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2 hours ago, EagleEyePie said:

I'd say it's a drinking culture among rugby players more than a rotten culture in particular at Wigan. I just don't think you can say that the club are treating it as seriously as other drink related incidents.

Joel Tomkins was suspended for 4 matches and fined for drunkenly abusing a barmaid. Bateman was suspended for 8 matches and fined for his alleged assault on a teammate. No criminal charges were brought in either of those incidents. Hardaker and Mullen were caught drink driving and neither received a ban from the club. There was no mention of any fine for Hardaker. I read that Mullen received a £1000 fine.

I don't think there's a 4 match difference in severity between abusing someone while drunk and getting behind the wheel of a car while drunk and endangering the lives of people. In fact I think the latter is much more serious.

I think you have to look at the individual cases on their merits. Very low-level drink-driving (perhaps when you’re stopped going to the work the morning after a big night and you’re very slightly over) is an easy mistake to make and doesn’t make you the devil.

Similarly, different countries have different drink-drive limits, so where in one country you could say ‘but he could have killed someone, burn him!’, in another country he could be within the legal limit and would have done nothing wrong.

So I think a blanket ‘all drink driving deserves xxx punishment’ is maybe a little harsh.

However in this case it was 4am and he was double the limit... there’s no excuse for that, and even putting aside the criminal aspect, players should not be out drinking til 4am in the middle of the season.

Perhaps the playing group should stand up and take action themselves now, and maybe impose an alcohol ban on themselves, or at least a curfew 

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10 hours ago, Cheshire Setter said:

It’s not really a high horse thing or a dig at your club in particular EW, I think it’s just that it’s becoming a bit too commonplace, especially when it’s related to something that’s really quite serious.   Drink-driving has far reaching effects on normal people like you and me, unlike taking recreational drugs or performance enhancing steroids.   It’s bound to wind people up a bit more on here.

Also, this rotten culture does seem to be affecting Wigan a bit more than other clubs at the moment.   If it was Warrington I’d want it sorted straight away.

You wouldn’t want to know about Warrington’s culture over the last decade. 

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13 hours ago, Denton Rovers RLFC said:

The club is bringing the game into ill repute with their constant failure to keep control of their assets not to mention their finances, they should have a 4 points deduction for this season with anther 4 suspended for next year, maybe that would wake them up to get their house in order. 

Only four? You are getting soft. 8 points at least and instant relegation, plus playing behind closed doors. That should do it!  ?????

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32 minutes ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

You wouldn’t want to know about Warrington’s culture over the last decade. 

Most Warrington fans are aware of stuff that had gone on particularly during the Cullen era and to an extent during the Smith era.   Most reasonable fans condemn that sort of behaviour.

It’s not really about whether other clubs have problems though is it.   It’s that one of your own fans is being criticised for speaking out about it, and I think he’s got a point.   That is all ?

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17 hours ago, EagleEyePie said:

I'm not sure why your response is quite so irate but I'll still respond. While Hardaker was convicted in Sept 2018 there was nothing stopping him from being handed a suspension to start at the beginning of the season. That way the precedent was set and when Craig Mullen was convicted of drink driving he'd also receive that suspension.

I don't like drink drivers very much. I don't think clubs (and that goes beyond Wigan) take a tough enough stance regarding those who are convicted. Given it was one of many misdemeanors from Hardaker I feel like the club didn't really do the severity of the offence justice when handing out a punishment.

With regards to him being 'parachuted' into the first team. There was competition for the fullback spot but Hardaker was immediately considered first choice before ever having played a game for the club and having committed a serious offence just a few weeks into his Wigan career. 

As Cheshire Setter said, I want the club to take a strong stance on drink driving. While I understand they can't watch over players 24/7 and they are ultimately responsible for their own actions I think the club should also make it very clear they don't want people who think it's okay to drink and drive playing for the club. I don't think that's an unreasonable position for the club to take.

At times it feels like the club engages more and more frequently in damage limitation and attempts to brush things under the carpet.

