By ScottWoodward.me -
December 2nd 2009 @ 4:03am
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Should clubs sign rugby league bad boys?
Willie Mason celebrates. South Sydney Rabbitohs V Sydney Roosters. AAP Image/Action Photographics, Jonathan Ng
If you were a club CEO, coach or recruitment manager would you be tempted to sign a noted “bad boy?” With the competition so close, many of these guys have rare talent and could be the difference. Or that’s the justification, anyway.
The downside is the prospect of a bad apple impacting the crop, a poor attitude at training, and parties at night, perhaps trouble with the NRL and possible fines, and supporter backlash.
It is all part of the equation.
One of the reasons why John Ribot will be remembered as one the most successful administrators is because he puts the person before talent.
Ribot was the foundation CEO of the Brisbane Broncos and also founded the Melbourne Storm and between them have won nine Premierships in the last 17 years. The secret is in the recruitment of not only the players but the coach.
Wayne Bennett and Craig Bellamy are regarded as two of the best coaches of all time and were little known before Ribot signed them.
I suggested to him once that he should sign this fullback, as he had the potential to be the best in the country. “No way”, he said. “We don’t want guys who get drunk and hit women”.
He was, of course, correct and still managed to win the comp that year with Chris Anderson at the helm. I could see where he was coming from when I met the players over dinner a few weeks later.
They were all so down to earth and well mannered. So tight.
Each club thinks that they can turn the player around and get the best out of them. Not many do.
So, you have just got a call from a player manager about Willie Mason or Greg Bird or Todd Carney or Tim Smith or Reni Maitua and if you don’t make the semis you may be out of a job.
What would you do?
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(25)
Andy said | December 2nd 2009 @ 5:50am | Report comment
It depends on what the troublesome player has been caught or accused of in the past and whether they are a repeat offender. Also, whether that particular player is worth the risk but of late i wouldn’t want that kind of publicity for a club if i was working for them.
Mick from Giralang said | December 2nd 2009 @ 6:56am | Report comment
Apart from childish stuff like being caught peeing outside a nightclub late at night, what exactly has Mason been accused of?
ScottWoodward.me said | December 2nd 2009 @ 9:04am | Report comment
Mick, you are correct as far as official information is concerned.
You have to ask yourself why is such an immense talent not wanted by Bellamy in the SOO or Sheens in the National team. Why did it take to nearly half time before Fittler played him in the last game in 2009? A lot of it has to do with poor attitude which coaches are big on, and drinking when you are not suppose to and laziness at training, but with Willie a lot of mud has been thrown at him and as we know some of it sticks. That is ultimately why he is looking for another club.
Spiro Zavos said | December 2nd 2009 @ 7:50am | Report comment
Can anyone name a bad boy in the Willie Mason mould who has taken his club to premiership glory? There are not worth on the field the trouble they cause the club off the field, and ultimately on the field by destabilising team morale and spirit.
ScottWoodward.me said | December 2nd 2009 @ 9:06am | Report comment
Spiro Willie Mason was the best player on the field when the Bulldogs won the Grand Final, but his ego has and poor attitude since has changed him sadly for the worse.
Pippinu said | December 2nd 2009 @ 8:40am | Report comment
It’s a tough question that can only be answered over a longish period.
As CEO of Samsung (or the corporation that owns the brand name), I’d think to myself: the big name SAMSUNG looks mighty good plastered across that big, broad chest (referring to the picture above).
Full marks for that.
But upon looking at the face, and knowing a bit more about the face – he might have second thoughts.
How important is that?
We can only judge it over the fullness of time.
Paul J said | December 2nd 2009 @ 9:02am | Report comment
“Should clubs sign RL bad boys”?
I think it could be “what do we do with RL bad boys”?
The annual CEO meeting focused on off field incidents.
David Gallop liked Mark Coynes idea that RL coaches should be judged by what they can do for a player off the field as well as on it.
Talk of RL getting a core value system for all clubs to adhere to.
It all sounds like a step in the right direction but nothing is concrete. We’ll see what an IC can bring to the table in regards to this problem. At least it seems RL sees it as a priority.
I think if a club can show the NRL reasons why it could turn a bad boys life around, as the Titans did for Chris Walker, then they should be allowed to sign the guy providing he isn’t already too far off the rails.
Otherwise i don’t want to see these guys in the game at all.
ScottWoodward.me said | December 2nd 2009 @ 9:12am | Report comment
I know Chris Walker well and he is a good person. Look at what Wendel Sailor has done at the Dragons since he was convicted.
I would love Sonny Bill to come back.
anopinion said | December 2nd 2009 @ 2:30pm | Report comment
Can you define bad boy please? What has SBW done that would put him in the bad boy category? Wendel Sailor did what thousands of people do on a night out, a social sniff. These guys do not in my eyes belong in the bad boy category. I have met Chris Walker, he was so drunk he was a tool as he tried to fight anyone who walked past. This bloke does. I also met Allan Langer and witnessed him being crude to girls as they walked past, can you please categorize this behaviour?
True Tah said | December 2nd 2009 @ 2:51pm | Report comment
Convicted of what, he was just banned from professional rugby and league.
Boydy said | December 2nd 2009 @ 11:01am | Report comment
TURN IT UP!!!
Are you seriously suggesting that the Broncos & Storm success has come about because all their player are squeaky clean??
Have you forgotten about the Greg Inglis incident with his girlfriend, a crime that Greg Bird is no less guilty of not that he’s been cleared also. And what about Justin Hodges, Darius Boyd and Sam Thaiday’s sordid little actions in a Brisbane night club toilet? And these are just recent cases, you can go right back to Danny Williams’ infamous king-hit on an unsuspecting Mark O’Neill? No thanks, it doesn’t rub with me. There wouldn’t be a club in the comp that doesn’t have it’s bad eggs, it just how it is. The real reason that the Broncos and Storm have won so many comps is because they have managed to somehow have so many internationals on their playing roster and still miraculously come in under the salary cap. You can’t tell me being a one-team-city is not a distinct advantage.
