What a difference a year makes in football. This time last year, Josh Dugan, Blake Ferguson and Sandor Earl were being hailed around the nations capital as the ‘saviours’.
They were to lead the Green Machine to their first premiership since Paul Osborne played the game of his life back in ’96.
Come 2013 Dugan didn’t make the half way mark, Ferguson was lucky to and Sandor Earl is about to be turfed in disgrace.
Of the three, I most feel for Sandor, he is the least talented of the lot and knows it.
At the ripe old age of 23 he has possibly played in his last NRL fixture. His charges predate his time at the Raiders which means he was approximately 21 at the time of his misdemeanours
Don’t get me wrong he has done wrong and deserves to serve his punishment but consider his predicament.
An injury prone 21-year-old fringe player desperately seeking a contract to extend his boyhood dream of a football career.
The drugs he took promote healing allowing players to get back on the paddock sooner.
In the words of Eddie McGuire he ‘deserves to cop his whack’, I just hope he isn’t lost to the game completely.
NRL chief David Smith said it best ‘we have to remember we’re dealing with a human being’ and human beings make mistakes. Name a 20 something who hasn’t, His main weakness may have been wanting it too much.
Compare this to tweedle dumb and tweedle dumber in Duges and Fergo who flagrantly disregarded their board, their team mates and their fans time and again this season thumbing their noses up the Hume Highway.
Since instagramming themselves knocking off a couple lolly waters on a windy Canberra day they have literally taunted the Raiders board into sacking them.
Holding them to ransom knowing the difficulty the men in green have in player retention. Sadly Canberra lacks the bright lights that attracts Gen Y like moths to the flame.
The real victims are the Canberra Raiders football club who once again have spent resources in time and finance developing talent only to have it picked off by another Sydney club and very little support from the NRL.
It must be draining and frustrating.
To make matters worse, their brightest star of the season, Tony Milford, is looking to head north also, it would be a tragedy for the club.
No one begrudges a player leaving on genuine personal grounds but in a day an age where contracts are not worth the paper they’re written on it sets a dangerous precedent for someone looking for a hassle free get out clause.
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