By David Beniuk
November 26th 2009 @ 2:35am
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NRL conference spotlights off-field dramas
NRL boss David Gallop is more hopeful than confident of a less tarnished 2010 off the field after the league’s annual football conference put the spotlight on player behaviour.
On a day Gallop was thrown a tough practical test of the policies discussed in the form of Greg Bird’s possible return, the NRL reiterated its stance that clubs had the first responsibility to discipline players – and the league would step in if they didn’t.
Backing the policy was keynote speaker Gene Washington from the NFL, who said the US league had taken that approach for years and there was evidence it worked.
“Two key take-outs for me from Gene’s presentation were that no two situations are the same, everything needs to be looked at in its own particular light, and secondly that, if you’re going to get this issue under control, then it needs to start at club level, that’s where the rubber hits the road,” Gallop said of the approach used to deal with incidents from Brett Stewart’s to Greg Inglis’ in 2009.
But Gallop said that was no guarantee of an unblemished 2010.
“I’m not confident that we’ll have an incident free year any year,” he said.
“With hundreds of young men we are bound to have young guys make mistakes but it’s important that we demonstrate a resolve to get on top of those issues when they do occur, to continue to promote our education programs.
“That’s what will give fans and our sponsors and our broadcaster confidence in our game.
“You always hope to have a better year but I’m just being realistic.”
Washington, a former San Francisco 49er and NFL director of football operations, said the NRL didn’t need to change a thing.
“I think they’re doing everything right,” he said. “The things that work at home are the things that they’re doing here.”
The coincidence of Bird’s possible availability to NRL clubs, after his assault conviction was quashed on appeal, was also not missed.
Gallop said clubs would need to demonstrate they could “manage” the controversial star, another approach the NFL says has worked.
“A coach might say: ‘I want this guy, I think we can work with him but I’m going to make sure there’s some resources over here to do that’,” said Washington, who played with NFL-turned-league player Manfred Moore and witnessed State of Origin’s experiment in LA in the 1980s. “(The coach) can’t do that all the time.”
But he should do it some of the time, said Gallop, who enthusiastically backed player welfare officer Mark Coyne’s view that coaches be judged on their players’ life skills as well as their results.
On the field, the league will investigate including the time missed in a game in which a player is sent off in their suspension.
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