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Hock future hanging in the balance
Warriors chairman Ian Lenagan will wait for Gareth Hock to pass a 'milestone' before revealing whether he has a future with the club - and he has urged fans not to mistake the silence over the Hock affair as a lack of interest.
The club has kept a stony silence since the 26-year-old tested positive for cocaine last June.
It is believed Wigan want to retain him once he has served his two-year suspension next year, but bosses have said little about his ban.
Lenagan, though, says fans should expect to know within a month whether he will play for his hometown club again.
Two weeks today will mark eight-months since Hock was initially suspended – putting him a third of the way through his mandatory two-year ban from all major sports.
And Lenagan reckons that will be an appropriate time to make a call on Hock's future.
He said: "We've been through a torturous seven months.
"One of the things we had to do was determine that Gareth wanted to recover.
"At the end of February, it will be eight months since he was banned and we will be one-third of the way through his suspension – and that's quite a milestone.
"You won't hear anything until the end of February, maybe the start of March, but don't take that as being a lack of concern or interest."
Last December, Lenagan admitted the club had been monitoring Hock's situation and said: "We are hopeful that by the end of January we are in a position to make a statement about Gareth."
No statement emerged, but the chairman's latest
admission suggests the picture will soon become clearer.
Hock's current deal expires at the end of 2011 – just months after he is eligible to play again.
He has not played since starring for England in a Test against France last June.
Full story in today's (Tuesday) Wigan Evening Post ...
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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