Sheffield

[Wakefield Ram]

11 minutes ago, OriginalMrC said:

This is one of the most idiotic things I have ever seen in RL (and it's a low bar). Why would some destroy their career and reputation over something as basic as this. I really don't get it 

And for a game they had zero chance of winning. 

[SUPERSTUD]

I have just read through then tribunals findings. Massive respect to the club doctor for not allowing her professional standards to be compromised. Through no fault of her own she was placed in a disgusting position through the actions of others.

[SUPERSTUD]

43 minutes ago, JonM said:

Some troubling stuff in the full judgment, including that Matty Marsh continued to fail tests some days after the Wigan game and that none of the Sheffield staff made the match doctors at Wigan aware that there was an issue.

Some really poor attempts at defending their conduct too, trying to argue that they hadn't been properly served notice because the RFL investigator hadn't read them a caution first, that information had been emailed to the club rather than given in person or sent by post to Mark Aston himself and that the RFL investigator's deletion of WhatsApp messages was an attempted cover-up. Also argued that the RFL should've stepped in and stopped Marsh from playing on the day. 

Yeah the good old attempt at an abuse of process defence. Often pops up at the commencement of a lot of cases. Deemed to be worth a try I suppose.

[mozzauk]

A sad day for the Eagles

 Wrong doing was definitely done, by Mick Heys, and sorry to say he needs to be nowhere near the sport as player welfare is key, and he undermined any trust players had in him 

 

I feel Mark has been hard done by all this, as it went on the information provided by Mick.. 

I am proud of the club doctor in standing up and calling this BS out... 

Roll on the new season...

[SUPERSTUD]

40 minutes ago, tim2 said:

The doctor probably didn't fancy being struck off if Matty had collapsed during the match.

She probably fancied remaining professional and being able to walk around with her head held high.

[mozzauk]

A lot of Eagles fans blaming the RFL for all this and the RFL is corrupt blah blah blah

 

Edited October 24 by mozzauk

[gingerjon]

2 minutes ago, mozzauk said:

A lot of Eagles fans blaming the RFL for all this including the Club Chaplain..

 

If the sport had balls, he'd be gone for a season and a half for that.

[KS09]

10 minutes ago, mozzauk said:

A sad day for the Eagles

 Wrong doing was definitely done, by Mick Heys, and sorry to say he needs to be nowhere near the sport as player welfare is key, and he undermined any trust players had in him 

 

I feel Mark has been hard done by all this, as it went on the information provided by Mick.. 

I am proud of the club doctor in standing up and calling this BS out... 

Roll on the new season...

I don't see how he's been hard done by.

 

"We are sure that during the conversation Friday morning Mr Heys made it clear MM was not signed off and that MA knew this"

He also said they'd deal with the consequences later.

[SUPERSTUD]

5 minutes ago, mozzauk said:

A sad day for the Eagles

 Wrong doing was definitely done, by Mick Heys, and sorry to say he needs to be nowhere near the sport as player welfare is key, and he undermined any trust players had in him 

 

I feel Mark has been hard done by all this, as it went on the information provided by Mick.. 

I am proud of the club doctor in standing up and calling this BS out... 

Roll on the new season...

It is a sad day for the Eagles but IMHO I don’t believe that it will be indicative of what goes on at the club on a regular basis. This should detract from all the great things that the club have achieved during their existence. This setback can be overcome given time and better internal processes will be put in place. Unfortunately I can’t agree re MA as I feel that he is old enough and wise enough to know better. He took a chance and the Consequences have now been delivered. However MA is human and we all make mistakes and poor judgements at times. He has achieved great things within the game and I sincerely hope that this incident does not define him. Finally you should be rightfully proud of the club doctor as I am. If she reads these comments I want her to know that she absolutely 100% did the right thing. 

[Expatknight]

25 minutes ago, mozzauk said:

 

 

I feel Mark has been hard done by all this, as it went on the information provided by Mick.. 

 

"We are satisfied MA knew full well that MM was not cleared to play. He wanted him to play
and therefore deliberately ignored what he was being told and decided that they would
‘deal with the consequences later’ as was reported to HC by Mr Heys the following day."
 

[Sailaway]

Awful news for Sheffield Eagles. Terrible lack of judgement shown by Aston and Heys. Aston's attitude seems to have been arrogant and stupid and he has accepted no responsibility at all. At least Heys did accept some responsibility and apologised so his ban is partly a suspended one. Respect to the doctor for her role. No doubt the Club will be held accountable in some way before this is all put to bed. 

