VOTE: Is Dwain Chambers good for Rugby League?

3:37pm Thursday 3rd April 2008

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Two of our writers argue over whether athletics drugs cheat Dwain Chambers should be allowed to play Rugby League for Castleford.

YES, says Liam Chronnell

DWAIN Chambers should be praised for his contribution to rugby league - and he hasn't even played yet.

The former sprinter's decision to join Castleford Tigers has raised the profile of the sport tenfold and put it on the back pages of national newspapers for the first time in a long time.

The column inches devoted to Chambers' move has already eclipsed those dedicated to the game more than a month into the new Super League season.

The publicity and interest the 29-year-old has created can only be good for a sport that gets short-shrift from those outside the M62 corridor.

It is almost irrelevant whether Chambers is a success on the pitch, his worth, in marketing terms, off it is there for all to see.

The benefits to Castleford are huge. The division's bottom club are desperately in need of a boost - and Chambers could provide it.

No one is naive enough to think the athlete, who also tried his luck at American Football after incurring a two-year ban for testing positive for the banned substance THG, will be a world beater, though there is no denying he has the physical attributes to do well.

But if he does make a shock debut against St Helens on Sunday, as is being suggested, and the fans flock to the Jungle and cheer the Tigers to an unlikely win to kick-start their season, then the men in charge of Castleford will feel justified, and rightly so.

As a trialist, Chambers will not be entitled to any wages during the month he spends at the club, so where is the harm in him trying?

Rather than berating his decision to switch to what is arguably the toughest sport in the world, his bravery should be commended.

The world indoor 60 metres silver medallist, as he admits, may only have a limited knowledge of the game, but you don't need to be an aficionado to know there are no hiding places on the field.

If Chambers can silence his doubters, and keep the sport in the spotlight in the process, then it could be the best thing that's ever happened to rugby league.

NO, says Marc Higginson

CASTLEFORD have done the Super League a major disservice by signing Dwain Chambers.

Chambers has been openly disrespectful about Super League, yet he has been welcomed into the Tigers' fold with open arms.

Why should somebody who admits he doesn't know anything about the sport be in the team ahead of the average player that has given 20 years service to the sport since being a four-year-old?

What kind of message does it send out to aspiring youngsters if they see a convicted drugs cheat walking straight into Super League?

We should be doing all we can in every sport to distance ourselves from drugs and the cheats that use them.

Chambers thinks that he will be good at Rugby League just because he can run powerfully fast. Is he trying to say that is all you need to be successful in one of Britain's most popular team sports?

I can catch pretty well but I will not be keeping wicket for Lancashire this summer. I can strike a ball pretty hard but I won't be turning out for Bolton Wanderers anytime soon. And, I can hit a treble twenty on the darts board but I am not arrogant enough to think I can turn up and play against Phil Taylor.

Rugby League is a skilful sport, and Chambers is delusional if he thinks he can walk in and make an impact.

Chambers is a fly-by-night who is using Castleford and the Super League as a machine to keep his hopes of competing in the Olympic Games alive. He has almost said as much. Chambers' Rugby League career will go the same way as his ill-fated stint in American Football - nowhere.

I hear they are bringing Gladiators back to our television screens this winter. I wonder what the odds are on Chambers becoming the next Shadow, Wolf or Warrior?