I remain irate and your excuses over the "parachute" comment and it's overtones  don't wash for me. Spuriously bringing Bateman up again clearly is garbage since the club developed him into a world class England second row who is now wowing them in tbe NRL (As well as a fat pay packet).

There seem to be have been no excuses to me from Wigan. Hardaker went into rehab.  Hamlin is back in Australia and we are told Tautai may be extradited and bearing that in mind might yet have other issues laid over him by the club. Would you prefer to have him put in the stocks?

All we are getting from you is pure speculation about the activities of Redlinski... all part of a prejudicial agenda.  As someone else as pointed out, all players had a certain responsibility irrespective of the measures a club takes.

Tautai has  behaved very badly and he has let a lot of people down. He has been with the club 4 or 5 years and if anyone wants to lay down any other evidence ... evidence ... for poor behaviour then they have every right to do so, and we can judge accordingly.

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4 hours ago, JohnM said:

Only four? You are getting soft. 8 points at least and instant relegation, plus playing behind closed doors. That should do it!  ?????

They would only get the points back and relegation revoked upon appeal, as it would be classed as a minor infringement and a administrative error just like the salary cap issue!!

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17 minutes ago, davet said:

They would only get the points back and relegation revoked upon appeal, as it would be classed as a minor infringement and a administrative error just like the salary cap issue!!

??????????????????????

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6 hours ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

You wouldn’t want to know about Warrington’s culture over the last decade. 

I would.

Let's have it.

I can confirm 30+ less sales for Scotland vs Italy at Workington, after this afternoons test purchase for the Tonga match, £7.50 is extremely reasonable, however a £2.50 'delivery' fee for a walk in purchase is beyond taking the mickey, good luck with that, it's cheaper on the telly.

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My last employer had a zero tolerance attitude to drink & drugs, and would send around inspectors to test random employees. I wish they had done that when I worked for the NHS, I dread to think of the number of times I would turn up for work (probably) still over the limit from the previous nights session. When I played RL as an amateur I used to have one pint after a match during the season, quite a few out of season, but pre-season, nothing, not even after training.

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6 hours ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

You wouldn’t want to know about Warrington’s culture over the last decade. 

This being the club that signed an Australian who was so drunk he put peanut butter on his genitals at a barbeque for the dog to lick off?

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I have said on a different thread, when you facilitate an environment where even the most serious transgressions are tolerated then you breed a toxic culture.

I have seen it in business.  When there is a lack of consequences for poor behaviour it breeds more and more indiscretion and you can see it in sports teams when players realise that poor behaviour will be met with inconsequential penalty.

As in all areas of life some sports people behave professionally because they are professional and self disciplined. For others the discipline needs to be imposed.

When you consider the culture that puts a group of 20 something lads together to work and socialise together then discipline is a key aspect. And this is not me being overly moralistic... I was one of those guys in my 20's who needed a bit of discipline imposed.

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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6 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

I was one of those guys in my 20's who needed a bit of discipline imposed.

How was madam whiplash

?

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8 minutes ago, Padge said:

How was madam whiplash

?

As with many things in life... initially uncomfortable but ultimately satisfying. 

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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1 hour ago, Bleep1673 said:

This being the club that signed an Australian who was so drunk he put peanut butter on his genitals at a barbeque for the dog to lick off?

I thought peanut butter was okay, isn't it just chocolate that's bad for dogs?   Some people really need to do their research before getting on their high horse...

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1 hour ago, Cheshire Setter said:

I thought peanut butter was okay, isn't it just chocolate that's bad for dogs?   Some people really need to do their research before getting on their high horse...

Nooooooooo! Not with a horse!????

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Word on the street today is unfortunately there are two more (undisclosed) Wigan players who may be involved in some drug misdemeanours, same source who informed me re Wane and Bateman leaving and Shaun Edwards returning which I duly informed this forum (scoop) only to be shot down by people saying not a chance.

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6 hours ago, Rupert Prince said:

I remain irate and your excuses over the "parachute" comment and it's overtones  don't wash for me. Spuriously bringing Bateman up again clearly is garbage since the club developed him into a world class England second row who is now wowing them in tbe NRL (As well as a fat pay packet).