ScottWoodward.me said | December 2nd 2009 @ 12:04pm | Report comment
Boydy its important that you dont twist what I said.
The inference was NEVER that the Broncos and the Storm are “squeaky clean”. With so many players used by every club each year it is not possible for any club to not have problems, but I was referring to serial offenders who are largely involved with alcohol and/ or females.
To my knowledge Greg Inglis is not guilty of anything apart from being a very popular person and a champion footballer, the Bronco guys that you have mentioned were clearly out of line even though it was consensual.
You are wrong about if you think the Broncos and the Storm have rorted the salary cap. Players are prepared to play under Bennett and Bellamy for less money because they can improve their game and offer them a better chance of rep honors, but you are correct that a one town advantage has benefits.
anopinion said | December 2nd 2009 @ 2:32pm | Report comment
You fail to mention Julian O’Neill
oikee said | December 2nd 2009 @ 11:04am | Report comment
Mate, everyone deserves a second chance, and if you have to send them somewhere to get that chance, (Carney, Bird) then do so, but at least manage player behavior, dont run from it or we acheive nothing. Mason is a big soft goose, who thought his own publicity was bigger than the game. What he is finding out the hard way, is simple, the game does not need him. ? Could be a lesson in their somewhere for all players coming through the gate.
Springs said | December 2nd 2009 @ 11:20am | Report comment
I would rather my club sign Todd Carney than Sonny Bill Williams, I will suppoer Sonny Bill if he comes back to League but his attitude problem is even worse than Masons. At Parramatta I doubt if any of these ‘bad boys’ would have a bigger influence than Anderson, Hindmarsh or Cayless. Todd Carney’s critics always focus on his alcohol problem, which he has no doubt, but I haven’t once read an article where his name and his trip to Rwanda last year are mentioned together.
ScottWoodward.me said | December 2nd 2009 @ 11:45am | Report comment
Springs I am a massive Carmey fan and if Smith plays him at 6 and not 1, I think he has a shot at being the SOO pivot and be the successor to Lockyer when he retires from the Kangaroos. I know the Roosters have a high opinion of him as person as opposed to others. He certainly has the right people around him.
Terry Kidd said | December 2nd 2009 @ 12:13pm | Report comment
Guys I actually think Willie Mason has a bit to offer and I wouldn’t mind my Dragons signing him. If anyone can turn him around it would be Wayne Bennett. The guy has immense talent but it also seems like he is still a big kid who hasn’t grown up. It doesn’t appear that he has tasted responsibility and accountability too much in his life. Maybe that is the key to Big Willie … make him responsible for something and accountable if he stuffs it up.
Boydy said | December 2nd 2009 @ 12:42pm | Report comment
Scott can you, or anyone else for that matter, explain to me how a club like the Tigers had to let so many players go in 2006 because of salary cap restrictions after they won the comp in 2005. They only had one Australian representative on their books (Scott Prince and even he was only picked as a token gesture to the premiers) and yet the Broncos can have eight eight, nine , even ten Australian players on their playing roster at one time and not be over the salary cap limit? I’d also play with the Broncos under Bennett for ‘less’. With the number of third party deals done at that club why do they need huge salaries. My god, even the coach was in on the spoils of that particular rort.
ScottWoodward.me said | December 2nd 2009 @ 12:47pm | Report comment
Terry when he was Man of the Match for the Bulldogs in the GF i thought he could go on and become a genuine super star, but you have summed him up perfectly.
We will never know why the Storm ripped up his contract at the 11th hour when he was at the Bulldogs, and we will never know the real reason why he will not be a Rooster next year. We probably dont need to know, only that it is a wasted talent.
The real loss to the Roosters is Craig Fitzgibbon. I would see him every morning at the SFS helping young footballers and setting an example.
Terry Kidd said | December 2nd 2009 @ 1:20pm | Report comment
Scoot there are a lot of things in RL we will never know but Big Willie is not so much bad but probably better described as a boofhead with too much time on his hands. He hasn’t done a dump in a hallway, or wrecked a hotel room, or allegedly assaulted a girl while pissed …. but he has pissed in a garden and had a beer with a mate when he shouldn’t …. not real bad stuff …. so the key to it all has to be his attitude, or lack of it, at times. Maybe his attention span and application need some work …. probably Bennett is the best man to get it out of Big Wille, especially with an utter professional like Ben Hornby, or a Ben Creagh to help show the way.
ScottWoodward.me said | December 2nd 2009 @ 2:13pm | Report comment
Terry I didn’t intend this post to be focused on Willie but you should read between the lines and appreciate that many clever, well informed people do not want him at their club. There is a good reason and it not because he is a boof head.
crashy said | December 3rd 2009 @ 4:02pm | Report comment
whats this I read today about the Perth Reds, Cronulla Sharks and another western Sydney team pulling out of Premier league for next season? Does this mean the Premier League will play with 3 less clubs or will the comp fold?
Any idea why the Perth Reds have pulled out? Are they broke? I thought League was doing allegedly well over there.
Springs said | December 3rd 2009 @ 4:04pm | Report comment
Cronulla pulled out of the NSW Cup, the other two pulled out of the comp below the NSW Cup. Perth are entering the SG Ball to build the juniors up.
Norm said | December 3rd 2009 @ 4:13pm | Report comment
-”or will the comp fold?”…do you mean like the ARC? No.
crashy said | December 3rd 2009 @ 7:21pm | Report comment
Norm – whats the ARC?