we all have our opinions, we are all well aware of that. Sean Long has very few admirers amongst Wigan fans,but i for one hope that all is going to be ok for Sean, he is (no matter what some may say) a guy who lives and breathes rugby league and so to leave the great britain team on the other side of the world is a big decision to make, whether he made that decision or someone else did. Sean is a normal bloke just earning a living like the rest of us. He is obviously having problems, either professionally or personally and we should respect that and leave him be ithout all the rumour mills running overtime. The whole situation has been blown massively out of proportion, mainly due to the press fighting to deliver "the truth" (well, their version of it)
No doubt the truth will come out in the end and some may feel guilty for reporting false, innaccurate stories, but lets face it, realistically most won't give a damn, as they see these guys as indestructable and think nothing can hurt them.
Sean Long is just a guy having a bad day at work.
Long sent home...!
Re: Long sent home...!
"Winning isn't everything...but wanting to win is"
"The way a man wins, shows much of his character, the way he loses, shows all of it"
"The spirit, the will to win and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur"
"The way a man wins, shows much of his character, the way he loses, shows all of it"
"The spirit, the will to win and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur"
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jimofwigan
- Posts: 503
- Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2006 8:06 pm
Re: Long sent home...!
You make some excellent points in this reply. But given the fact that he was going to play on Saturday and that Austrailia are odds on to beat us what was stopping a couple more days and going home with the squad. Is this pressing personal matter unable to wait just a few more days.It would have to be life threatening or equally serious.Thats why Iam holding back because it would have to be a very serious problem to chuck away your International shirt on a bit of a whim or loss of nervewiglol posted:
we all have our opinions, we are all well aware of that. Sean Long has very few admirers amongst Wigan fans,but i for one hope that all is going to be ok for Sean, he is (no matter what some may say) a guy who lives and breathes rugby league and so to leave the great britain team on the other side of the world is a big decision to make, whether he made that decision or someone else did. Sean is a normal bloke just earning a living like the rest of us. He is obviously having problems, either professionally or personally and we should respect that and leave him be ithout all the rumour mills running overtime. The whole situation has been blown massively out of proportion, mainly due to the press fighting to deliver "the truth" (well, their version of it)
No doubt the truth will come out in the end and some may feel guilty for reporting false, innaccurate stories, but lets face it, realistically most won't give a damn, as they see these guys as indestructable and think nothing can hurt them.
Sean Long is just a guy having a bad day at work.
Re: Long sent home...!
the way i see it is it must be pretty serious to take a drastic step like that, i know everyone is curious about what the truth is, but really it is none of our business. Any other player, yes we'd be curious but because it's Sean, (and goin off past incidents) it is seen as real juicy info and many out there seem to be willing to say anything at the moment.
My partner is a professional sportsman, and it is drilled into them that when they sign that contract they are to take full responsibility for their actions, he is constantly told by the coach "go out, celebrate, but remember people will be watching and wanting to drag you down!", and that is so true. The guys are willing to take banter about being a bit merry when celebrating/commiserating over a match they can take the public flogging when they aren't on form but when it gets personal and amily are brought into it, then it's a bit too much.
as much as people may dislike sean, it is not much to ask for a little respect when it comes to matters like this, he has made a choice to return home, his homelife is very important to him, and to leave the team, theres obviously something more important needing his atention closer to home.
My partner is a professional sportsman, and it is drilled into them that when they sign that contract they are to take full responsibility for their actions, he is constantly told by the coach "go out, celebrate, but remember people will be watching and wanting to drag you down!", and that is so true. The guys are willing to take banter about being a bit merry when celebrating/commiserating over a match they can take the public flogging when they aren't on form but when it gets personal and amily are brought into it, then it's a bit too much.
as much as people may dislike sean, it is not much to ask for a little respect when it comes to matters like this, he has made a choice to return home, his homelife is very important to him, and to leave the team, theres obviously something more important needing his atention closer to home.
"Winning isn't everything...but wanting to win is"
"The way a man wins, shows much of his character, the way he loses, shows all of it"
"The spirit, the will to win and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur"
"The way a man wins, shows much of his character, the way he loses, shows all of it"
"The spirit, the will to win and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur"
Re: Long sent home...!
Is your name Clare by any chance?wiglol posted:
the way i see it is it must be pretty serious to take a drastic step like that, i know everyone is curious about what the truth is, but really it is none of our business. Any other player, yes we'd be curious but because it's Sean, (and goin off past incidents) it is seen as real juicy info and many out there seem to be willing to say anything at the moment.
My partner is a professional sportsman, and it is drilled into them that when they sign that contract they are to take full responsibility for their actions, he is constantly told by the coach "go out, celebrate, but remember people will be watching and wanting to drag you down!", and that is so true. The guys are willing to take banter about being a bit merry when celebrating/commiserating over a match they can take the public flogging when they aren't on form but when it gets personal and amily are brought into it, then it's a bit too much.
as much as people may dislike sean, it is not much to ask for a little respect when it comes to matters like this, he has made a choice to return home, his homelife is very important to him, and to leave the team, theres obviously something more important needing his atention closer to home.
