Manly Eagles Angels have been ‘useful idiots.’
Columnist By Spiro Zavos, 13 Mar 2009 Spiro Zavos is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- Brett Stewart, Eagles Angels, Manly, NRL, Rugby League
164 Have your say
When the Brett Stewart affair blasted its way on to the radio airwaves, the television screens and the newspaper front and back pages, the immediate reaction was what did the self-styled Eagles Angels, a group of prominent women in Sydney, make of it all.
The Angels include Johanna Griggs, Sarah Murdoch (who is often photographed in a Manly jersey), Louise Sauvage, Layne Beachley, Brooke Hanson, Melinda Gainsford-Taylor, triathlete Nici Andronicus, and Wendy Harmer, the no-nonsense comedian.
Many of the Angels are mothers.
All of them, one would guess, have come up against objectionable male macho behaviour in their private and public lives. All of them, too, have passion for rugby league generally and the Manly club in particular.
Their Angels support group for the club reflects that passion and also a PR attempt to match the ‘soccer mum’ syndrome that has helped football to spread throughout the suburbs of Sydney.
The day the Stewart affair broke in the Sydney Morning Herald, Jacquelin Magnay, an award-winning sports writer, ran an article which was headlined: Angels give their vote of support.
The vote of support, amazingly, was for Stewart and not the teenager who was allegedly harassed by the Manly star.
Harmer was quoted as saying that many of the Angels would be very pleased to provide a reference for Stewart: “On a personal basis, we have found him very respectful, well-mannered and a humble person.”
My wife (who was a founder of the Women’s Electoral Lobby in New Zealand) could not believe this statement when she read it: “Where is the concern for the young women in all of this?”, she asked.
Magnay also reported that many of the Angels were too distressed about the allegation to comment.
Again, the emphasis seemed to be on protecting Stewart rather than showing even a shred of solidarity or concern for a teenager who was put through an experience that the Angels would surely not wish any of their daughters to have to go through.
Even after Stewart was charged by the police, we are still waiting for the Eagles Angels to express their outrage at what has happened to the teenager.
For that matter, we are waiting still for them to apologise to the young woman whose father (a Manly sponsor) was hit by Anthony Watmough when he tried to stop the player from pestering his daughter at the now infamous Manly 2009 season launch.
Lenin knew a thing or two about propaganda and he used the phrase the ‘useful idiots’ to describe true believers who were prepared to put the cause ahead of the any other consideration.
The Eagles Angels have been ‘useful idiots’ for the Manly Eagles club.They had stood by their man, Stewart, despite the allegations and the court charge.
Their credibility is destroyed.
Their reason for existing, which was to show how women-friendly the rugby league code really is, has been destroyed. Their judgment is appalling.
How they could defend Stewart, before the facts of the matter had been established and later by their silence after he has been charged, defies all understanding.
How can anyone take seriously what Harmer has to say about social issues, or sports matters, when she puts forward the notion that “we found him (Stewart) very respectful, well-mannered and a humble person” as an argument against him doing what he was alleged to have done to a teenager who had none of the prestige or standing in the community that she and the other Eagles Angels had.
The point about thuggish behaviour by drunken players is that it is invariably inflicted on people who do not have the power to stop it. Even the ‘useful idiots’ should have known this.
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March 13th 2009 @ 10:29am
True Tah said | March 13th 2009 @ 10:29am | Report comment
One thing I dont get about Watmough’s behaviour – didnt anyone in Manly management sit down and say to the players that this guy is a sponsor and he is putting $$$ into the club, $$$$ that form part of our revenue, which need to pay our costs, which include paying the players, such as Watmough. On this basis, he is a valued guest of ours and make sure hes well treated.
Im not sure if Watmough is smart enough to realise this, but I would hope that someone on the Manly Board can recognise this?
What Watmough did is effectively bite the hand that feeds the club, its not as if Sydney Rugby League clubs are making that much money that they can afford to piss off sponsors and lose the corresponding cash flow, never mind the PR disaster.
March 13th 2009 @ 10:35am
oikee said | March 13th 2009 @ 10:35am | Report comment
True farmer, in this country we have 2 codes that dominate, league AFL, now these 2 codes have more problems than most, same applies to EPL and NBL as those codes are dominate overseas. Now if we started to digest all the problems from these codes overseas we would find that we are living in Wonderland compared to the problems they consume in their respective sports. Its only because we dont read about their problems that we think our problems are major problems.
I heard a joke the other day by a Yankie journalist who said, and i quote, “its a bit like going out to find a NFL player who is not taking steriods”. So in the game of american football taking steriods is that well intrenched that if they started sacking players for doing so they would not have a competition to run. I presume this is what he meant. ?
