By Steve Kaless
April 6th 2009 @ 6:07am
Related coverage
Why NRL players must want to play union
Waratah's Wycliff Palu faces a challenge by South Africa's Stormers Sireli Naqelevuki - AP Photo/Mouton van Zyl
Quick question, which professional footballer faced court last week with the threat of a custodial sentence? An NRL player? BZZZT! Wycliff Palu of the Waratahs.
The player escaped a jail sentence for being caught driving without licence for the second time but will pay a $1000 fine.
What struck me was the media’s treatment of the affair.
There was no talk of him being suspended from matches (even when he was facing court), no handing out of fines, no call for rehab, no one even called him a boofhead.
Even though you must wonder how smart someone is who decides they should still drive even though they are on suspended licence.
He can’t even use the old “I was drunk” excuse.
Instead it was just squeezed into the pages as though it was good news the matter has been dealt with so that the player can get back to playing rugby.
The was even the old line of “he has really learnt from his mistake”. I thought that only worked on first offences?
Can you imagine if this was a rugby league player?
Jake Friend, a player with a handful of first grade appearances as compared to an international representative, has already been hit with a $10,000 fine even before he heads to court.
He also had calls of him handing that cheque out publicly to a charity and had his trip to the wheelchair rugby team played out in public.
But for “Cliffy” everyone was just glad he could again concentrate on his footy.
Isn’t it great to play a game from the right side of the tracks.
None of rugby’s high priests in the media who have been so adept at articulating the moral responsibility of players in the public eye to be cleaner than clean and attacking anyone who goes near defending a league player could even bring themselves to question this player’s stupidity or the fact that his manager clearly wanted to issue forgotten.
The Bulldogs Daniel Holdsworth got himself a full page spread for breaking up a fight on the way home from a night out and the Roosters have had to stand down players who have had a few beers at home.
Rugby players obviously aren’t news worthy.
Clearly the Waratahs have no problem with players facing charges so long as they can perform on the field.
God help an NRL coach who would attempt to argue the same.
Perhaps what was most amazing was that in the few paragraphs on the issue no one mentioned that Palu had a short but unsuccessful stint with the St George Dragons.
Surely it was rugby league’s “culture” that led the Wallaby to become a repeat offender in the eyes of the law.
Rugby so often bemoans the fact that it flies under the radar of mainstream public attention, but here they must be counting their blessings.
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and I’m on the Roosters bandwagon a 12 point win to the chooks.
Wallythefly said | April 6th 2009 @ 8:24am | Report comment
Mate I think what you say about Cliffy not getting much press about this incident is fair enough but the simple truth of the difference in treatment is because not that many rugby players have been caught doing the wrong thing. The press probably see it as an isolated incident rather than a pattern of poor player behaviour evident in league.
oikee said | April 6th 2009 @ 8:29am | Report comment
To be honest with you steve i dont know the guy mentioned. Maybe this is why we dont take any notice, or the fact that nobody is really interested in the goings on in union. Same applies to super league england, they seem to fly under the radar over there. Thank goodness hey!
el_capitan said | April 6th 2009 @ 8:59am | Report comment
When booze has been involved rugby players have had the hard stick wacked aganist them, look at Matt Henjak, scared and tossed to the wilderness.
No I think if the situation was Cliffy was drunk driving then all hell would have fallen on him.
I agree with Wallthefly that the press sees it as an isolated incident rather than common occurance.
hightower said | April 6th 2009 @ 10:18am | Report comment
Who would think that being drunk would make it better when they got caught driving with a suspended license?
Yep Palu stuffed up and got off easy in the press, however he didnt deny it or plead not guilty or blame it on a mate.
Couple of high profile league players have been there own worst enemies trying to avoid dealing with or admitting to their own mistakes.
Michael B said | April 6th 2009 @ 10:48am | Report comment
The number of high profile NRL players far outweigh high profile Rugby players. To become high profile in Rugby, you really need to play super 14 or for the Wallabies. With only 4 teams in Super 14 vs 16 teams in NRL, there is a big difference.
So naturally, the number incidents would likely be higher for NRL. AFL isn’t immune either, there have been a couple incidents this week alone about players bashing people/GF’s. Once again, they have 16 teams like the NRL
I this instance, it does look like Palu got off lightly.
Waterboy said | April 6th 2009 @ 11:31am | Report comment
Ah the rugby apologists trying to differentiate the rugby players misdemeanour from the league players. Nice try gentleman.
I was amazed when I saw how small the article buried deep in the general section of the SMH was.
Funny…….. at the other end of the SMH, rugby and AFL articles are disproportionately large for the interest held by the Sydney public in those sports.
Where are the comments from that buffoon Fitzsimmons now?
sunshinecoaster said | April 6th 2009 @ 11:39am | Report comment
He can’t even use the old “I was drunk” excuse.
Thats got to be one of the most bizarre statements ive seen on the Roar form a columnist,you think it would be better if he was drunk driving?
Sorry mate but driving without a license hardly comes close to what the NRL is going through,but you keep trying to spin it and making strange comparisons.
John Ryan said | April 6th 2009 @ 11:50am | Report comment
You have to remember that the SMH loves Rugger,it reguards Rugby League as something which is there it may be popular but it is really not a game for their type of people.
I like reading the SMH on line because The Worst has not improved and lifts a lot of stuff from the SMH anyway,the SMH wishes deeply that Rugby League would just go away,but then it sells Newspapers,so its in a bit of a quandary,and besides Rugger types just don’t do that kind of thing to well bred, just ask Fitzsimmons.
JimC said | April 6th 2009 @ 12:08pm | Report comment
It’s even worse in the UK. Both RU and RL players regularly appear in court, usually on assault charges related to drinking, fairly typical for 20-something young men these days sadly. The treatment of the two sports is completely different though, with any RL misdemeanours being evidence of some moral degeneracy, while RU players are “unlucky” or “struggle with the spotlight”.
Hypocrisy, snobbery, call it what you will, but the old school tie still counts.
The man said | April 6th 2009 @ 1:29pm | Report comment
The medias hyprocracy knows no bounds and not only in the case you highlighted Steve.
Despite the now tragic outcome of the Brumbies visit to a Durban nightclub in the wee hours last weekend the reasons why the team were there have not been analysed and none of the normally required hollier than though comments in the press – ie what is the club doing letting players be out all night
While I encourage the Brumbies to blow off some steam – one does wonder what the reaction would have been had it been a league team doing the same on an away trip to Townsville with similar results.
Calexico said | April 6th 2009 @ 1:35pm | Report comment
“Despite the now tragic outcome of the Brumbies visit to a Durban nightclub in the wee hours last weekend the reasons why the team were there have not been analysed”
You want an analysis of why they were at a club??? Perhaps to relax and have a drink? The coach and manager have already said the team had permission to be there.
Worlds Biggest said | April 6th 2009 @ 1:37pm | Report comment
Palu was a ” boofhead ” ( there you go Steve ) for driving without a licence again. Yes he did get off lighty in the media for a high profile rugby player. Oikee I don’t know if you were being sarcastic however a Wallaby No 8 does constitute a reasonably high profile you would have thought. Steve as a journo you would appreciate the saturation coverage league enjoys in this City. Anything will get a mention be it good or bad for the game. Rugby enjoys a mere morsal worth of coverage compared to League. What goes around comes around.
The man said | April 6th 2009 @ 1:41pm | Report comment
Calexico
I don’t want one – just surprised the media has chosen not to focus on it
Roger said | April 6th 2009 @ 1:43pm | Report comment
Reports indicate players were there with a bus and security..far from a raucous night out the like of which some Leaguies have been involved in! Union players have been punished in the past for poor behaviour, they are not immune…see Henjak, Luaki, Thomson, Duning, Tuquiri, Shephard, Henjak, Des Tuaavii have all made press with bad behaviour…
The man said | April 6th 2009 @ 1:54pm | Report comment
Roger,
I have no idea if it was raucous or not – unfortunately the lack of blow by blow coverage of how many shots the players had necked or nightclub owners daughters spoken too prior to the incident – make it hard to know.
Where I am sure if Manly had put on a bus to get the players to the Wharf Bar after yesterdays game against Newcastle every network would be blasting me with indignation and asking for a ban on players attending nightclubs.
Roger said | April 6th 2009 @ 1:59pm | Report comment
well that relates to a pattern of behaviour…if Manly had kept their noses clean for the last few months, and there was no suggestion they drank too much or behaved poorly, then I dont think it would be a big issue…plenty of NRL players still go out for beers and do nothing wrong, or if they do, some still dont get caught.
znotty said | April 6th 2009 @ 2:00pm | Report comment
its cause Union is a second rate game that no one gives a crap about.
LeftArmSpinner said | April 6th 2009 @ 2:07pm | Report comment
The Man. Just shut it!
The guy you referred to, Shawn Mackay, died today. DIED.
JUST SHUT IT AND SHOW SOME RESPECT.
The man said | April 6th 2009 @ 2:29pm | Report comment
LeftArmSpinner,
I am sorry if you believe I was in anyway disrespecting Shawn with my comments, that was in no-way my intention and I would never intend to do so. The whole thing is a tragedy for everyone involved.
I merely wanted to highlight the differing media treatment that exists between coverage of league and union off field incidents as raised by Steve, and that was all.
oikee said | April 6th 2009 @ 3:39pm | Report comment
All i said is i dont know the guy mentioned, big deal he plays for the wallabies. I am really not interested with any guy causing trouble for Union, i am over this, so some guy causes trouble in aussie rules, are we going to start reporting all the other codes mistakes just to show it does not only happen in rugby league. I already know this.
The only time you get a heated argument on here is when you mention another code. Steve, dont worry about it, stick to league stories mate. If we get flak with league stories then we can have a bitch.
oikee said | April 6th 2009 @ 3:43pm | Report comment
Lefty, we dont know what happened to the Union guy, i knew he was in hospital but had not heard anymore. Sorry to hear about his passing.