"And Martin Offiah, trying to make some space, now then..." - Ray French, Wembley 1994
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Interviewer: So that obviously means that you're not going to St Helens and you're not going to Leeds?
Frano: I don't know why I would ever want to go to St Helens or Leeds
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Interviewer: So that obviously means that you're not going to St Helens and you're not going to Leeds?
Frano: I don't know why I would ever want to go to St Helens or Leeds
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Re: Long sent home...!
Its been handled very bad by the GB Management. The reason the press over here have suggested it was due to gambling was because Long was spotted at Sydney Airport departing, they then rang GB Management and no comment was being made.
So of course journos are going to start speculating when the GB Management arent making any comments as to why he's gone home.
If they said personal reasons right from the beginning then that would have been the reason.
However they didnt make any comment until more then 14-15 hours after the news first broke.
And even then all they said was personal reasons, so the journos are now asking if it was personal reasons why not come out and say so straight away ?
So of course journos are going to start speculating when the GB Management arent making any comments as to why he's gone home.
If they said personal reasons right from the beginning then that would have been the reason.
However they didnt make any comment until more then 14-15 hours after the news first broke.
And even then all they said was personal reasons, so the journos are now asking if it was personal reasons why not come out and say so straight away ?
St George Illawarra Dragons
Re: Long sent home...!
SGID, handled badly or not the betting allegatyion was rank bad journalism by the Aussie press;
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 145992.stm
Offers the best insight.
The bottom line is something happened and the official line is a smokescreen. What happened is related to Longs attitude.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 145992.stm
Offers the best insight.
The bottom line is something happened and the official line is a smokescreen. What happened is related to Longs attitude.
Re: Long sent home...!
It was but the UK press (and if I am not mistaken Woods) were happy to take it as gospel for a time because it got onto the Press Association wire.cpwigan posted:
SGID, handled badly or not the betting allegatyion was rank bad journalism by the Aussie press;
It probably does but at the same time it is a bit of a tail between the leg peice by Woods. He is dressing up the misreporting of gambling and drink that was reported by the UK media as something he viewed from a distance and trys to make this the story with the first paragraph saying:
"The Sean Long saga is a great case study of how a news story first leaks and then bursts into the public arena."
He then goes on to list the catologue of events that argues led to the story being repoted the way it was.
What he really means is this is a good example of a press cock up.
It does seem rather odd but I still think at the moment the only thing we can say for sure is no party involved in this has handled it well. The press (including Woods and the BBC), the GB management and Long himself have made the game look very amateurish in my opinion whatever the reason for Long's return home.The bottom line is something happened and the official line is a smokescreen. What happened is related to Longs attitude.
Dave
Re: Long sent home...!
Fair comment Dave O although I think Woods does offer some good reasons and exposes the lie when he talks about a player leaking the Long story I.E drinking. However, like you say, the who situation is a mess.
If find this quote from Noble quite telling;
"I'm looking for the 17 most enthusiastic people to do that.
If find this quote from Noble quite telling;
"I'm looking for the 17 most enthusiastic people to do that.
Re: Long sent home...!
So the fact no comment was made automatically means it was down to gambling? Concluding he was being sent home for gambling because he was seen at the airport and no comment came from GB management is exactly as Dave Woods of the BBC said, the equivalent of adding 2 + 2 and getting 38 !!SGID posted:
Its been handled very bad by the GB Management. The reason the press over here have suggested it was due to gambling was because Long was spotted at Sydney Airport departing, they then rang GB Management and no comment was being made.
You can't be seriously defending the reporting that went on? It was crap.So of course journos are going to start speculating when the GB Management arent making any comments as to why he's gone home.
Which meant the Aussie press had no idea why he went home so why did they say it was gambling related?If they said personal reasons right from the beginning then that would have been the reason.
However they didn't make any comment until more then 14-15 hours after the news first broke.
Speculating now if it really was for personal reason is one thing but jumping to conclusions about the the reason being gambling is just bad reporting anbd can't be justified because of no comment from the GB managment.And even then all they said was personal reasons, so the journos are now asking if it was personal reasons why not come out and say so straight away ?
Dave
Re: Long sent home...!
Latest from the SMH in Aus;
After a disagreement with Noble over team selections and Noble's criticism of his performance against the Kiwis, Long told the Lions management shortly after Saturday's loss that he wanted to return home.
In the interim he sought solace at the bar. "The fact is Sean is gone home … the king is dead and we've got to find another king," Noble said.
Noble said he had repeatedly tried to counsel Long about the ramifications of leaving the team.
"[It was] absolutely not [to do with drinking], no disciplinary problems, no gambling problems … he's just gone home for personal reasons," said Noble yesterday after an hour-long team talk with the players in the middle of Brookvale Oval.
Long had refused to train on Monday morning and, incredibly, the Lions camp had tried to keep Long's dissatisfaction with the coaching as well as his and other teammates' heavy drinking quiet.
Noble said Long had not been disciplined for his drinking, and while conceding there may have been a minor incident on the trans-Tasman flight involving rowdiness, that issue "had been blown out of proportion".