Laydeez and gentlemen, boys and girls, can I have your attention please!

Roll up, roll up for the greatest freak show on earth coming to a stadium near you.

Forget the bearded lady or the two-headed dwarf; this one will totally blow your minds.

Drum roll please as I give to you Dwain Chambers, the drug-cheating disgraced athlete turned rugby league superstar.

Yep, Castleford have scooped Chipperfield's and Billy Smart with this one. And it's a sure-fire way to ensure blanket coverage across the nation.

When was the last time the London latte-drinking culture discussed the latest goings on at Wheldon Road?

But Cas over the cappuccino has become the hottest topic around since Chambers was officially unveiled.

They say that any publicity is good publicity and the Tiger hierarchy seem to be lapping it up. Certainly the timing of the announcement to coincide with the application for Super League licences was "handy".

But what about the sport itself? I know the 13-man game is desperate to spread its appeal further than the M62 but have these shenanigans shown it in a good light?

Have they heck! Rugby league has been held up as a laughing stock, holding open its arms for a disgraced sportsman that has been shunned by just about everyone else.

This is a bloke who hadn't even held a rugby ball until the photo call; a guy whose brief attempt to play American football fell flat when it became clear that he couldn't even catch.

And here are a Super League outfit - albeit the bottom one - bending over backwards to get him on board. What a total joke.

There was even, briefly, the prospect of Chambers seeing some game time against St Helens tomorrow!

Cas bleated that their hand may be forced because of injuries and they are running desperately short of numbers in their senior squad.

But what ever happened to drafting in one or two youngsters from the academy?

True, they might be found out totally but surely an enthusiastic teenager who has played the game all his life is going to offer a lot more than some other sport's misfit who does not even seem that sure of how many players his team should have!

What kind of message is this soap opera sending out to kids in the town who live and breathe rugby league?

Yes boys, we know you train twice a week and would kill to put on a Cas jersey for real. But we've got this famous bloke, you see, and he could really do with a game I can see the motto to promote Chambers now. Can't catch? Won't catch him What next? A Big Brother reject trying his hand for a week or two; one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's cast-offs from Oliver?

Well, they will do anything so Cas may feel they are worth a punt for a few days of cheap headlines.

The Chambers charade is turning a top sport into a freak show. The Twickenham set will be spluttering with mirth into their G&Ts.

I thought boxing, the kings of shooting themselves in the foot, had strayed too far into panto land with their "Money" Mayweather versus Big Show comedy.

But rugby league have crossed the boundary between fact and fantasy far quicker than Chambers ever managed on a track.

Chambers may only be in Yorkshire for a month's trial - I can't seriously imagine him surviving when someone delivers the first big hit - but the damage has been done.

It's incredibly short-sighted thinking from a sport that always likes to trumpet its vision.