LeftArmSpinner said | April 6th 2009 @ 4:02pm | Report comment
fair enough.
Worlds Biggest said | April 6th 2009 @ 4:12pm | Report comment
Znotty – very intelligent response. If Union is such a second rate game why was this article written and why is there considerable interest from fellow bloggers ?.
Tom said | April 6th 2009 @ 4:29pm | Report comment
sunshinecoaster, driving without a license is a very serious crime. If you are without a license, you are also uninsured. If you hit someone, they can very well be left with no option other than to sue you to recoup costs of repairing their vehicle and paying for any medical expenses incurred.
Say, for example, someone was left disabled after being hit by an uninsured driver, sued, yet the driver didn’t have sufficient assets to pay for their continued treatment/rehabilitation, an innocent person and their family can be left hugely out of pocket paying for these services.
Steve Kaless said | April 6th 2009 @ 4:52pm | Report comment
Matta,
I’d suggest you read my article again, perhaps slowly, and find where I mention anything about Shawn McKay. I think you’ll find his name absent from my article for a whole host of reasons.
I’m not sure how closely you follow rugby union but Wycliff Palu is actually a different playerand has had a different sort of week. That was what we were discussing, the blogger which mentioned Shawn McKay did so without realising his passing, he then showed the humility to apologise for going off half cocked. Maybe there is something in that?
Rugby Union writers have had no problem passing judgement on the behaviour of Rugby League players despite the Super 14 competition being in full swing, I was merely doing the same, most of the comments focused on the differing ways the media handled the issue, which what the story was about (something you may get from re-reading the piece).
I’ve found the vast majority of the comments from both the league and union side interesting and have added to the debate. A debate occurs from diversity of opinion, it is nothing to be ashamed of.
Cheers
sunshinecoaster said | April 6th 2009 @ 5:07pm | Report comment
Yes Tom your right its a crime nether the less
I have no problem with people pointing it out and calling Palu a boofhead thats fine,its the facts and fair enough
But to hear a journo getting out the violin and and telling us its all some media conspiricy is a joke,the reason the NRL players get the headlines is because of the type of crimes and shear amount of them they are comitting,thats the facts,if Palu had sexually assaulted a young girl,or glassed his girlfreind you can bet your bottom dollar the media would be into it all guns blazing.
The Link said | April 6th 2009 @ 5:09pm | Report comment
sunshinecoaster – if you took your blinkers off for a second then you’d realise there are clear double standards at play as Steve rightly points out.
Yes the NRL has its issues, but if the reporting of incidences isn’t consistent across codes then surely the question is worth asking – why?
Can someone answer how big the Nathan Bock issue is in AFL at the moment?
Midfielder said | April 6th 2009 @ 5:32pm | Report comment
Steve
People who live in glass houses do not like being told they do…but your article is right…
westy said | April 6th 2009 @ 6:45pm | Report comment
Leftarmspinner Shawn played his junior football with the roosters and represented them for 5 years as did his father. . Like me and many more he played and enjoyed rugby league and rugby union. Both the Roosters the Brumbies and all sports fan mourn his loss . It must be very difficult for his parents. Shawn was as much a rugby league player as a rugby union player and moved easily between both groups as most players do. they are much more aware of each others ability than many of us pundits. I have observed rugby union players listen earnestly to Andrew johns and rugby league coaches listen in the same fashion to Robbie Deans. They show a mutual respect.
Peter Fitzsimmons is often tongue in cheek but there is a an agenda there. peter never was quite good enough in rugby union and as warren Ryan said He watched him for ten minutes and asked ” Can he actually run” the answer was not far. He could never think of rugby league. He is a military historian a want to be leader of men which he will never be. He is for us ordinary plods no Roden Cutler or Weary Dunlop. I have heard Peter both in publc and private . He does not like rugby league nor does he like those who follow it. Fair enough. But he reacts to rugby league followers have little time for him , what he stands for or his posturing. they would never be led by peter and he would care about this make no mistake.
They do not buy the SMH for his pieces. In fact the SMH is heading south anyway.
I observed seymour and his apology to the Sharks fans at Endeavour. It was not from a preprepared statement and I think it was heartfelt and sincere. I feel the young man does therefore not deserve the constant repetition of his “night out’ repeated ad nauseum on Channel 9. i think he has been punished and exposed enough. this is whwhere the media is hypocritical.
matta said | April 6th 2009 @ 6:56pm | Report comment
Steve, never said you had mentioned anything about McKay but thanks for the tip.
All I am suggesting is that, no matter how slowly I read it, your article is juvenile and is embarrassing for the League crowd – of which I partially am.
So what if the ‘the man’ didn’t know of his passing. Like I said in my deleted post, everyone knew they guy was in a coma – might be something in that too…
Knives Out said | April 6th 2009 @ 8:58pm | Report comment
Does Spiro Zavos have nothing to say on this topic?
Willem said | September 23rd 2009 @ 10:20am | Report comment
nah cause he cant have a go at the boks
Bryan Ferrie said | April 6th 2009 @ 9:15pm | Report comment
Steve’s point is valid because the media is saying that the behaviour of NRL players is poor, and by the media choosing not to report the comparable “crimes” of RU and AFL players, it reinforces to the general public that NRL players ARE worse than the other codes. This is an issue when the AFL is trying to market itself an alternative clean skin sport to support “think of the children!”.
All NRL fans are looking for is the media to be fair and honest. Not that it will happen. Wes Naqama compared Palu anyone?
The fact there is only one RU club in Sydney with its collection of 5 or 6 identifiable Waratahs compared to 9 NRL clubs with their 25 man squads shows why there is more chance of a NRL incident than a RU incident, even before the media decides that getting hysterical about a RU player does nothing for selling newspapers or improving tv news ratings.
westy said | April 6th 2009 @ 9:32pm | Report comment
Knives out I cannot speak for Spiro but I went into bat for rugby league when i sensed that some of our rugby friends seemed to be somewhat irrational in their delight . My reaction was never to the poor standards of behaviour of some rugby league players. they deserve censure , but to a tendency to expand these attacks to people who support rugby league.
Where I exist these are the very people who may provide some constituency to rugby support out west. I believed some of us were going to far. They were the underdogs on someof our articles which were designed not to debate but I sensed denigrate.
I sense that our rugby responses since have become more measured on this sports site and think this is a good thing. i must say that the people I attend rugby games with also seem to support an NRL team as well as the Wallabies and the Waratahs . The bitterness of some is not reflective of the current young player nor i suspect of a good many rugby supporters. this is agood thing or do we want them to go elsewhere. If we are to grow and be successful they are a future resource .
Some rugby people are a little misleading because they seem to watch afair bit of rugby league . the opposite is equally true.
On this sports site which i enjoy I am mindful that it does not yet reflect the general sporting public. I suppose not only did I want to defend rugby league which I enjoy especially on the box but I did not want to see genuine rugby league supporters who simply want to talk about their game driven of by the mungoes and schools comments that some of the posts degenerated to. On this site rugby has the numbers we must be mindful of this and that its promotors want it to be a general sports site.
Matta I agree some of the rugbylegue supporters may be looking for revenge and this is not the way to do it.There better response is to say the Broncos v St George game on friday night simple game or not was much more entertaining than the Waratahs game on Saturday. And I think they would be right on this occassion.
Doug said | April 6th 2009 @ 10:46pm | Report comment
Hi Steve wouldnt it be better to compare the media treatment of similar incidents? Jake Friend attempting to drive home apparently blind drunk was putting innocent lives at risk. Where Wycliffe Palu driving without a licence for the second time in two years is illegal it wasnt directly putting lives at risk. It seems to me that the biggest difference in coverage of player incidents is the different market shares. In Melbourne, Adelaide or Perth Jake Friend or Wycliffe Palu wouldnt rate a mention, but drink driving by any AFL player would be all over the papers, TV and radio. In Sydney league is king for better and worse.
Norm said | April 6th 2009 @ 11:04pm | Report comment
fair comment Steve.
Siren's Call said | April 6th 2009 @ 11:28pm | Report comment
Doug – driving without a licence is enough for an insurance company to wipe a driver in an accident. Would you be happy to be permanently injured by an uninsured driver and be unable to work or support your family? This was also Palu’s 2nd time. Stop making excuses just because he is a rugby player and not a NRL player.
Steffy said | April 6th 2009 @ 11:41pm | Report comment
“Stop making excuses just because he is a rugby player and not a NRL player”
What does the R in NRL stand for?
John Ryan said | April 7th 2009 @ 12:15am | Report comment
Maybe WA is a bit of a sheltered workshop, but has anyone heard anything about the Collingwood player who I believe is up on Assault, or the Adelaide crows player up on Assault charges, Because I listened in vain in WA to hear it even mentioned in both Newspapers or Radio or TV,now if you want real double standards look at the treatment of AFL players when they stuff up to NRL players doing much the same thing.
Ben C said | April 7th 2009 @ 12:34am | Report comment
Actually his driving without a licence was dumb but it would not limit a claim for damages if he happened to hit someone in the car. The CTP insurance is linked to the REGISTRATION not the licence.
Illegal and silly by all means but to suggest he was endangering people is simply wrong.
Robbie said | April 7th 2009 @ 8:42am | Report comment
It is pretty simple RL players are featured much more in the media than a rugby player. Between Channel 9 (free to air) and the Daily Telegraph they get far more coverage therefore any time they screw up it’s everywhere. It would seem to me that someone is interested therefore its covered. Do you really think that your average Eels supporter could give a crap about Cliff Palu driving with a suspended licence?
Look at the Brett Stewart issue on the Wednesday the Daily Telegraph had the whole front page dealing with it. This front page was good because the headline was “I can’t remember anything” or something like that then in the article it sayes he denies everything….I thought he couldn’t remeber anything???
