More Lote madness
Roar Rookie By Matt Rowley, 4 Jul 2007 Matt Rowley is a Roar Rookie
3,145 readsWell I guess we can’t say we didn’t see it coming; the night club fight in South Africa, the phone call prank with Michael O’Connor and now being too drunk to get out of bed and train for a piffling Tri-Nations game. Unfortunately for Australian rugby, the Tuqiri top has been spinning out of control for about a year now, and there are going to be more tears before bedtime.
Looking at the big league signings, there seems to be a common thread. The Rogers experiment ended with bitterness all round and Sailor was nothing short of a catastrophe, managing to sink the Waratah’s S14 hopes last year along with his Rugby career.
However, the difference with Lote was that on the field he has managed to adapt to Union and become a potent attacking weapon at both state and national level. And yet there seems to be an ominous storm brewing for Tuqiri. Just as his ego, boosted by his $6m pay deal, hits an all time high — as evidenced by the O’Connor prank and his latest sleep-in — onto the scene comes a number of young, fast and talented outside backs. Take your pick from Ioane, Mitchell, Turner and Shepherd, while keeping in mind the experienced Staniforth and Gerrard.
Reading between the lines there seems to be a few other indicators of organisational concern about Tuqiri; the two weeks of speed training and the fact that as of a few weeks ago, Vodafone still hadn’t signed his contract. Why is it that League signings to Union seem to attract this sort of attention? Do they just have less self-discipline or is it that the media spotlights them? Either way, with this latest furore, the negative impact of the Tuqiri firestorm now seems to outweigh his benefits.
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July 4th 2007 @ 9:51am
Ian said | July 4th 2007 @ 9:51am | Report comment
Thankyou J O N for making a decision and having suspended and fined LT before we all new what was going on. So there was no 2 weeks of speculation and negative ‘should he shouldn’t he’ crap and clear cut message to all the wallabies right down to my colts team and the junior ranks about team discipline.
As far league players go it seems the ones that actually do want to come and play union do well and fit in to the culture, the players that think they are superstars let their egos take over then wake up and wonder what the hell their doing here. Business is the same, if you poach an employee from an opposition company by telling them how good they are they work well for a while but there are always issuses you either get through or more often you don’t. If your business is attractive enough for them to come and work (not just the money) their focus is in the right place and generally it works more than it doesn’t.
July 4th 2007 @ 11:19am
jools-usa said | July 4th 2007 @ 11:19am | Report comment
Good news is that we MAY see some other rookie (innocent., amateur, ambitious,
grateful), player get a run.
Have seen nothing the past few months that Lote has done that is so extraordinary
that another hungrier guy wouldn’t at least try.
What’s the next shoe to be dropped – steroids?
Jools-USA
July 4th 2007 @ 11:51am
DaniE said | July 4th 2007 @ 11:51am | Report comment
I am so pleased that John O’Neill stepped in and corrected the number of suspended matches for Lote. That’s the kind of control and consistency needed from the ARU administration. I am a bit surprised though that the disciplinary committee had given only a single match ban – given the already suspended two year sentence, surely a two match ban would have been automatic? It makes me wonder if the disciplinary committee treats Lote too softly – as befitting a “marquee player”. Maybe that’s why he continues to infringe.
July 4th 2007 @ 12:01pm
Peter L said | July 4th 2007 @ 12:01pm | Report comment
While it is good to see decisive action instead of procrastination and delay, IMHO J O’N should have gone one step further and initiated renegotiation of LTs contract with more emphasis on an at-risk component. If LT doesn’t like that he can go back to League.
Alternately just rip it up and send him back to League, then reallocate the funds to development of emerging players, and to club competition where next years emerging players are currently playing.
The next decision to make is to drop the League recruitment experiment. Like Ian, I believe that those who want to come will do so and won’t need enticed by ludicrous amounts of cash. As a bonis they will probably be more motivated to make it work, and be more likely to produce results.
When considering all this keep in mind that these top paid sports stars have a disposable MONTHLY income that approximates Australia’s average ANNUAL salary. Surely with that kind of income comes a certain social responsibility?
July 4th 2007 @ 12:28pm
Farmer said | July 4th 2007 @ 12:28pm | Report comment
Great to see there is direction back at the ARU.
A prediction – Lote will not see out his contract and will depart some time after the RWC. I sense the screws are being turned and it will become all too hard for Lote and a welcome development for the ARU.