[LeeF]

1 hour ago, JonM said:

Some troubling stuff in the full judgment, including that Matty Marsh continued to fail tests some days after the Wigan game and that none of the Sheffield staff made the match doctors at Wigan aware that there was an issue.

Some really poor attempts at defending their conduct too, trying to argue that they hadn't been properly served notice because the RFL investigator hadn't read them a caution first, that information had been emailed to the club rather than given in person or sent by post to Mark Aston himself and that the RFL investigator's deletion of WhatsApp messages was an attempted cover-up. Also argued that the RFL should've stepped in and stopped Marsh from playing on the day. 

Your first paragraph is the most worrying thing in the judgement and just shows how poor Aston & Heys’ conduct was. 

[LeeF]

43 minutes ago, mozzauk said:

A sad day for the Eagles

 Wrong doing was definitely done, by Mick Heys, and sorry to say he needs to be nowhere near the sport as player welfare is key, and he undermined any trust players had in him 

 

I feel Mark has been hard done by all this, as it went on the information provided by Mick.. 

I am proud of the club doctor in standing up and calling this BS out... 

Roll on the new season...

Aston hasn’t been hard done by at all. He could have and should have acted differently. 

[Angelic Cynic]

Worrying for the sport as another big city club in The Championship may have problems reaching the start line for next season.

They may have problems finding a head coach for 18 months.

Will it affect potential sponsors?

Not a good day.

[Eddie]

3 minutes ago, Angelic Cynic said:

Worrying for the sport as another big city club in The Championship may have problems reaching the start line for next season.

They may have problems finding a head coach for 18 months.

Will it affect potential sponsors?

Not a good day.

Why would they have problems reaching next season’s start line?

[tim2]

30 minutes ago, Angelic Cynic said:

Worrying for the sport as another big city club in The Championship may have problems reaching the start line for next season.

They may have problems finding a head coach for 18 months.

Will it affect potential sponsors?

Not a good day.

That's the daftest take I've seen on this. The fine would  have to be astronomical and bankrupt the club for them to fail to start next season. They'll definitely find a coach - just look at the player roster that are signed up for next season. The season after will be the harder one.

I'm pretty sure that any appeal will fail, so the club needs to crack on with finding a coach ASAP.

[JonM]

1 hour ago, mozzauk said:

A sad day for the Eagles

 Wrong doing was definitely done, by Mick Heys, and sorry to say he needs to be nowhere near the sport as player welfare is key, and he undermined any trust players had in him 

I feel Mark has been hard done by all this, as it went on the information provided by Mick.. 
 

I assume from this that you have not read the detailed judgment text? It seems like an initial mistake was made by Mick, perhaps accidentally, and he was to blame for attempting to cover that up, but in what happened after that, it definitely seems like Mark Aston was more culpable. And note that while Mick Heys has part of the ban suspended, Mark Aston does not, so the tribunal is also attaching more blame to the coach. I think it's only the fact that Aston is so well thought of within the sport that has seen him get a relatively lenient sentence.

[JonM]

42 minutes ago, Angelic Cynic said:

They may have problems finding a head coach for 18 months.

Keighley seem to have no problem getting a coach, even knowing that they probably only have 3-4 months in the job  

[LeeF]

28 minutes ago, JonM said:

Keighley seem to have no problem getting a coach, even knowing that they probably only have 3-4 months in the job  

Not even that long if you are Anthony Murray

[paulwalker71]

I might be way off here, but is this anything to do with Keith Senior leaving the club?

(By which I mean he didn't want to be associated with this skullduggery)

[Simon Hall]

https://x.com/SheffEaglesNews/status/1788914428534051121

[Tommygilf]

Sheffield's next coach? Henderson must be a decent shout.

[The Blues Ox]

What a snake Mark Aston is. Makes you wonder what else he has tried and got away with. Does not seem a very trustworthy person. 

[Impartial Observer]

3 hours ago, JonM said:

 I think it's only the fact that Aston is so well thought of within the sport that has seen him get a relatively lenient sentence.

is he well thought of, people I speak to do who have dealings with him do not think much of him ?

[JonM]

1 hour ago, Impartial Observer said:

is he well thought of, people I speak to do who have dealings with him do not think much of him ?

You are probably better informed than me then.

He has coached national teams, been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Sheffield for services to local sport and received an award from the Rugby League Writers association for services to the game. So, on the face of it, well thought of.