Roger said | April 7th 2009 @ 9:23am | Report comment
Perhaps the best compromise might be, YES, league players get more attention in Sydney and Brisbane than Union players, BUT League also has the runs on the board as far as a long glorious pattern of alcohol related problems…rarely are articles about Leaguies behaviour just about the act in isolation..they are about the pattern of behaviour of booze, violence or sex being involved in incidents…Does everyone remember when Owen Finnegan and the Brumbies went nuts in SA a few years ago and jumped on a taxi…what about when Force players got involved in quokka-gate? It cuts both ways but Union keeps its nose a lot cleaner.
I think the fact that Union players are a lot busier given they are always on tour means they have less time to get up to mischief…the S14 season is so short, they know they just cant put a foot wrong….there are about 450 1st grade Leaguies in Australia, with 88 top Union players, but remember the rest of the 220 pro rugby players in NZ and SA who are in the public eye in their countries to the same extent League is over here….some RU kiwis have gotten in trouble in recent times, but there just isnt the track record League has in Sydney and Brisbane.
If a leaguie was booked driving disqualified when popping down to the chemist because of a post game bloody nose (like Palu) I doubt it would be much bigger news than Palu got…Steve Kaless’s statement that because it could have attracted a custodial sentence means it was big news is ridiculous…most (even monir) criminal offences allow consideration of a custodial sentence…even not sending your kids to school…it doesnt mean they will go to gaol, in fact gaol is only used in the most extreme of circumstances if at all.
Perhaps this is just a beat up on what the Daily Telegraph chooses to publish for its Sydney readers. If anything, it is probably a reflection on the problems young aussie men have with booze, bc neiher league nor RU comps elsewhere in world have the same extent of problems.
Very Brisbane and Sydney-centric article…just like League really.
Siren's Call said | April 7th 2009 @ 9:40am | Report comment
Roger keep dreaming.
There are only 4 RU clubs in this country and just 1 of them is in Sydney where the media are hysterical nuts.
If rugby union was the only football code in New South Wales, ACT and Queensland then the misbehaving NRL players would be misbehaving rugby union players.
Have a look at NZ where there are rugby union players in trouble all the time while the squeaky clean rugby league players are rarely in trouble. Why? Because there are fewer star NRL players in NZ to get into trouble compared to the Super RU teams and All Blacks.
True Tah said | April 7th 2009 @ 9:55am | Report comment
Sirens Call
squeaky clean RL players in NZ??? The likes of Stacey Jones, Steven Price have excellent reputations and deservedly so, but sadly RL in NZ is closely associated with various gangs.
Are you sure about this? I remember the CEO of NZRL saying that if they had to check up on the criminal records of every player then they wouldnt have many players left?
Roger said | April 7th 2009 @ 9:56am | Report comment
Read my comments again Siren’s call, I clearly said some Kiwis RU players have gotten in trouble, but you surely couldnt say to the same extent League in Syd and Brisbane has…the papers in Syd have has sponsors saying they are going to pull our bc of behaviour…the situation in Sydney and Brsibane League is far far worse than compared to behaviour of NZ and SA RU players, where RU is main sport.
Now, can I say this even more clearly and slowly….I AM NOT SAYING LEAGUE PLAYERS ARE WORSE THAN UNION PLAYERS, i am just saying that League has a long history of problems…what causes these problems is another issue…but for Leaguies to say its just media coverage of normal young men is coming at the problem from the wrong end and is classic denial.
League players are just like Union players, but they have too much time and money on their hands…Union clubs must keep their players busier, which is made easier bc they are on week long tours so much, where coaches can keep a closer eye on them.
Idle hands make the devil’s work.
Crosscoder said | April 7th 2009 @ 10:01am | Report comment
Double standards still continue.Anyone who steps out of line should get the media glare.
For example the recent Hong Kong 7s ,the Wanchau area had a wild street brawl invloving a few union players(Fiji player charged)supporters.It was tucked away(one had to organise a search party)in the Sun Herald in an obscure section of the ru aweek or so ago.Quickly discarded for fish and chips.
Yet we get someone getting demoted from the roosters,for disobeying the drink policy of the club,gets splashed over the pages.
There are 15 Oz based NRL teams as opposed to 4 S14 teams.Go figure the ratios.
BenC and Doug living in dreamland it would appear.
People either dont have a licence and drive,or they don’t have a licence due to continuous driving infringements.To suggest that is not endangering lives is fanciful.
I note a former Wallaby Darcy drive over the harbour bridge and charged with being over the limit a year or so ago.The SMH reported zilch.
It appears the AFL as far as the northern media is concerned and I include the Herald ,is a protected species,judging by the latest AFL atrocities involving Collingwood/Crows players and the drug issue noted by Spider Everitt.
Siren's Call said | April 7th 2009 @ 10:13am | Report comment
Let’s just stick to comparing players at the elite level Roger. How many NZ Warriors have got into trouble as opposed to All Blacks?
Crosscoder – Unfortunately for the NRL the media in Sydney is quite happy to paint NRL players as boofheads in comparison to the other codes. But when the other codes players misbehave they are not interested as the Sydney public is not interested. But these leaves the NRL players looking like the only football boofheads Australia has. Brawls among fans erupt in Newcastle NRL and Adelaide and Melbourne AFL but the Sydney media only reports the Newcastle brawl.
There is no answer to this unfairness until RU or AFL becomes relevant to the Sydney public and it becomes newsworthy.
sunshinecoaster said | April 7th 2009 @ 10:45am | Report comment
The Warriors have had there fair share of problems with players,but the Warriors club deals with these players harshly,the NRL could take a few tips from the club on how to deal with players,sack them
Any player who couldnt handle there drink or gave the club bad head lines is gone,just ask Tevita Latu,Sione Faumuina, Misi Taulapapa and Michale Witt.
sunshinecoaster said | April 7th 2009 @ 10:47am | Report comment
Michael Crockett i mean not witt
Roger said | April 7th 2009 @ 11:22am | Report comment
Sirens call, RL has 288 1st grade players across 2 countries…RU has 308 S14 players across 3.
RL dominates in Aust, RU dominates in NZ and SA.
A direct comparison can be made, as long as you arent talking about just the Daily Terror and Ch 9 in Sydney.
Palu’s problems was a small news item bc it was not part of any pattern of problems with violence, sex or booze.
el_capitan said | April 7th 2009 @ 11:44am | Report comment
I’ve stated it before on the Roar. As long as New Ltd is the co-owner of the NRL, ANY News, be it good or bad, is what they are happy with, cause it sells papers and makes “worthy” news stories.
As for the SMH, its got a lot of “old” boys on the books, and they won’t dare cause a blight on the game. Yes its true that this still happens, its not good journalism but its what the powers want to report.
More important is the lack of media coverage that the main papers give to sports such as Netball, Hockey, Basketball ect. You just have to thumb through the papers on a Sunday (Brisbane) to see majority of the news is NRL (up to 8-10pages), with a little bit of Rugby(2pages) and AFL (1 to 2 pages) Football (1 to 2 pages), then perhaps a small article on the above mentioned sports. But if it sells papers then thats what gets reported.
IMO, that is why the Roar is such a good site for updates on all sports. And its interesting to read about items that affect sport (ONE HD, GFC and sportspersons behaving bad)
Mark said | April 7th 2009 @ 12:05pm | Report comment
The fans of the ridiculously boring code of Rugby Yawnion look at their game through rose coloured glasses, there’s no reason to think the sports reporters who scrutinise this borefest of a sport don’t do the same!
oikee said | April 7th 2009 @ 12:13pm | Report comment
The way some of you guys carry on it would seem that rugby union was so squeaky clean, dust would not settle..
If we reported every single incident of some drunken lout on the weekend you would need a paper 20 inches thick.
They dont report these stories because it happens every week, same as murders in America, even their local papers are tired of reporting, or the people have become bored, with these stories. Soccer holliganism, its becoming less and less reported, we all know it happens so we get bored with reading about these issues.
I love the quote about league players in NZ being linked with gangs, thats a classic, the mongrel mob is now related to league, nice one. This will look good for league with some new stories coming out about league and gangs.
To be totally honest rugby league crowds are very well behaved, i have never seen much trouble even at origin level and at the world cup games. I think you get banned for trouble these days as you do in soccer now.
The simple fact is that Sydney and Brisbane are league mad cities, same applies to AFL in Melbourne.
If you narrowed that down to sydney, its 8 to 1 league to union. Eight times more chance of league players causing trouble.
Siren's Call said | April 7th 2009 @ 12:29pm | Report comment
Roger. I understand your points but the telling one is “as long as you arent talking about just the Daily Terror and Ch 9 in Sydney.” Along with Ch 7 and Ch 10 which are aligned to AFL and the hysterical shock jocks of 2GB (despite it being the NRL braodcaster) the Sydney media is feral and uses the city’s dominant sport to feed itself. This does not happen to the same extent in any of the Super 14 cities or in the AFL cities.
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/articles/2008/07/19/1216163227945.html?feed=fairfaxdigitalxml
Steve Mortimer: “I see this Steeden football that is deflated and dead, and I see these vultures picking at it – like News Ltd, Channel Nine and 2GB,” Mortimer said.
“What I’m saying is they have picked what they wanted for their own benefit and when there is no carcass left, they will fly away.”
Then they will feed on AFL or RU or soccer in Sydney whichever has the greatest public interest to feed off.
Woody Warambel said | April 7th 2009 @ 12:53pm | Report comment
Interesting stat from NZ:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=10551309
.”..All Blacks and Chiefs loose forward Sione Lauaki has appeared in court charged with trashing property at an Auckland motel in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
The 27-year-old, who made his international debut in 2005, is at least the 11th All Black to appear in criminal court in the past five years….”
oikee said | April 7th 2009 @ 2:23pm | Report comment
Steve Mortimer, now you dont get anymore passionaite than this bloke. I noticed this was written midway last year. He must have plenty to smile about since then hey Siren, the doggies are going well. Woody, same applies to Union new Zealand, who is reading this paper? If you did not point it out then nobody would have know that 11 all-blacks have been in strife over the last 5 years. The Union guys on these blogs wont mention any bad reports from their game.
