No wonder people think all NRL players are thugs. The way the media slandered Brett Stewart last week was disgusting. In fact, the way that they slander all NRL players with accusations against their name makes my blood boil.
There is nothing to say at this point in time that Brett Stewart is guilty of sexual assault. And if he wasn’t one of the greatest fullbacks the game has ever seen, there would be no where near this much coverage on the issue.
NRL CEO David Gallop said last week that Brett Stewart would have been stood down regardless of whether he was charged with sexual assault or not.
Why?
Because he behaved badly by drinking at the clubs season launch.
Well, I’m sorry Mr. Gallop but I don’t believe you.
If Brett Stewart got home last week and took himself back into his apartment without any hassles, no-one would have known he was that drunk. Except maybe the taxi driver.
Stewart would have woken up the next morning with a hangover and that would be about it. But allegedly something else happened.
Now I’m not sure of the details, no one is. Nobody knows yet what really happened in between Stewart leaving the launch and getting home.
And if he wasn’t chosen to be the ‘face’ of the NRL this season, then I’m sure the punishment would not have been so severe. Stewart now probably hates the fact that he has such a massive following and is such a big star in the game.
It probably hasn’t helped that fellow Manly player Anthony Watmough was involved in a scuffle as well, which has been dealt with by the club.
Manly were the cleanskins of the game, never involved in any off-field dramas. They were the team that everyone looked to because of their great reputation.
Their focus was on footy, not on partying.
So the one time that the players are allowed to let their hair down (so to speak), it all goes belly up for them. Which is a real shame.
I feel sorry for Stewart as no matter the outcome of the court case, this will live with him forever. Every time an article is written about him, this will be dragged up and thrown around because it has become part of his life.
It’s the same scenario as the Canterbury Bulldogs players years ago.
To this day, people still think the team and the fans are all thugs. And it’s only because until the full story was actually told, the media assumed the worst case scenario and made them into criminals.
And therefore it has stuck ever since.
People look down on the Bulldogs like they’re dirt.
The three Brisbane Broncos players involved in the scandal at the end of last season are lucky that it has been swept under the carpet. They’ve narrowly escaped becoming ‘criminals’.
They were just blasted about binge drinking, which was a serious issue that they had to deal with at the time.
This is why the general public who don’t follow league have such a bad image of footballers. Because they only see what’s written in the papers and what’s on the news.
If Stewart is guilty, then he does deserve whatever comes his way. But if he is innocent, then I hope that it is covered as much as the allegations have been.
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