There seem to be have been no excuses to me from Wigan. Hardaker went into rehab.  Hamlin is back in Australia and we are told Tautai may be extradited and bearing that in mind might yet have other issues laid over him by the club. Would you prefer to have him put in the stocks?

All we are getting from you is pure speculation about the activities of Redlinski... all part of a prejudicial agenda.  As someone else as pointed out, all players had a certain responsibility irrespective of the measures a club takes.

Tautai has  behaved very badly and he has let a lot of people down. He has been with the club 4 or 5 years and if anyone wants to lay down any other evidence ... evidence ... for poor behaviour then they have every right to do so, and we can judge accordingly.

It's not spurious to bring up Bateman though is it? Bringing Bateman up is an example of how previously the club gave out an 8 match ban, which could have seriously harmed the clubs on field performance, as a result of his off field misdemeanor. It's an example of the club taking a strong stance against an off field indiscretion. That's what the club should be doing. Him developing into a world class player isn't really relevant to his punishment is it? It shouldn't matter how good or bad someone is, they should be banned for poor off field behaviour, as Bateman was.

Hardaker went to rehab but apparently didn't get fined and definitely didn't get a ban. Hamlin is back in Australia because he chose to go back to Australia. The club haven't really had much of an input at all when it comes to Hamlin because they won't have heard from WADA yet.

Tautai facing deportation is a sad state of affairs and if you read my previous comment you'll see I do have sympathy for the situation he and his family may face. His life could be turned upside down for this mistake and punishment for an offence should only go so far. I believe he will need support and one of the good things about Wigan is that they will provide good support for him.

What I do think is that Hardaker, Mullen and now Tautai should have received a suspension much more in line with what Bateman received. Even suspending them for 4 matches in line with Joel Tomkins' drunken outburst would have been a step in the right direction. Not suspending them at all though is not taking the offence anywhere near as seriously as they should.

It's also worth bearing in mind that this isn't the first time Tautai has been caught drink driving. It happened while he was playing in Australia. His excuse back then was "I thought I'd be okay". His comments to the police on this occasion was "I just had a stella". To me that's not really coming across as someone who takes the potential consequences of his actions very seriously and I don't think the club should really be happy to employ someone with that sort of attitude to drink driving.

Yes, maybe it's harsh to lay too much of this at Radlinski's door. I've been critical of him for other issues such as the salary cap debacle and the embarrassing Bateman press release and maybe that's led to a case of confirmation bias. However, he's been very vocal about Wigan having a great culture. That's really not something I'd be going on about when players repeatedly let themselves down off the field. The club can't stop players acting like idiots, but they can take a strong stance against it and actually punish them in a way that makes it seem like they don't condone it.

Joel Tomkins was suspended for 4 games for verbally abusing a barmaid. Had he assaulted someone that night maybe he'd have gotten 8 games like Bateman did. If instead he had got behind the wheel of his car that night, endangered the lives of anyone unlucky enough to be out on the road at the same time and been stopped by the police, based on previous precedents, he wouldn't have been banned at all. That there would be the crux of my argument. The clubs response to drink driving offences is pretty pathetic compared to the good standards they've set previously. 

Maybe harsher punishments won't make a shred of difference, but at least the club would be taking the offences seriously.

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26 minutes ago, EagleEyePie said:

If instead he had got behind the wheel of his car that night, endangered the lives of anyone unlucky enough to be out on the road at the same time and been stopped by the police, based on previous precedents, he wouldn't have been banned at all. That there would be the crux of my argument. The clubs response to drink driving offences is pretty pathetic compared to the good standards they've set previously. 

Totally agree with this.   I’m sick to the back teeth of seeing drink-driving go unpunished.   It seems you get vilified in the media these days because a caution sign that says ‘Men at work’ is somehow sexist, yet it’s apparently fine to endanger my kids on the roads because some people can’t be a***ed to get a taxi home.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just heard Tautai has been sacked, anyone confirm?

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