I am dissapointed they have not written a post about the passing of Mckay on roar., I heard mention about him last nite on the Monday nite League telecast on fox sports. They paid tribute to him even thow he played Union.
I noticed that in super league “pre game” a young guy died, so they cancelled the main game. Now thats respect.
oikee said | April 7th 2009 @ 2:38pm | Report comment
Sorry, there is a report on there site now. Written by Adrian. cheers.
matta said | April 7th 2009 @ 8:49pm | Report comment
Crosscoder – the HK issue has not been reported heavily because of it location mate. The HK (Chinese) tourism industry would have clamped down on that story quicker than you can blink. Also, it was and bunch of retired and ammo blokes playing in the yearly 10s comp mate – nothing to do with the pros on the 7’s tour. Also, I can tell you it wouldnt be the first time the riot police have been to Wanchai.
Doug said | April 7th 2009 @ 8:51pm | Report comment
Crosscoder and Siren’s Call I dont understand why you keep trying to pretend that putting lives at risk is the same as not putting lives at risk. If you want to convince any one that there is an anti rugby league bias in the media compare similar incidents and how they are handled in the media. For example the Coffs Harbour Bulldogs incident vs the English Rugby Union players in New Zealand. Or the Cronulla player assaulting his girlfriend vs the Adelaide crows player. Or anything Matt Henjak did. There are lots incidents to choose from over many years. Find facts to support your argument dont try and twist the facts to suit it. Sure there are certain ex-Wallabies journos who have it in for RL. But that isnt the same as a systematic bias against RL in the media.
matta said | April 7th 2009 @ 8:54pm | Report comment
Look, we can all sit here googling write ups about Union and League players till the cows come home.
The only thing that matters is the fact that League has had more issues than any other code – this just cant be disputed. Irrational and schoolboy like articles/posts like this do nothing but worsen for the reputation of us, the supporters.
Steffy said | April 7th 2009 @ 9:15pm | Report comment
Union gets massive coverage in the papers in england, rugby league gets very poor coverage. Union players misbehaving gets very little coverage here – Ollie Barkley (England union player) was accused of assault last year (later dropped due to lack of evidence) but it was barely mentioned in the papers. Ryan Lamb (pro union player) was convicted of assault recently, it was mentioned, but only just, in the papers. Last year Shane Drahm, pro union player for Worcester, was convicted for assault – it wasn’t mentioned outside his local paper.
When these incidents occur in union they get very little coverage here and what coverage they do get doesn’t blame it on the union culture – in fact the union culture here is often held up in the papers as being an example to other sports (union writers love to pat themselves on the back)
Union leads a very charmed life in the media.
brad said | April 7th 2009 @ 9:47pm | Report comment
Most of the union players who infringe on the laws have a league background. Its this league influence that has tainted our sport, something we ought to rid ourselves of very soon lest we lose our souls.
brad said | April 7th 2009 @ 9:51pm | Report comment
most of the union players that have infringed on the law have been involved in league in some way or another.
Knives Out said | April 7th 2009 @ 10:02pm | Report comment
“Union gets massive coverage in the papers in england”
That is a complete lie.
The Barkley and Lamb incident were mentioned in the papers and also on the various rugby web sites. Rugby union is a minority sport and thus the incidents received coverage commensurate with the sports popularity. Would you expect such incidents to receive front page coverage? It’s worth noting that their behaviour actually received greater press attention than Cockayne’s jail sentence.
Steffy said | April 7th 2009 @ 10:12pm | Report comment
The Barkley incident barely got mentioned, in fact the paper which did give it coverage also wondered why it received very little coverage elsewhere. The Lamb incident did get mentioned albeit briefly. I am not aware of the Shane Drahm conviction being mentioned outside the local Worcester paper.
Union gets a lot of press coverage in England, the broadsheets all have several union writers and columnists.
The Ben Cockayne incident recieved a lot of coverage in the english press, with articles in all the major newspapers. He was given a suspended jail sentence.
matta said | April 7th 2009 @ 10:45pm | Report comment
correct me if I am wrong but wasnt the English players in NZ case dropped once the girl said her boyfriend put he up to pressing the charges?
As opposed to the Bulldogs case where police made it clear they thought the blokes were guilty but couldnt get the case together because evidence went missing?
westy said | April 7th 2009 @ 11:00pm | Report comment
Brad do not do this Knives Out and Steffy can have their debate they are not playing your game.. Ray Price played junior rugby with Dundas and league . George Smith played junior league and rugby. horne played junior league and rugby , hunt played junior league and rugby, Shawn Mackay RIP /Leeds/ Ryan/Thorn /Elsom/Melrose/Cross/Barnes do I have to go on. You insult nearly all the players in my sons rugby teams. they also play and enjoy league. i have found them to be no worse or better than the purely rugby lads. There you go piss of Smith /Horne /Tahu not a very good rugby player but a fairly decent human being from my meeting with him). Elsom would not be back and palu gone . there gooes Tuquiri and do not look to closely ay 7 Reds players . Whoops i forgot Giteau and Beale . tainted.
We try to encourage a love for rugby but i do not denigrate a game they enjoy and which in my experience at ages 12 to 20 adds to their rugby skills. i watch and enjoy it and there seems to be a fair few rugby people who do the same.
There are some of us in rugby who have a vision for growing the game and I utterly reject your position. Rugby I played in was never a game for the few. The rugby league community is very welcome to play my game.
That rugby league needs to refocus its values has not prevented it doing much good in my community. i recognise that work.They are not good at marketing themselves but i am very aware of their work.It is not all show.
All jokes aside do not drive these youngsters from rugby. they DO NOT have our hangups and enjoy both games on their merits.
Norm said | April 7th 2009 @ 11:19pm | Report comment
brad
you’re a waste of space.
Colin N said | April 7th 2009 @ 11:19pm | Report comment
“The Ben Cockayne incident recieved a lot of coverage in the english press”
Who? I remember the Barkley and Lamb incidents very well because they were high up on the BBC Sport website, even though the Barkley case was eventually dropped. The New Zealand incident was also the biggest story at the time in the English press, including tabloids, when again there didn’t seem much to it, in the end. Vanicolo was also big in the press, or at least in comparison to the Cockayne one, whoever he is. If it was that big, I would have seen it because I regularly watch sky sports, read the BBC and Sky Sports website and read a daily paper. It probably was mentioned but was more than likely shifted to the lower eschalones of the papers and websites. Tindall, another publicised case. The thing is Sky Sports mentioned the court case of both Barkley and Tindall. Even though it was only brief, I can’t remember hearing anything on Sky Sports about the Cockayne one.
The irony is that Cockayne received a fairly major punishment compared to Barkley and Lamb I think (correct me if I’m wrong), yet received less coverage.
westy said | April 7th 2009 @ 11:21pm | Report comment
Matta i am not the defender of the Bulldogs but you must be careful. the alleged victim was subsequentially charged with provding false evidence. this case was never simple and the press did themselves no credit one way or the other.i am not sure where we go with this all the time. Matta have a look where Brad goes. In the AFL such incidents are better managed massaged by a more professional and media savvy management
Look if I have to see that poor fellow Seymour one more time on channel 9 falling over ( twice again this week ) I will say he does not deserve this continued exposure 9/ punishment). Public humiliation /a $20000 fine and 2 game suspension and a sincere public apology at Endeavour before the game seems to be enough. I have to admit that I am starting to feel a little sorry for him. He hurt no one but himself.This is overkill and it makes me feel a little hypocritical. I am glad no one had a phone camera on me after a game of rugby for macquaie Uni and our celebration on a saturday night in the 70’s
.I never hurt anyone but myself but i and others were a little worse for wear on more than one occassion. I may have even fallen over . i may have even been guilty of binge drinking if sinking quite a few schooners is binge drinking.
Some of us have short memories or they were not the blokes i played rugby with.
matta said | April 8th 2009 @ 12:36am | Report comment
westy – ok thanks, I must admit I couldnt remember the finer details of Bulldogs in the end.
Knives Out said | April 8th 2009 @ 2:08am | Report comment
“Union gets massive coverage in the papers in england”
“Union gets a lot of press coverage in England, the broadsheets all have several union writers and columnists.”
There’s something different between these two statements. I just can’t put my finger on what exactly?
Where did the Cockayne incident receive coverage? On the back page or 7 pages in, exactly where the Barkley incident was covered, with the regular league and union pieces.
You’re point simply isn’t valid, and unfortunately for you there are two people, myself and Colin, who live in the UK.
Colin, did you hear about the Leon Pryce and Stuart Reardon incident?
Steffy said | April 8th 2009 @ 2:21am | Report comment
The Cockayne incident received coverage in the papers. I am not sure why you are struggling with this.
Colin N said | April 8th 2009 @ 2:51am | Report comment
“Colin, did you hear about the Leon Pryce and Stuart Reardon incident?”
I did, facing a possible jail sentence aren’t they? It only came back to me when I was watching the challenge cup games at the weekend.
“The Cockayne incident received coverage in the papers”
It may have, but nothing significant where we can specifically remember the incident and certainly didn’t receive the same amount of coverage than Barkley, Lamb, Tindall incidents etc, especially considering the severity of the Cockayne punishment, in comparison to the Union players.. Thinking about it, there is a link between those incidents. Coincidence probably.
Knives Out said | April 8th 2009 @ 2:57am | Report comment
“The Cockayne incident received coverage in the papers. I am not sure why you are struggling with this.”
