In less than 48 hours time I’ll be in Cardiff ready for the start of the World Cup. It’ll be me, Mrs Davies and the girls. One person who won’t #bethere is Gareth Hock.
The news hit the Twitter feeds last night and was then confirmed by the England camp. The story was on the sports news at half past six this morning on Radio 4, and even my non-leaguie mate from Tunbridge Wells mentioned it when I spoke to him on the phone today. No such thing as bad publicity they say.
I guessed that it was to do with drinking. “Probably had a few beers after the Italy game”, I advised my mate Mike. I was right. Trouble is Gaz has got form. They say you can’t have it all, and Gaz Hock is living proof. Huge talent, but he’s clearly got issues and is prone to brain explosions. I remember shaking my head watching him play for England against France last year in Hull. He won man of the match, but gave away needless penalties.
He gave an interview to the BBC today and you can see from the video of the interview that he just doesn’t see that ignoring the coach’s instructions, going out drinking, over sleeping, and then missing a training session is a big deal.
England have now been beaten by Italy, had to sack one of their senior players, and have another five or six (according to Gaz) who ignored the coach and went out drinking as well, still in the camp. Apparently some of the players aren’t happy with the way Gaz has been treated. It doesn’t sound crash hot, but I’m not sure that I’m too bothered. This was always an accident waiting to happen, and Hock was a bit of a surprise inclusion to begin with. Mrs Davies’ reaction was “I told you! Nothing but trouble that one”. She did, and he is.
So where I’d normally be getting ready to slash my wrists and predict doom and gloom ahead of the big show down with the Aussies on the back of such news, I’m more relaxed this time. We don’t have to beat the Kangaroos on Saturday, it’d be great if we do, but the tournament isn’t going to come crashing down if we lose. We’ve already sold out England’s next match, and as soon as England’s game in Cardiff is over, Wales and Italy will be taking to the field. They will either take our mind off a loss, or give us another couple of hours to bask in the warmth of a famous victory.
We need two big wins in this tournament. Against the Aussies on Saturday, or against the Kiwis in the semi, and then against either the Aussies or the Kiwis in the final. I’m not bothered which way they come, so long as we win our last game in this tournament!
It’s also got to be said that I’m in a pretty good mood today as those nice people at ISC have taken pity on me and swapped my logo free shirt for the real McCoy, which came in the post this morning, alongside my last outstanding tickets for Sunday’s game between Papua New Guinea and France. Thank you chaps.
So I’ve got the tickets, and now I’ve got the shirt and at lunchtime on Friday I’ll be on my way, determined to make the most of the next five weeks, whilst Gareth Hock will be left back in Wigan to reflect on the opportunity he has just blown. Silly boy.
The Rugby League World Cup 