Are they soap stars or footy stars?

Roar Pro

By Gabriel Knowles, 10 Jun 2009 Gabriel Knowles is a Roar Pro

Tagged:: Joel Clinton, NRL, Rugby League, Swine Flu, Tony Zappia

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Michael Ennis in his usual position at the centre of a brawl during NRL Round 5, Bulldogs v Rabbitohs at Sydney Olympic Stadium, Monday, April 13, 2009. (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Colin Whelan)

To the outsider, it must often appear that rugby league is little more than a soap opera that just happens to contain some scenes in it where men in different coloured jerseys run around on a field.

Such is the apparent enthusiasm that many sectors of the media and fans have for the seemingly never ending stream of off-field dramas, it can be hard at times to remember it’s just a game.

It’s become so popular in Sydney that when an actual soapie in Home & Away star Jodi Gordon got herself in some trouble last week, it had nothing on the reaction that league scandals have received recently.

Already this week we’ve had the ongoing saga of the Tony Zappia story line, which seems to just keep rolling with more and more sensational sources and sensationalist reporting.

There are obviously some inconsistencies from both sides of the fence with this issue, but it isn’t being helped by the headline grabbing attempts of the Sydney media.

You have to feel for the Sharks players. They finally turn it around on the field, but the heat is still on the club thanks to those that should know better.

You also have to feel for Joel Clinton.

All the guy wanted to do was meet a women he met online for the first time in the privacy of his hotel room. Unfortunately for Clinton, that happens to be against club policy and now he finds himself $50,000 poorer for the experience.

Apparently Clinton’s misdemeanor attracts a far bigger fine than bringing the game into disrepute, as Darius Boyd, Karmichael Hunt and Sam Thaiday did last year after their toilet cubicle sex scandal.

In any case, it has to be asked if we really needed to know about why Clinton had been dropped?

Then there’s the swine flu panic that’s spreading faster than the actual virus itself around the NRL.

So far we’ve had the threat of matches being called off on game day, players being stood down from actually playing, despite being at the match, and what threat there has been appears to have been exacerbated by slow quarantine measures.

In amongst it all, the one player who does have the virus has been selected to play this Friday night.

Perhaps they should just call all the games off as a precaution.

It’s not as if anyone would notice.

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The Crowd Says (18) | Page 1 of Comments

Andrew said | June 10th 2009 @ 8:29am | Report comment

It’s getting to be a bit of a joke. It’s not like other codes (ie AFL) don’t have the same amount of dramas with individual players though what is happening at Cronulla seems to be a spin off Soap Opera in itself, and Cronulla should be thankful that it is all being dragged up, because the change at that club needs to start at the top.

That said, all this focus has to be getting through to the players, as they come to grips that there high profile will be targeted in the media, and they will be held to higher moral standards than the rest of the population. A high price to pay for being a good player some would say, but they should feel privileged that the sport they play allows them to earn a living, and they have a responsibility to pay back the code for providing this to them, by acting sensibly and with discretion.

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Redb said | June 10th 2009 @ 8:41am | Report comment

Zappia is a moron.

Clinton’s timing unfortunate (womens week, Matty Johns issue), 50 grand is way over the top.

At least the media aren’t totally biased against footballers, Gordon F^#$ing Ramsay is copping his fair share of ‘the treatment” taking the pressure off Richmond and Cronulla.

Redb

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Michael C said | June 10th 2009 @ 8:47am | Report comment

Redb -

Gordon Ramsay just smells too much of a publicity stunt beat up by channel 9 – - this morning on the today show they just happened to have all this footage of him swearing his away through and around the station. Convenient really.

re community standards and the like – - I’m jsut waiting to see if people boycott the Chasers en mass, or, whether 2 weeks is enough time to forgive, forget and move on to the next ‘rent a scandal’.

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Redb said | June 10th 2009 @ 9:01am | Report comment

MC,

the difference is the Chasers stunt was unforgiveable the outrage real.

Redb

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Finno said | June 10th 2009 @ 9:26am | Report comment

I really only have a passing interest in league but I have been a little more interested since the well published off field dramas. It is indeed a soap opera there seems to be an ever increasing amount of assults, rape charges, drug misuse and generally unacceptable behaviour . Just about every club has got a history of such things and it seem to infect every level, from CEOs to run of the mill players, to commentators of the game. Whilst im sure its an entertaining game on the field, off field dramas are far more interesting.

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Andrew said | June 10th 2009 @ 9:33am | Report comment

I don’t know about Clinton’s fine being over the top. The club sets out regulations, which obviously in light of what occurred the season previous, meant they wanted to come down hard on players who can’t follow simple rules. If it has the right effect at the club, you will see less incidents as players start thinking about the possible results of there actions.

Not to mention that as it was a club sanctioned lodging, they would be held partly accountable for the actions of a player, and thats something no club needs.

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Brett McKay said | June 10th 2009 @ 10:26am | Report comment

Andrew, i think Clinton’s fine is only being viewed as OTT when viewed alongside the Hunt/Thaiday/Boyd pub cubicle tryst last year (where the Broncos went ‘in-house’). Obviously since then, Brisbane have had a policy change, and have now made a very public statement.

Mind you, if the early rumours of Clinton being sacked eventuated, that would have been over the top!!

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Terry Kidd said | June 10th 2009 @ 10:39am | Report comment

I’m happy for clubs to have policies but it has to be remembered that no policy can cover every possible circumstance. The policies should be seen as guidelines for player behaviour. In Clinton’s case there was no suggestion of bad behaviour, he and the lady just wanted to meet in private. I wonder what the Bronco’s stance would have been if Clinton had asked permission before the event? If it was ‘player free time’ with no club committments scheduled and Clinton had met her somewhere else, just as private, what then would have been their stance.

The players need guidelines but they also need a life. I foresee a very unhappy environment developing at the Broncos if they persist along these lines.

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El Capitan said | June 10th 2009 @ 10:51am | Report comment

Tezza,

It was more that Clinton was doing this the night before the game. a bit unprofessional you think?

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Redb said | June 10th 2009 @ 10:52am | Report comment

I think it was OTT as a counter balance to the previous toilet tryst last year and the off field sex scandals this year. Clinton is being hung out to dry – it’s poor management made based on knee jerk decisions. it’s the price being paid for not properly dealing problems in the past.

Redb

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