March 13th 2009 @ 10:49am
oikee said | March 13th 2009 @ 10:49am | Report comment
Good point TT, and i have seen a interveiw by Brett Stewart the day before his incident that showed him being interveiwed about behaviour issues and he understood the issue but the very next day…
But also in the same regard i think Gallop did a good job to let Manly deal with the problem, only after he saw that Manly had no idea and was trying to look after there own did he use the NRL powers to deal with the problem. By doing so he has shown that Manly are not very well run, contrary to what people were thinking.
Just one final point, 2 intense coaches, Hasler and Ricky Stewert, is the problem higher up the ranks, are these coaches causing problems that nobody has cottoned onto yet. I do know one thing, when Ricky was sacked because his temperment in dealing with a loss caused him to blow his top, i was screaming at the panel who appointed the next Australian Coach not to pick Des Hasler, why, because he is very much simalar to Stewert, they create such a intense atmosphere and also i have seen Des hasler’s emotions boil over in the Coaches box, to me this is a problem that is there for all to see yet nobody is bright enough to address the issue. Now look at the 2 main culprits so far… 2 coaches with simalar problems. ? I can see this, my wifes a psycholigist, go figure.
March 13th 2009 @ 11:08am
Michael C said | March 13th 2009 @ 11:08am | Report comment
oikee -
agree, finally Gallop has shown some ‘balls’.
But, in fairness, the AFL was getting more and more frustrated with clubs own handling of issues that they’ve introduced a new policy too. So, in the Australian context, the leagues have been gradually assuming more ‘power’ to intervene.
Likewise on drugs in sport. AFL lead the way there in Aust on establishing a league wide policy and procedures above and beyond just the WADA testing. At the same time, NRL was still a club by club basis, but have since followed suit.
ARU??????
March 13th 2009 @ 11:12am
Joe FC said | March 13th 2009 @ 11:12am | Report comment
“I fail to understand why battered women stand by their man” This is a complex matter Mark that sociologists and other trained professionals spend considerable time and resources investigating. By linking this trauma with a group of female rugby league supporters you trivialise it, something which does you no credit.
March 13th 2009 @ 11:24am
Col the Bear said | March 13th 2009 @ 11:24am | Report comment
I’m lovin’ this..
March 13th 2009 @ 11:24am
True Tah said | March 13th 2009 @ 11:24am | Report comment
oikee
this article is not so much about the players antisocial behaviour, which as you pointed out, is not too dissimilar to what happens in sports leagues overseas, it is more about the failure of those who should know better, i.e. sports club management.
Lets face it, you take any teenage male anywhere, give him stacks of money to play in a sport without having to develop his life outside sport, then chances are he not be the sharpest tool in the shed and develop a god-complex, this is not going to be the case for all sportsmen and I personally know a few who have made their sporting career work for them by wisely investing their earnings, but it should not be unexpected when it does happen.
Maybe Im giving too much credit to those involved in running rugby leagues clubs, maybe they got their positions based on how much they can drink or it could be a situation of “jobs for the mates” – how many corporate heavy hitters are involved in rugby leagues clubs or on the boards? It just seems to me that there is a huge amount of ex-players involved in running leagues, who may not have the nous to do the job.
March 13th 2009 @ 11:28am
jimbo said | March 13th 2009 @ 11:28am | Report comment
Young footballers with lots of time and money getting drunk and behaving badly is not just a League thing, it happens with baseball, NFL, EPL and many other sports.
There are a couple of EPL players facing sexual assault charges right now.
The difference is Manly and their PR associations are sticking up for the player only and not taking appropriate action. What about the poor 17 year old kid that got raped?
It’s giving the message that it’s OK to get drunk and rape women and then go out and play footie on the weekend.
The EPL players were stood down immediately and indefinitely by their clubs until they clear their names.
March 13th 2009 @ 11:32am
sheek said | March 13th 2009 @ 11:32am | Report comment
Brett Stewart may well be respectful, well-mannered & humble 99% of the time. But on that one percent other occassion, alcohol altered his personality.
That still doesn’t excuse his behaviour. We all know the pitfalls of drinking too excess. No one ever puts a gun to our heads forcing us to drink more.
This is like so many other issues. Very few people ever have the empathy to see an issue from both sides. It’s all , “what about me” as the victim.
That’s why it was perfectly right for the NRL to step in. Manly were obviously incapable of viewing Stewart’s indiscretion with an objective eye.
As for Watmough, the guy comes across as an out & out imbecile.
March 13th 2009 @ 11:37am
True Tah said | March 13th 2009 @ 11:37am | Report comment
jimbo
it has not been established that any “17 year old kid” got raped – perhaps you should refrain from making such statements until the facts have been established.