It’s quite obvious that I’m not struggling with anything. You’ve made some rather ostentatious, false claims. The Cockayne incident received far less coverage than the Vainikolo, Barkley and Lamb incidents. Both received amounts commensurate with the popularity of their respective sports. It’s just unfortunate for you that UK Roarers can undermine your UK league conspiracy theory.
Steffy said | April 8th 2009 @ 3:35am | Report comment
The Cockayne incident was covered in the papers both before and after sentencing. It was more widely covered than the Barkley and Lamb incidents.
Crosscoder said | April 8th 2009 @ 8:13am | Report comment
Matta.
The Hong Kong incident was supposedly reportedly heavily! Where? Not in the SMH or Terror.Heavily means a decent splashing of the incident.I am an avid sports reader and viewer and saw little on the incident.
I would like to refer you to a union journalist (SMH) Greg Growden,who reported a couple of years back,that many incidents in ru were kept “mum” or slipped under the “carpet”.
Crosscoder said | April 8th 2009 @ 8:25am | Report comment
Brad
Please cut out the pomposity.
C Shepherd/the quokka thrower/Darcy were not from rl backgrounds.The coach of the Knox Grammar ru team,allegedly involved in a school sex scandal was not a rl player.
Your comments are atypical of thiose made by the former Bok Coach Jake White “that it is the rl background of players that is the problem”.
This coming from the coach of a country,whose sport (union) once embraced the appalling system of apartheid.Now I can’t think of any anti social incident involving a player from a rl background, that matches up to “apartheid” for sheer inhumanity. Need I bring up the FRU and their association with the Vichy in 1941.
Rugby union is hardly in a position to point the finger,from the pedestal of social purity.
oikee said | April 8th 2009 @ 11:26am | Report comment
You could reverse that satatement Brad and take it this way. League players who move to Union seem to get into more stife then when playing league.
Either way i have to agree with Westy, league does heaps for the community and does not leave out anyone wishing to play the game. Rugby Union is too much into keeping the game in private sections. Maybe they are scared of the Mongrel mob, where league opens there arms to them. 
Well if you want the best players you have to include the Mongrel Mob. 
matta said | April 8th 2009 @ 11:27am | Report comment
Crosscoder – I said it WASN’T reported heavily.
And again, it was Friday night in Wanchai and involved no current professional players! It was a few of the blokes from the 10’s comp – yes, there is an annual 10’s comp run by the HK Rugby Club on the Thursday and Friday before the actual HK IRB 7’s. The guys in the fight were all ‘golden oldies’ and or amateur players on rugby tours.
So my point is, there really isnt anything to write about! no one in the press really knows anyone involved (and the HK Police sure arent going to tell anyone anything); the only one the press had ever heard of was a ex and retired Fijian 7’s guy playing for a team Playmore Phantoms who played against teams like “the overseas old boys” or “the Irish Vikings” who are teams of expats living in Asia.
sunshinecoaster said | April 8th 2009 @ 12:32pm | Report comment
oikee
I played league in NZ and theres alot of the shit bag gangs involved in the clubs,the Mob in the Shirley Club and the Black Power in the Woolston club in Christchurch for example,not a place you would want your kids hanging around thats for sure
I enjoyed my years playing league but would be hesitant to get my kids involved,im just being honest,maybe the clubs have cleaned up a bit im not sure
I was surprised when i came to live over here in Australia,were constantly told that Union is a cooperate game played by the wealthy but ive found the opposite in my area,just good working class people who like there Rugby, theres nothing rich or private school about them,not that theres any thing wrong with rich private school people but i think this old line getting trotted out about Rugby in Australia is about 20 years old and out dated.
Crosscoder said | April 8th 2009 @ 1:05pm | Report comment
Matta
What the hell has location to do with it.If a rl player missbehaves overseas or interstate it is reported heavily.I don’t particularly care whether the people involved are Golden oldies,or Golden Geriatrics they represent the code wherever or whenever they play.
Crosscoder said | April 8th 2009 @ 1:10pm | Report comment
Doug.
I some from a ru background as i have stated in the past,and know a little of what goes on in the media.One has to be blind not to.
I am not defending the idiocy of rl players,but the moral high ground i have listened to and read by some repeat some people in the ru media and some ru followers.
As far as Coffs harbour is concerned,theere was so much reporting that was inaccurate and just plainly over the top(according to the Steve Mortimers/Graeme Hughes of this world),if that is not a media bias then I am not here.
matta said | April 8th 2009 @ 1:21pm | Report comment
Crosscoder – thats BS buddy. You must be missing the point….so I’ll put it in terms you may understand:
Lets say the Mount Isa Wanderers (League Team) go on an end of season trip. On the trip they hook up with a bloke that payed for them and lets say a 4 or 5 games for Newtown Jets in NSWRL. You’re trying tell me that if they get in a fight that should and would be all over the paper….? rubbish mate, you clearly have never been on or around and end of season footy trip or tour – of any code.
And the location has a lot to do with it.. Take it from me, someone who lives in the region, the HK (Chinese) Government/Police/Tourist Board would not be letting any info out of the bag…
el_capitan said | April 8th 2009 @ 1:33pm | Report comment
If a RL player plays up, its not in the media all the time. If they are high profile player, or play for a high profile club and it can make news then yes it will be in the media.
I’ve lived in RL towns (Central Queensland) where the players run amuk, causing fights on weekends and such, and nothing gets reported in the local paper. Same goes for Rugby, AFL, Cricket players in that town.
Truth is News Ltd DON’T CARE if the news is good or bad, as it sells papers for them, and being part owners of the NRL they win either way.
To be fair this type of journalism is “TRASH”. No players should have their private lives splashed across the papers. The only time they should be on the papers is for their efforts in sports and nothing more. Write news articles about their sporting endevours and leave the tabloid sh*t out.
Siren's Call said | April 8th 2009 @ 1:50pm | Report comment
Let’s say, for instance, five men are accused of committing a crime and one of them is a rugby league player who once played lower grades for a NRL club. Any takers on what the headline will be?
Retired players too are great fodder for the media. For example this case I’ve linked to where TWO men are arrested but the non rugby league player remains anonymous and presuambly gets on with his life without anyone knowing while the retired NRL player is highlighted in the national press http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=480065
Siren's Call said | April 8th 2009 @ 2:04pm | Report comment
As for the Telegraph even a London Fleet Street newspaper finds them of a gutter level. Any wonder the NRL seems by world standards to be full of drama. We know that Sydney has one of the globe’s most hysterical newspapers and that the NRL is most popular game in Sydney. So what sport does the Telegraph use to sell papers? Rugby union isn’t the top game in the UK and across in NZ the newspapers there aren’t in the class of Sydney’s Telegraph and neither are the newspapers in the AFL cities of Melbourne etc. If RU was the most popular sport in Sydney then they would be suffering the same as the NRL is now.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/mar/02/worlddispatch.australia
“Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, the one muck-raking tabloid that can be counted on to come up with the exclusives”
matta said | April 8th 2009 @ 2:08pm | Report comment
Haha – nice bow Siren.
are you trying to compare a bloke who played a couple of 7’s games for Fiji 7 years ago, got in a 50 person brawl in a dodgy area of HK and copped at $100AUS fine V’s Muir who was charged with Police Assault, won a flag with Newcastle and played tests for Australia..
For the record – The HK issue was all over the Fiji news but to use it as proof that RU players get a better deal is silly.
A former Fiji 7s player no one has ever heard of get in a brawl in HK after an Amateur 10’s comp and you expect it to be all over the SMH? Righto lads.
Shit, I go on a tour to a 10’s comp in Thailand soon. A couple of the blokes played 1st grade in Sydney a couple of years ago and a couple are in the Singapore national side so I better make sure they keep a lid on it – wouldnt want the press to find out….ppffftttt
Siren's Call said | April 8th 2009 @ 2:12pm | Report comment
matta missed the goal posts completely. I was in fact agreeing with you. The Sydney media will jump on ANY link to rugby league any level including long retired players to make a headline.
oikee said | April 8th 2009 @ 4:20pm | Report comment
Probably deserved that comment Sunshinecoaster, i left myself wide open. All i meant to say really is that rugby league does not keep out bad type elements who could be giving a chance to excel threw sport. I am sure rugby would not want this type of behaviour in their game. Maybe this is why league in New Zealand has not really expanded as well over there. People like you with a pre conceived sterio typing of the game. Yes its a hard game for hard nuts, but the rewards are good also and league has a way of devoloping these hard nuts into good honest hard working nuts. . I come from bush footy so i know what hard is, i kissed the dirt(no turf) on many accasion. Cheers.
oikee said | April 8th 2009 @ 4:24pm | Report comment
Simalar to american NFL, there is some dodgy elements to their stars. A guy was shot in the leg just the other day.
Must of been late to training.
Crosscoder said | April 8th 2009 @ 4:44pm | Report comment
Matta.
I am missing no point friend.Did I suggest a low profile rl player involved overseas or a low profile union player,must or shoul
get his name in print for an incident.Anycase a full blown brawl in a pub,with damage involved ,rest assured these days with pone cameras ,it will be reported and shown in vivid colour.I remember years ago ,on a couple of occasions schoolboy rl matches that had all in brawls appeard on TV.Pull the other leg mate.
We are talking high profile such as 7s in union and S14 and NRL .A reserve grade team from the Tigers recently got their story in the papers after an alleged assault in Qld in the trials.
i don”t have to go on an end of season trip to know what happens,nor am I blind to what has happened in country towns .
And I have been on overseas football tours FYI.So much for your bs comment,which Iwill ignore .Been around the traps a little more than you think.
Location Hong Kong 7s is high profile,it is high profile for the union community here in Oz.7s represent a country,that melad is high profile at last resorts.
A player from Souths was sent back from Jacksonville USA and it was given clear reportage in the press,for a misdemeanour.
Are you suggesting the Brumbies little taxi incident a couple of years ago in Sth africa due to location,should not have been reported.
