Long sent home...!

[highland convert]

Maybe long is coming home because he does not like or know the rl rules (oz style) It is open season on scrum halfs with the new now legal elbow charge. Health and safty sets in (his) Maybe anderson told him to get to h--- out of there. HC

[Matthew]

According to Dave Woods on the BBC site, Long refused to comment when he arrived back in the UK just saying that he wanted to go home - he made no mention of his wife. Bearing in mind that he would be unaware as to what had come out as he was in relative isolation on an airplane - it seems likely that the assertations that Dave Woods made are correct - gambling no, drinking and arguing yes

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 145992.stm

[Wigan Watcher]

I have been told that it is personal reasons Long has come home.

The following is allegedly

Was he sent home?

In a way, yes he was!

There was a discussion between first the training staff and Long then later that day Noble became involved.

It all started out with the coaching staff mentioning to Long about drinking a little to much (nothing over the top). This due to mismanagement got out of hand and escalated into more of an argument, Noble was then involved and it was then that Noble said it was for the best if Long went home, he did not feel Long had the right mind set to continue so he asked him to go home. It was felt that if he did not go then Noble was going to send him home anyway.

It is not clear if there is any underlining reasons for Longs conduct as yet.

As for anything to do with gambling then this is just a complete fabrication of the Australian press.

[Wigan_forever1985]

Im still hanging back before i bring out the noose, i think the fact the Long himself has refused to comment when he landed in Manchester apart from sayin "I just want to go home" is weird, you would think with the allergations being made he would at least want to give some justification for the sake of his already dodgy reputation

[DaveO]

Wigan_forever19 85 posted:
Im still hanging back before i bring out the noose,

Me as well but it does seem to be shaping up to there being more to this than the RFL statement implies.

i think the fact the Long himself has refused to comment when he landed in Manchester apart from sayin "I just want to go home" is weird, you would think with the allergations being made he would at least want to give some justification for the sake of his already dodgy reputation

He didn't even have to go that far. All he needed to do was to confirm he was home for personal reasons and he didn't even need to divulge what those personal reasons were as they are private.

No comment just fuels the speculation.

The article by Dave Woods today (14th) is interesting in that on the one hand it is as much of an apology he is likely to get from the BBC for reporting the rumours of gambling and being sent home for breaking a no drink rule.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 145992.stm

On the other hand it confirms he was drunk (but this was not a disciplinary matter) but continues to speculate there was more to him leaving than personal reasons.

The BBC have already misinformed the public by quoting bad press association articles sourced from dubious Aussie journos but having done that then to continue to speculate there was more too it than personal reasons suggests Woods feels safe to do so.

However why he does I am not sure given Noble has said:

"He's gone home for personal reasons," said Noble on Tuesday. "No discipline problems, no gambling problems, no football issues."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 146222.stm


Whatever the real reasons the whole thing is a farce from a PR and GB point of view with the continued speculation and "no comment" from Long not helping.

Dave[/url]

[cpwigan]

We face a real problem. Long was virtually the ONLY kicker in the team, both from hand and place kicking. So now our selection process is hindered by needing kickers. Burrow is the only place kicker. McGuire and Horne can kick from hand.

I hope this farce signals the end of Sean Long internationally.

[Wigan_forever1985]

The issue has been handled in the worst possible way as DaveO says. It takes credit out of our game and is making us look like idiots who dont know whats going on with our own squad. The british game has took a hammering in the Oz press and this is gonna add fuel to that fire. The only positive to take out of this is that at least someone else will get a chance at number 7. Maybe next year young luke can put his name forward, but the focus is now.

We need Pyrce in the center of the pitch FACT. if you stick him on the wing we will loose. Id probably pair him with horne, only for the fact that Mcguire hasn't impressed me. Burrow in the interchange. The main issue is the goal kicking as someone already stated long is the only out and out goal kicker if im not mistaken. Burrow can kick goals i suppose so maybe give him a chance i haven't really made up my mind. However i think the only position that should be up for debate is no7 we need pryce at 6 or we will get stomped, he provides great attack and is a big man in defence, he has really impressed me since leaving bradford and i think he has matured an awful lot. Plus he is one of the few that isn't scared or phazed by the aussies. Long and Mcguire just seem to loose all form and get put out their game too easily

[Matthew]

Who will be our place kicker is the least of our worries for this weekend - we should be more concerned about who will be scoring/creating the tries.

[cpwigan]

If you do not have a strong kick and chase then I'm afraid we will see a repeat of the NZ debacle. Kicking is damn important.

[LKC29]

I'm not one to put too read too much into the aussie press cos they are the most biased set of reporters I've ever read but the continuing undertone in alot of thier reports is that Long and his Saints team mates were trying to pressure Noble into choosing Roby over Newton. Whether this is true or not only time will tell but it is the sort of thing you could expect of long in my own opinion. what does everyone else think?