and this is no time for the R.F.L to be selective in their punishments.

my understanding of the incident you mention with the beating up of a gay man they have to prove that it was a hate crime.. ie he is shouting insults while doing it etc.. if they cannot prove that the sexuality of the man was the reason for the attack then it is not prosecuted as such.. same with race.. you have to prove it was motivated by race..

[Dave T]

Just because criminal law makes a distinction it still doesn't make it right in my opinion. Two men are attacked in different incidents,one is gay and one is hetrosexual, the attackers of the gay man receive sentences of four years because it is classed as a hate crime while the attackers of the hetrosexual man get sentences of two years because there were no aggravating factors. Is one persons life more important because he chooses to be gay? Is one person afforded more protection because of his sexuality? in my opinion no, it's crazy. Chris riley was the victim of some disgusting chanting from leeds supporters on sunday, "You're just a ###### ginger b******d". It's not the first time i've heard it, james graham cops as much grief as anybody, but what if chris riley was also gay, is it ok to abuse him for his physical appearance but not his sexuality? You can be sucked in by the PC brigade if you want but to me there is no distinction whatsoever for unnecessary abuse. The R.F.L have rightly taken castleford to task but are prepared to let other teams and their fans get away with unsavoury language and behaviour. The next time somebody is chanting "you fat b*****d" at a player have a look around to see if there is an overweight child nearby that is upset and embarrassed, maybe it's a child that is bullied at school because of their size. Could you honestly tell me that is less offensive than a chant alluding to someones sexuality. All players have the right to the same amount of protection, not just the so called minorities. I've noticed a sharp decline in spectator behaviour and this is no time for the R.F.L to be selective in their punishments.

You make some good points, particularly around the fat thing.

I don't think it is okay to abuse anyone for any reason, and generally the chants I was referring to were the generic 'winker' chants etc.

I'm not sure what can be done, certainly you would get announcements about these kind of chants too if they were audible.

[Hannibal]

couldn't agree more

I thought you couldn't have multiple usernmaes on this forum any longer?

[RP London]

Just because criminal law makes a distinction it still doesn't make it right in my opinion. Two men are attacked in different incidents,one is gay and one is hetrosexual, the attackers of the gay man receive sentences of four years because it is classed as a hate crime while the attackers of the hetrosexual man get sentences of two years because there were no aggravating factors. Is one persons life more important because he chooses to be gay? Is one person afforded more protection because of his sexuality? in my opinion no, it's crazy. Chris riley was the victim of some disgusting chanting from leeds supporters on sunday, "You're just a ###### ginger b******d". It's not the first time i've heard it, james graham cops as much grief as anybody, but what if chris riley was also gay, is it ok to abuse him for his physical appearance but not his sexuality? You can be sucked in by the PC brigade if you want but to me there is no distinction whatsoever for unnecessary abuse. The R.F.L have rightly taken castleford to task but are prepared to let other teams and their fans get away with unsavoury language and behaviour. The next time somebody is chanting "you fat b*****d" at a player have a look around to see if there is an overweight child nearby that is upset and embarrassed, maybe it's a child that is bullied at school because of their size. Could you honestly tell me that is less offensive than a chant alluding to someones sexuality. All players have the right to the same amount of protection, not just the so called minorities. I've noticed a sharp decline in spectator behaviour and this is no time for the R.F.L to be selective in their punishments.

thy should indeed clamp down on all of it..

if pople are offended by it it should be reported as this was, and then the clubs need to take action against it.. which is what the offence here is against cas, it was their reaction to it..

it needs to offend someone otherwise it will tend to go unnoticed which is wrong yes but is they way of things in this day an age and that is the point of free speech but when it starts to offend that is where it ends.. voltaire ( i believe) said, freedom is the ability to do what you like when you like as long as it does not impine on anyone else's right to do the same, and broadly speaking he is spot on..

[Maltese Falcon]

Some good points made there.

The key difference for me is the issue of social inclusion. Racist or homophobic chanting is an attack on people who historically have struggled to be accepted in certain levels of society, or in some cases even banned from participating.

No-one wants to hear the chanting of insults at ginger players, or players perceived to be "fat", but the fact is that being ginger or fat has never led to someone being excluded from society or prevented from performing a particular job.

The sport of RL has a history of suffering from discrimination, and its supporters should know better than most about the damage it can cause.

[Kenilworth Tiger]

No Iam not in a Minority Kenilworth Tiger, please do not think you can speak for every other Cas fan, THE WHOLE THING IS AN OUTRAGE!!

Yes you are - it really is very simple.

Of course I don;t speak for every Cas fan - there is you and one or two others who can't see past the real issue - we have some idiots at our club that are damaging our grerat club, so no I am not speak for EVERY cas fan just the majority as I stated in my previous post.

Oh and well done - you;re alreadya turning plenty of people from this board against our club - really well done mate!

[1976PMJwires]

Yes you are - it really is very simple.

Of course I don;t speak for every Cas fan - there is you and one or two others who can't see past the real issue - we have some idiots at our club that are damaging our grerat club, so no I am not speak for EVERY cas fan just the majority as I stated in my previous post.

Oh and well done - you;re alreadya turning plenty of people from this board against our club - really well done mate!

So Kenny.

One persons opinions on here is going to change what people think of castleford.

FFS grow up.

[Kenilworth Tiger]

So Kenny.

One persons opinions on here is going to change what people think of castleford.

FFS grow up.

I think they could yes - just like some peoples postings on Warrington

[John Drake]

Aaaaaaaaaaand locked. Think everyone has had their two pennorth on this now.

Can I go home now?

Oh, just before I do, a reminder, this is on sale tomorrow. Gareth Thomas is in it. And lots of other Rugby League stuff n'all. See here.

Please buy it. It's good.

Ta