Woody Warambel said | April 8th 2009 @ 4:56pm | Report comment
Extract from an ABC interview with a police officer investigating the Coffs Harbour incident:
http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/nsw/content/2006/s1737619.htm
“GARY McEVOY, FORMER DETECTIVE: We never found evidence of six players being there, let alone seven players.
SHARON O’NEILL: By the end of the investigation, Gary McEvoy was convinced his doubts in the early stages of the police inquiry were right – no rape had occurred.
GARY McEVOY, FORMER DETECTIVE: I think this is unique, that the allegations that the lady is making actually occurred with so many independent witnesses, and we were so lucky to get the players that were in the pool area committed to an interview within hours of the allegations made. So their stories were locked in. And, yet, 10 weeks of investigation, many, many people interviewed and not one piece of evidence has been identified that contradicts what the players have said. Not one piece of evidence has suggested that there was a second incident in the pool. There is enough evidence there to come to a conclusion.
SHARON O’NEILL: It was a conclusion supported by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
MALCOLM NOAD, BULLDOGS CEO: My understanding is that it’s one of the easiest decisions they’ve ever had to make.
SHARON O’NEILL: But at the press conference to announce the case was closed, Chief Inspector Bretton did nothing to clear the Bulldogs’ name.
REPORTER: Do you believe something happened in Coffs Harbour in February?
CHIEF INSPECTOR BRETTON: Absolutely.
MALCOLM NOAD, BULLDOGS CEO: There is no doubt it was left up in the air and comments like that and other comments very early in the investigation from the same officer who suggested that a very serious sexual assault had happened, rather than an alleged sexual assault had happened, I think, showed that some people had made their mind up very early on in the investigation and then set about trying to prove what they thought initially, and they couldn’t.
SHARON O’NEILL: So how angry do you feel about it?
MALCOLM NOAD, BULLDOGS CEO: Very angry.
SHARON O’NEILL: In May this year, radio broadcaster Ray Hadley received another police leak on the Bulldogs’ investigation, which he used to hose down any suggestion the Bulldogs had been vindicated by the decision not to lay charges.
RAY HADLEY, 2GB BROADCASTER: Senior police have told me this morning the reason they couldn’t sustain any charges was because of the flawed investigation in the very early stages.
GARY McEVOY, FORMER DETECTIVE: The investigation was never flawed. It was thorough, it was professional. The reason why there was no charges laid was there was no evidence to support the allegation. It’s as simple as that.
SHARON O’NEILL: Gary McEvoy is no longer in the police force, but he is still trying to get his own closure from the Bulldogs’ investigation. He wants Police Commissioner Ken Moroney to officially repudiate the claims made by Ray Hadley and confirm the name of the senior police officer he thinks he knows spoke to Hadley.
GARY McEVOY, FORMER DETECTIVE: I named that officer to Mr Moroney and to the investigators and, in actual fact, the investigators told me that they identified a phone call on the day of his broadcast from 2GB to Coffs Harbour Police Station.
SHARON O’NEILL: Commissioner Moroney is currently on leave and was therefore unavailable to be interviewed by Stateline. His spokes woman said an internal investigation by the complaints management team has yet to be finalised.
This week at the Bulldogs, training was under way for the first round of the rugby league finals. Although the Coffs Harbour incident is not foremost in their minds, it’s never far away.
MALCOLM NOAD, BULLDOGS CEO: Every time there is a story about player misbehaviour in the media, Coffs Harbour comes up again, and it did this morning. You know, whether it’s newspapers, radio or television, they always refer back to Coffs Harbour. That’s just something we have to live with, I think, but I think, you know, we’ve done a lot in the last two years in a lot of areas in the community where we’ve re-established our reputation to a great extent, I think. There will always be disbelievers out there, but, you know, there is nothing we can do about that. We’ll just have our heads down every day trying to do the best possible job we can do.
SHARON O’NEILL: Gary McEvoy is now finalising a book about the Coffs Harbour investigation. He says it is helping him in his healing process, but it’s also important that people know the truth about what happened back in February 2004.
GARY McEVOY, FORMER DETECTIVE: I’ve started something. People have told me I can walk away at any time, I don’t have to finish it, but I feel I’ve started something, I’ve got to finish it, and it will be finished when the record is set straight.
Crosscoder said | April 8th 2009 @ 7:05pm | Report comment
Woody Wamberal
Spot on.I also heard on radio that within 24 hours ,the police knew the answer. Yet for some time the club will be stained with the alleged incident.
Once the media has made a decision one way or another,the public in general tends to believe what is offered fullstop.
matta said | April 8th 2009 @ 7:40pm | Report comment
Crosscoder – If I could understand what you wrote above I might be able to agree or disagree.
I’ll say it again.. Why you use a FIJIAN getting in a fight after an AMATEUR 10’s event in HONG KONG not being front page news in AUSTRALIA as some sort of proof that AUSSIE Union players get looked after is a very strange point indeed….
Again mate:
The HK 10’s has nothing to do with the 7’s
The main bloke in question played a couple of 7’s games for Fiji in 2002
He was the only one charged with anything and got a $100 fine
Jesus, I cant get over that the UN weren’t involved…Oh thats right, the UN is full of private schoolers too!!! my mistake. Its a conspiracy up there with the JFK shooting..
matta said | April 8th 2009 @ 7:47pm | Report comment
Brumbies taxi incident – yeah it was reported…
Mate, when are you going to get it? I follow both codes but can admit League has more issues with off field drama – this just cant be questioned…..
Now I dont claim to know the answer but I do know that league players, fans and administrators becoming irrational finger pointers or plain ol’ emus does nothing but make us all look even more stupid.
Knives Out said | April 8th 2009 @ 7:56pm | Report comment
‘The Cockayne incident was covered in the papers both before and after sentencing. It was more widely covered than the Barkley and Lamb incidents.’
Completely untrue.
Bryan Ferrie said | April 8th 2009 @ 10:03pm | Report comment
Typical example tonight on Sydney’s http://www.smh.com.au/ A story not about rugby league players misbehaviour, so lets use generic “footy” to get the punters who mostly are NRL fans reading our new story with “Footy team in trouble over Boris the dirty chook”.
sunshinecoaster said | April 9th 2009 @ 10:09am | Report comment
Okiee -People like you with a pre conceived sterio typing of the game
Do you know what pre conceived means?
It means i would be judging something ive never experienced and clearly i have
Im not saying theres not alot of good people in the game in NZ because there are,but Rugby League does need to work on its image there and make it more attractive to family’s
Crosscoder said | April 9th 2009 @ 11:39am | Report comment
Matta
Appears mate you are too dismissive of incidents that are unsavoury, using the happened overseas as being an excuse.
I will spell it out slowly.Then why did the Sun Herald even bother to pay it lip service,if it was a nothing incident.
I will repeat once more slowly ,a 2nd grade rl team from the West Tigers was involved in an alleged assault during trials on the Sunshine Coast,receiving not a small amount of cover in the media.I gave examples where incidents involved rl players out of town were in fact reported and highlighted.
A rl player by the name of Seymour gets his photo /name/and video shot of him being under the weather here there and everywhere in the sydney media and interstate.Do you honestly think for example if a M Dunning(Tahs) was in the same situation it would get the same coverage.If you believe that good luck.
As a former private schooler,I have experienced the “it doesn’t happen in our game” hype before.So I don’t need the UN to assist me in experiencing the reality .
BTW I am not pretending there are not issues within rl,just the pomposity levelled at the game by some ,who ignore their own backyards,and note the media’s’ treatment of same.
I will give you a classic example of either ignorance or just plain stupidity, that appeared on Sky News today re the Scott Miller case.They referred to Mark Catchpole as being the son of a former rugby league great Ken.So a court case involving Miller and allegations throws in erroneously whatever rugby league.You wonder why some of us are cynics.
Crosscoder said | April 9th 2009 @ 11:49am | Report comment
Bryan Ferrie.
And so they should,after all AFL is supposedly a national game.More so when A Demetriou a year back was highlighting the fact that the AFL did not have the problems the NRL did offield.Then next couple of days made that statement look rather silly.
If you happened to watch the”Back Page” on Fox 2 AFL incidents obne involving the Crows player who belted his girlfriend and the other an incident where 3 Collingwood fans attacked the father of an AFL player.
The panel’s puerile response,that the Crows acted swiftly to punish Bock end of story,and the incident at the MCG is a rarety.
Yet the incident when Mason was stood down for consuming alcohol(breaking the ban) was treated with importance last time.
You go figure.
Brian Ferrie said | April 9th 2009 @ 1:20pm | Report comment
Crosscoder – my point is the headline should have screamed “AFL footy team in trouble over Boris the dirty chook”. The casual reader will scan past the headline “Footy team in trouble over Boris the dirty chook” and presume more NRL hi-jinks as it is a Sydney newspaper and just used “footy”.
Do NSW people presume that “misbehaving footballers” is referring to soccer {football} players or NRL players?
Redb said | April 9th 2009 @ 1:41pm | Report comment
Crosscoder,
I dont ever recall AD suggesting the AFL does not have off-field problems, ever. The AFL has had plenty and is usually pretty quiet when the NRL gets into strife becuase it knows it is only needs 1 dumb player out of 660 to be in the same boat.
The NRL tends to get caught in alledged rape cases on a regular basis (there have been a few in the AFL in the past 3-5 years) thus earns it reputation a little more. You are also dealing with a Sydney media known to spend much more time in the gutter and the NRl is closer to home.
Most of the posters pleading as to why the AFL does not get the same treatment simply aren;t looking in the Melbourne papers, this latest chicken scandal is all over them. Bit of a joke really, yes its offensive to some, but its being done to death. boys will be boys.
Anyone know any good chicken jokes? Nandos already have a radio Ad suggesting North Melbourne treat chickens better like they do.