The contract has not been signed, Vodafone are yet to commit, Lote will continue to find it hard to stay within the lines and he will be belted harder and harder evertime he steps out of line.
It will be a mutual agreement and everyone will say they just want to put it all behind htem and move on!
Is this wishful thinking or do others also sense the tide has turned in relation to Lote.
July 4th 2007 @ 12:29pm
Leo said | July 4th 2007 @ 12:29pm | Report comment
I agree with the various comments: LT’s has a swollen head from all the hype and should be encouraged to go back to ARL. Why should he be given a gauranteed place in the Wallabies.
July 4th 2007 @ 12:35pm
Paul said | July 4th 2007 @ 12:35pm | Report comment
I agree with the above comments.
There are really 2 issues being discussed here: 1. player misconduct and discipline and 2. the policy of recruiting Rugby League players.
Near as I can tell, there seems to be fairly widespread agreement on the policy of recruiting Rugby League players, and I can’t add any more to that.
As far as misconduct and discipline is concerned… so many high profile sportspeople, from high profile sports, attain notoriety for the wrong reasons and RU and its players are no exception. The difference seems to be that when discipline is handed out by RU, it is quick, decisive and confident. Player know where they stand if they commit any misdemeanour and their punishment should come as no surprise. This differentiates RU from the other football codes, where discipline for serious indescretions is often inadequate and no more than a token gesture, certainly very wishy-washy and sending the wrong messages to its fan base and the community at large. For engaging in serious sexual misconduct, illegal substance abuse, consorting with murderers and generally bringing their sport into disrepute, players in the other codes can look forward to not much more than a (figurative) slap on the wrist (to wit: Mason, Gower, Sargeant, SB Williams, Didak, Cousins et al).
The ARU can hold its head up in this respect.
July 4th 2007 @ 2:51pm
slomo said | July 4th 2007 @ 2:51pm | Report comment
Agree absolutely with Farmer, but it may happen sooner than the RWC; I sense that it’s coming to a head and may erupt sooner.
Either way, good riddance. Plenty of good prospects in the clubs.
And hopefully the final lesson about league players. They’re not all undesirable types, but I believe that if they want to play rugby they should take the same route as any other player, ie by performing for a club.
July 4th 2007 @ 3:41pm
Bob Thomas said | July 4th 2007 @ 3:41pm | Report comment
Not only has Vodafone not agreed to the contract yet but more importantly Lote hasnt signed it!
We may find that JON will cancel this contract and start a new negotiation process that Lote won’t like and he will go back to League. There he can play with Willie Mason, Sonny Boy Williamson, Wendell and the drink driving specialist from Canberra and all the other league guys he must admire so much as he follows their footprints so well.
Huge pity really as he could have fitted into union really well had we got him at 20.
Where is the ‘No Dickheads’ policy when you need it.
July 4th 2007 @ 4:17pm
Searly said | July 4th 2007 @ 4:17pm | Report comment
Dare I play devil’s advocate? Here goes…..
Let me start by saying I totally agree with the sentiment about recruiting high-profile league players to Rugby. It doesn’t work, not because they’re league players necessarily, but because they are fast-tracked into the national team without due process (e.g. actually picking people on playing ability rather than reputation or marquee value…..)
But, what of the sanctions imposed for misbehaviour? I think the whole problem with this sort of thing across all sports is that for some reason the clubs and the codes have found themselves in a position that no other employers seem to have to deal with. Think about where you work. If the bloke who sits next to you gets blind on Saturday night and thumps someone, does your boss have to front the media and promise to put the bloke through rehab? Of course not. The reason being that when you’re not at work, what you get up to isn’t the boss’s responsibility.
Now if your Saturday night escapades mean you don’t turn up to work, then fair enough the boss might want to take some action. But how many people do you know who have been fined $20,000 by their boss for turning up hungover to work? 20 Grand! Geez….
I know Lote has a history in all this and I know these things are probably written into their exorbitant contracts, but what ever happened to hauling the bloke into the boss’s office and giving him a gob full? Why do we even need to find out about this stuff? I suppose we need to find out because if the playing group decided that he shouldn’t play for breaking team rules, then we would all be wondering where Lote was this Saturday night.
But why the clubs and the codes are always held to account for what some employee does when he’s not at work is a mystery to me.
As Chris Judd famously once said: “I didn’t ask to be role model”.