Zak Hardaker to work with Canalsiders

Hardaker Takes Up LGBT Support

Rugby League continues to show RESPECT and support for all.

This week saw the first of many sessions that Leeds Rhinos full back, Zak Hardaker has undertaken following his comments during the Leeds v Warrington match last month which saw him make a Homophobic remark that lead to a five match ban from the RFL (Rugby Football League.) Following on from this members of MCR Canalsiders ARLFC, contacted the 22 year old England International offering support, advice and a chance to learn for the negativity that the incident put him under. Working with Zak the Canalsiders team, have shown that remarks that some people may find flippant and throwaway do have some very negative connotations.

Hardaker will be offering his skill and expertise at coaching sessions for Canalsiders, over the next few weeks in their debut year in the North West Entry Merit League. At the first session on 8 July, he was accompanied by Brian McDermott, The Rhinos Head Coach who was also able to offer tips and encouragement to the team.  Canalsiders have both Men’s and Woman’s full contact teams and also mixed Touch Rugby League teams that train and play out of Manchester. The club was established in 2013 is the first LGBT Rugby League club.

As part of this work Hardaker will also be taking part in a discussion hosted by Manchester’s LGF (The Lesbian and Gay Foundation.) This session will focus on how Homophobia can have a damaging effect on Lesbian and Gay people. This will be a frank, open and honest discussion where the full extent of how Homophobic comments can be used against a person will be explored. Zak will be taking part in this following his acknowledgement that he was unaware of the connotations of his comments and how these could be taken and used negativity. This is to be filmed and used by the LGF alongside its existing “Enough is Enough” campaign which shows the effect any form of phobia or hate language has against members of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community.

Following the ban announcement Hardaker made the following comments "I will accept the findings of the disciplinary panel and will look to put this experience to good use in terms of my professional and personal development.  I would also like to thank all those who have shown faith in me and offered to help me, in particular Martin Owens from the Canalsiders amateur club, and hopefully the issues raised in this case will make everyone, players, officials and supporters alike more aware of the harm their words can cause."

Stan Sandland, co-founder of Canalsiders with Owens agreed, “It is great that we can move on, learn and support each other following this incident. There was a lot of negativity around what was said and working with Zak has shown our team and hopefully members of my LGBT community, that there was no malicious or underlying phobia from him. It has given us the opportunity to show the effect that this can have on our community. Zak and Brian offering to take some coaching session has been a great help to the club and I’m sure that we can take a lot from the coaching and advice that these two League stalwarts have to offer us.”

If you require any images from the sessions, or follow up information please contact Stan Sandland PR & Media Officer

Email - stan@canalsiders.co.uk

Manchester Canalsiders ARFLC - www.canalsiders.co.uk

The RFL - Rugby Football League - www.therfl.co.uk

Leeds Rhinos - www.therhinos.co.uk

The LGF - www.lgf.org.uk

Published: 10-Jul-2014: (2516)