Redb
Pippinu said | April 9th 2009 @ 2:37pm | Report comment
To follow up on redb’s point – the whole of the front page of the Age is given over to a photo of the North squad, and this story.
The AFL hierarchy rarely gets inovolved in discussing problems in other codes.
However, on Offsiders the other day, Hawthorn president (and perennial loud mouth), Jeff Kennett, did make comments about the NRL that were inaccurate and injudicious.
But that’s the thing about ex-Politicians – you just can’t shut them up!!
matta said | April 9th 2009 @ 3:09pm | Report comment
Crosscoder – you actually make no sense at all.
Crosscoder said | April 11th 2009 @ 7:52am | Report comment
Bryan Ferrie
As soon as a headline in Sydney mentions footballers in trouble-The NRL headlights start flashing.It is a Sydney thing.
Crosscoder said | April 11th 2009 @ 7:57am | Report comment
RedB
NO AD didn’t suggest that AFL had no off field problems.ATT he stated when NRL was experiencing a fair swag of them,he maintained his game had a fair clamp on the issue.Then a couple of incidents followed making his statement ironic.
We can and do(including me) laugh at the chicken jokes and anyone with a sense of humour probably does,but try telling that to womens groups in Vic that are appalled at the incident. It was akin to the Sam Newman effort on TV with the dummy.
Crosscoder said | April 11th 2009 @ 8:29am | Report comment
Matta.
That is your best shot!!!!
I am sorry I can’t lead you by the hand.The argument is about the bias /treatment of rl players who commit anti social acts compared to others in the Sydney media.
I provided the situation of a touring lower grade team from the Wests Tigers ,as an example.I provided an example of Seymour and his being drunk being splashed over the news.Now we find his antics are being continually used in ch9 news promos not once but many times,again last night.
ch10 the AFL station didn’t even bother to report the chicken incident and the players involved on their Thursday evening sport news.
FitzSimons mentioned it today(SMH) in his Fitzphiles but only to say one of the players thought it was stupid,no mention of it being offensive to women,as he so often states when he sinks it into rl players.
Matta buddy,I have spent a little time involved in playing both sports(more so ru)have a strong interest in one and a little in the other.Tend to get my fill of news/ sport / current affairs reader /viewer.I can only tell you what I have observed and hear.If that doesn’t suit your requirements,so be it.
Knowing of 2 incidents by the same ru player,which never made it to the media more than a few years back,only serves to
fuel my cynicism.
Brian Ferrie said | April 11th 2009 @ 8:45am | Report comment
Andrew Stevenson finally sees someone in the Sydney media asking the question on this Roar post.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/character-building-a-worthy-exercise/2009/04/10/1239223048244.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
NRL players more so than most, as Finch notes, have themselves to blame. But are they the only ones to blame? Players from a rival code – on an officially sanctioned night on the tiles – were leaving a nightclub in South Africa at 4am when tragedy struck Shawn Mackay, who subsequently died from the injuries he received when he was hit by a security car on the streets of Durban. The fulminatory organs of the press and television went silent on this one. Imagine the hue and cry had he been an NRL player?
Melbourne would have stopped for a fallen AFL player, its citizens wearing even more black than usual. A cricketer would have been in line for a state funeral.
Apparently, they are beyond reproach. But is their culture any better than that of a rugby league club? Players at North Melbourne made a video of a club mascot fornicating with a dead chicken. Sure, the players involved copped a paltry fine but, doubtless, it will be laughed off within the change room as a tasteless joke gone wrong.
Meanwhile, according to Christian Ryan’s powerful biography of Kim Hughes, Golden Boy, the former Australian captain’s party trick was to piss on teammates in the shower.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
Good on him for saying it.
boris the mudcab said | April 12th 2009 @ 9:38pm | Report comment
Groups of young men are similar whether they are involved in NRL, AFL, Union, Soccer, Swimming, Surf Clubs
Their behaviour is a small representation of youth & young men Australia wide. If anything they are probably under-represented in the incident stakes
5 years ago, only the serious charges were reported (maybe)
Now if you play 2mins of NRL or AFL and get charged with speeding you are back page news!
How could Jake Friends DUI or North Melbournes “Chicken Video be news? Idiots yes, Major News you are kidding!
The news media has deteriorated to a level where they are little more than a daily “Who Magazine”
I would love a newspaper that reported the news and sports well (I am not interested in Paris Hilton, Nicole Kidman and some poncy party goers!!!)
Am I alone?
el_capitan said | April 14th 2009 @ 3:58pm | Report comment
No Boris your not alone!
The Link said | April 14th 2009 @ 4:57pm | Report comment
Brian – its the very large elephant in the Rugby room.
Andrew’s article hit the correct tone.
AndyS said | April 14th 2009 @ 5:48pm | Report comment
Interesting quaestion, but go back a little and check the amount of coverage on the Western Forces quokka incident. Given the amount of newspapers lines that got dedicated to a couple of players annoying some animals (and there were no injuries, either at the time or later), I’d have said there must also be a fairly significant geographical component as to what constitutes a story…
The man said | April 15th 2009 @ 8:53pm | Report comment
Good spot B Ferrie – all power to Stevenson for pointing out the balant double standard in coverage of the greatest game of all.
matta said | April 15th 2009 @ 10:21pm | Report comment
Is this post still going…?
Crosscoder – I actually agree that RL gets a tougher wrap than RU, but I think we can all agree that its petty much self inflicted.
My point to you was you cant use the HK incident as ammo in this debate as its not even remotely anything to do with the Australian sports reading public – other than the small splash it made on a few publications.
And dont get me started on the chicken…Worst economy since the 20’s, Global Warming but half the country is more worried about a couple of bloke making a video of a rubber rooster bonking one of ingham’s best.
Crosscoder said | April 16th 2009 @ 7:48am | Report comment
Matta.
Nor did I did I state that rl players are not responsible for anti social behaviour.
Please mate you have not convinced me one iota.
It appears based on your logic, the media should not report overseas sport such as union/rl/or soccer,as it has(cynically) nothing to do with the Australian sports reading public.Or is it only publish the results(good) not the bad.Anti social activities by players and supporters in a world which has shrunk due to communications should not be exempt.
.At last report there are a large number of expats who live in HK,and a large number of Aussies who have either worked there,visited or watched union games there.
The chicken had Vic womens’ groups complaining not me Matta.Go tell them you think it is a nothing incident,not me.My daughters actually thought it was disgusting and the acts of immature young men.It wasn’t a night at a bloke’s smoko for heavens sake,it was for public viewing.
BTW the recent tragedy involving a Brumbies player.The union authorities and the media have not queried why players were at a nightclub(regardless of their good behaviour) at 4-ooam despite it being the end of the Sth African section.The comp is still in progress.If it had been an NRL team,the media would have queried why the team’s mgt had players out at that time.
I thought we were discussing sport not the GFC. or g;lobal warming.
Redb said | April 16th 2009 @ 8:37am | Report comment
Crosscoder,
Your problem is you only see things from a Sydney perspective. Just because the North Melb chicken video did not get wide play in Sydney does not mean anything to the rest of Australia. There was that much coverage on it by both Melb papers (front and back page) over several days, radio and TV (Footy Show) I like many others were throughly sick of it.
To even suggest the story was shoved under the rug is ignorant, the opposite was the case. AFL players are hounded by the media in Melbourne. I seem to remember the Sydney press had a field day on Ben Cousins never missing an opportunity to label each headline with “fallen AFL star”.
That your trying to compare the tradegy of Mackay for a cheap comparison is a disgrace. The NRL gets a lot of free press courtesy of its owners but it swings both ways as far good and bad news stories they are trying to sell newspapers.
Redb
matta said | April 16th 2009 @ 3:27pm | Report comment
Crosscoder – what the hell are you on about? are you actually reading anything anyone writes? I actually find it hard to understand what you are writing so I will try my best.
“Nor did I did I state that rl players are not responsible for anti social behaviour.
Please mate you have not convinced me one iota.”
I never said you did, and wasn’t trying to convince you otherwise.
“It appears based on your logic, the media should not report overseas sport such as union/rl/or soccer,as it has(cynically) nothing to do with the Australian sports reading public.Or is it only publish the results(good) not the bad.Anti social activities by players and supporters in a world which has shrunk due to communications should not be exempt.”
I didn’t say that at all. All I am saying is its only natural that a Fijian bloke at an Amateur event in HK playing a cut down version of our 4th most popular code doesnt get much air time in Australia – thats all….nothing more nothing less.
In the general news how many reports do you see about Fijian blokes getting in trouble in Asian countries? I cant remember ever seeing one because it doesnt matter to 99% of the Australian population…GET IT? its not a private school union media cover up, its just not big news. For you to draw some link between it and and the roosters and tigers players ignoring club policy amazes me FULLSTOP.
The chicken comment was more of a general statement than directed at you… and my point re global warming etc is pretty simple but given you find it hard I will say it this way.. don’t we have more important things to worry about? there is no way that chicken ’scandal’ should have been such a big deal.
As Red hints at above, you clearly read a small section of press and form you irrational world wide opinion based on what little you see/read. Google the Fijian blokes name and you’ll see its big press where it matters…in Fiji.
And yes, whats even more strange/sad, is that you are fine to get on your soap box and take the moral high ground re: dead chickens, some bloke getting in a fight in HK and the poor treatment of the RL players by the press. Yet you are happy to use McKays death, on the day of his funeral as ammo on a sports banter site. poor form buddy.
Crosscoder said | April 17th 2009 @ 8:18am | Report comment
RedB
My problem is accpording to you “‘I seethings from a sydney perspective”
do you want me to do it from a Taswegian perspective/.
Get real mate , re Sydney perpspective I read Sydney newspapers and watch sydney Tv,its a no brainer mate.I am actually
commenting on what I see or don’t see in the Sydney media.And you don’t make comments based on a Melbourne perspective.?
I am talking Sydney repeat Sydney.
Mate read what i said,did I state anywhere the chicken issue was shoved under the rug in Melbourne.
Incidents such as Cousins and Coffs Harbour received nationwide press I have no problem with that.
Using the Mackay incident the way you suggested I did,is pure and utter crap and offensive to me.The young guy who tragically died was a former junior Rooster and his father a Rooster great.
.I am aiming wholely at the team’s mgt.A couple of others in the media have done likewise such as the quote above.
Redb said | April 17th 2009 @ 8:35am | Report comment
Crosscoder,
Then why do you complain about the treatment dished out to NRL players in Sydney. It is similiar to AFL players in Melbourne, I dont think you have a justifiable premise to suggest that NRL players are singled out, as the highest profile sports players in Sydney it’s obvious what would happen when they stuff up.
Redb
Redb said | April 17th 2009 @ 8:39am | Report comment
“ch10 the AFL station didn’t even bother to report the chicken incident and the players involved on their Thursday evening sport news” – this is why I accused you of only a Sydney perspective. If the AFL was the biggest sport in Sydney it would have received the same saturation treatment it got in Melbourne.
Redb
Crosscoder said | April 17th 2009 @ 9:41am | Report comment
Matta
Yeah! yeah!, me no understandee,not an unexpected response.
I will rationalise things for you in a quiet ,calm way.
Read my comments re the tragedy of the Mackay incident to RedB.It is aimed at mgt repeat mgt for heaven sake.I lost a cousin at 19 years of age in a traffic accident,I understand the effects on family and friends in such incidents.People were asking questions on the day of his funeral.My comments came the day after the funeral BTW.
I therefore find it extremely offensive for you to suggest I am “happy” to mention the MacKay incident.
If the chicken incident was not directed at me,so be it.I am telling you in a general statement that it was offensive not from my viewpoint but my daughters’ and apparently women. Your views anyway differ on that subject with obviously a lot of women.Each to his own moral viewpoint or trying to rationalise it.
The story about the 4th 5th Z grade Fijian player involved in a public Hong Kong brawl,which involved a number of people,seemed fit to make it in a small column in the Sun Herald.If no one is remotely interested ,then they are in fact dumbasses for bringing it to light.Why did the Sun Herald bother to print it? Wouldn’t be due to the fact it was in the union section of the paper and involved a union (small though it was)event.Which seems to have some modicum of interest to union followers.
If it had not appeared i wouldn’t be still banging my head against a brick wall with you.
If you think that the Sydney media(print and electronic) reports info that only Australians are either interested in remotely or extremely ,I am not here.
You try to rationalise your argument by making completely ignorant assumptions about me,as to my apparently narrow media view.
Regularly watching CNN/ BBC/NBC/ABC/Sky UK/Fox/CBS gives me a fair coverage of what is going on ,added to a number of overseas trips I have made( business/pleasure/football tour).Sorry champ,but you are grasping at straws with that one.
My view on rl players has never waivered on the matter of anti social activities or visiting nightclubs mid season in the wee hours ,they pay with the resulting publicity.I have no timefor idiots. Where you get the “poor ‘treatment comment from ,when I am talking balance amazes me.
High moral ground LOL.I am hardly in a postion to “cast the first stone”.
Redb said | April 17th 2009 @ 9:49am | Report comment
I thought the chicken video was stupid unfunny and unnecessary. It was however blown out of all proportion by various PC types with an axe to grind. It’s indefenisible nonetheless.
Redb
Crosscoder said | April 17th 2009 @ 9:59am | Report comment
RedB
I am talking balance in the Sydney media.if a rl player is drunk its the news ,someone from another code it is not.I cite the Seymour incident as an example.
Not justifiable,do you know the ch9 paid a girl $3,000 for her camera video of the Seymour incident.
It is an incident which probably 70% of youth have done at least once this year. This non incident is used in the ch9 news promos.You go figure ,who is being singled out.The bloke made a public apology on the field to the fans/sponsors and his girlfriend.Not singled out,not justifiable !yep that would be right.
But you see RedB ch7 and ch 9 did report the ingham/Chickadee incident,so that stuffs the ch10 theory.These stations saw fit to report it,as AFL is supposedly the national game.
Andrew Stevenson of the SMH summed it up on 11/4.
BTW ask the number of former rl players ,now playing union in France,why they left to go there.One of the reasons as gasnier,SBW ,Gower stated was the glassbowl(everything noticed) existence in Sydney.
The camera phone has made things even more revealing.
Crosscoder said | April 17th 2009 @ 10:06am | Report comment
RedB
The chicken incident was unfunny and stupid agreed.Trouble is the PC types include a hell of a lot of women and some women who saw it( were not PC types) but saw it as plainly demeaning to women.
The world has changed,we and the players apparently can’t get away with what we did years ago.
If they had breathalysers in decades ago,every second young driver would probably lost his licence,as an extreme example.
Redb said | April 17th 2009 @ 11:18am | Report comment
Crosscoder,
Your ’supposed’ national game remark reminds me of the ’supposed’ national TV news programs coming out of Sydney in the morning and at other times. Ch 10 may simply be out of touch with what is happening outside of Sydney, not that would be unusual.
NRL player incidents do not get that much airplay in Melbourne beyond a news report as I keep saying it is the reverse with AFL players in Melbourne media. NRL players have similiar issues with the Sydney press.
It really is that simple.
Here’s an example: How much have you heard about Nathan Bock and the Adelaide crows this week. Did they show the footage of the press conference yesterday with Bock and the Crows CEO on any Sydney TV station evening news? I bet the answer is no. In Adelaide his retunr is big news, in Melbourne it featured on news broadcasts. Fox Sports News probably covered it becuase they are 24 hours and need the content.
The fish bowl exists in each city dependning on the number one sport and the media just play to their audience.
Redb
Redb said | April 17th 2009 @ 11:23am | Report comment
As a reminder, Bock allegedly assaulted his girlfriend last week and was suspended by the club. Go to Adelaidenow and check it out, complete with polls,etc.
Redb
Crosscoder said | April 17th 2009 @ 1:17pm | Report comment
RedB
Ch10 prides itself on being the AFL station, thus being out of touch with AFL is a bit rich.Mate we are not that naive to believe that.
Do any of the Tv stations in Melbourne actually use footage of a drunken player swaying along the plaza,who does nothing but make an idiot of himself as part of promoting their news,as ch9 in Sydney does.
If that is not disproportionate by a Sydney news outlet ,then I don’t know what is.
If something goes on the web/tube,it becomes public viewing.
Bock appeared on the news as stated on 7 and 9,I saw him apologise on TV.The North Melbourne players involved in chickadee appeared on their news programmes.Bock I understand is now back allowed to play,Bird the NRL player was not.He had to amble off to France in the interim.
You are telling me nothing new,of course AFL will get more emphasis on “happenings’ in Vic papers,as conversely NRL will in Sydney.It is the ones that are treated with an airbrush or ignored ,that I am on about.
Because a sport is No1 in a city,is no excuse to ignore at times or gloss over anti social deeds by other sport’s people.If the media as you say are playing to their audience,they better get their fingers out,because readership for dailty metros is down and ditto TV ratings,as it “ain’t”working.
matta said | April 17th 2009 @ 1:51pm | Report comment
Cosscoder Jesus Christ mate…are you thick or are you 180 contradictions all tongue in cheek?
this is exactly what I have been saying all along…
I KNOW IT (HK) WAS IN THE PAPER MATE…BUT ONLY A LITTLE BIT. YOU’RE THE ONE SAYING IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN BIGGER NEWS WHILE I SAY A LITTLE SPLASH IS ALL IT NEEDS BECAUSE IT REALLY IS’NT THAT BIGGER NEWS IN AUSTRALIA. YOU SUGGEST ABOVE THAT IT SHOULD EB ON A LEVEL WITH THE ROOSTERS AND TIGERS PLAYER ISSUES…WHICH IS BS.
I DONT REALLY CARE WHEN EXACTLY YOU POST WAS BUDDY, IT WAS CLOSE TO THE FUNERAL AND IN POOR TASTE.
I THINK ITS QUIET TIME FOR YOU..YOU REALLY ARE MAKING AN ASS OF YOURSELF.
Siren's Call said | April 18th 2009 @ 8:54am | Report comment
The issue is that Sydney media – especially 7 and 10, the AFL channels – lead their news stories by bagging NRL players while at the same time implying, sometimes by silence, sometimes by outright saying it, that footballers in the other codes are better behaved than NRL players.
So when a AFL player commits an atrocity and it doesn’t appear in the Sydney media or it is treated very low key, then it gets up NRL supporters noses as the game of rugby league is treated differently. We are constantly told that AFL & RU are better than us but when the misdemeanours happen in those codes, Ch 7 and 10 in particulalr go missing.
Mike said | June 21st 2009 @ 9:39pm | Report comment
I’d take that a bit further, Siren’s Call. The problem is the media, partiuclarly in Sydney. Its not that the media are biased in favour of Rugby or AFL, so much as they are biased agianst NRL, and for one simple reason: the NRL is the most popular code in Sydney, so scandals about NRL players will sell more copy.
A young man gets in trouble – so what? – a certain percentage of young men always do, whether they are footy players, students or bricklayers. Most will learn from the experience of demotion, suspension or even police action, and go on to lead fine, upstanding lives. But the media (particularly the Sydney media) will not believe that any of these young men should be given a fair go or a chance to reform. Its all for the sake of the dollar. The journalists have no interest in performing a public service, just using scandal to sell their product.
Let me add that I am not an NRL supporter, but the bias against NRL is obvious
There’s an interesting article on Craig Gower in the Sun-Herald today. Gower’s behaviour was far worse than that of most players, and he seemed incapable of reform while he was in Sydney – he just lurched from one scandal to the next. Yet, once he got away from the Sydney media he was able to turn his life around. And the difference? Lack of media attention in France gave him the breathing space to sort himself out.