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Apperances can be deceiving: the Beale saga from start to finish

29th October, 2014
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Waratahs€™ Kurtley Beale. (AAP/NZN Image/SNPA, David Rowland)
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29th October, 2014
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When I heard about Di Patston and Kurtley Beale’s argument on the plane, my initial thought was that it had to be a storm in a teacup.

Not having been clued in by any of those anonymous ‘sources’ that people seem to hate, it seemed light on.

People argue. They’re travelling. They’re tired. They’re professional footballers and managers of professional footballers, they’ll make up and get over it.

That was until one of the aforementioned sources brought it to my attention that this was going to be the biggest rugby story this year, and that people in high places would go down for this.

In light of my feelings before, I struggled to believe how an argument between a player and a team manager, which surely occur all the time, in all sports across the world, could be this substantial. But as I found out more, and dug a little deeper, it became very clear that this story really was going to be the biggest in Australian rugby this year.

Innocuous argument on the surface; symptom of a number of greater problems underneath.

The first, and most obvious to everyone, is the inappropriate behaviour and deeply sexist actions of a Wallabies player.

Had Kurtley Beale been playing in another competition, he would have copped a similar fine, but also a ban, and would likely have been instructed to complete one or a number of educational courses in workplace standards and expectations. To be fair, I expect the ARU are imposing something similar on him right now.

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The difference is that another organisation would have punished him when the incident occurred.

It appeared at first that Kurtley was the root of the problem, the toxic element that needed harsh treatment. It all centred around a sexist and deeply offensive act that demanded to be acted on. The messages to emerge were on someone’s phone, and they were incriminating.

I was assured appearances can be deceiving. Kurtley was a problem, and his behaviour inexcusable, but there was more to it than that. Much more.

When the text messages were revealed, along with it came the admission that this problem, this act, had been allowed to fester for months within the environment of the Wallabies.

Was Patston’s act one of nobility? Not confessing the crimes of a player who had wronged her certainly seems like an admirable thing to do.

The issue is less about nobility and more indicative of a culture that plagues rugby in Australia. From the ARU, to the media, everyone is guilty of too much gabbing, manoeuvring and politicking, and too little action in addressing the actual problem.

In this case, there was clear player discomfort with the role Ms Patston was playing in the team. There was talk of Ewen McKenzie losing the dressing room because of it. If that’s the case, rightly or wrongly on the part of the players, then the loss of both McKenzie and Patston was inevitable.

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Of course, all of this goes back to another instance of what I’m talking about, but there’s more to come out from both McKenzie and Patston on this.

So what needed and needs to be done to address the problem?

The word I’ve heard come up a lot in relation to this is culture. A culture of taking on problems head-on is the first thing that springs to mind.

Where was the proactive media release? Where was the coach and the business manager on the front foot? Where was Kurtley’s public apology?

Giving issues like this time and breathing room only gives people more time to trot out every media pundit in existence to have their say on what’s going on within the very small inner sanctum of Australian Rugby. It gives time for rumours, both baseless, nasty, and in some cases, true, to fester and grow legs, before turning into leaks, and focussing more attention on the people at the centre of the issue.

It turns an argument on a plane into a coach, who just had his team playing some of the most exciting football in his tenure, and getting people thinking they had turned the corner, exiting stage left.

Was this waiting period at all helpful to the game, and its administration? Why was Kurtley Beale facing a tribunal four months after an offence?

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Purely and simply, leadership failed on so many levels that it’s hard to point the finger of blame at just one source. That’s why culture has been trotted out so often. Leadership and culture, and leadership culture, is what needed to be fostered. Instead, every little truth was attempted to be swept under the carpet, by all people.

Curious journalists with good sources were sniffing around, and it’s clear that people in high places were all too happy to provide them with what they needed.

Mud was thrown by all sides. Most stuck, and no one was spared. Bill Pulver, Kurtley Beale, Ewen McKenzie, Di Patston, Australian rugby and the rugby media were losers. No winners came out from this saga.

No one, repeat, no one came out of this looking dignified.

Did I believe an argument on a plane was going to cause the loss of the Wallabies team business manager, the coach, and a heavy fine for a player who, five months ago, was in the best form of his life?

Should it have?

For me, the answer was a resounding no on both counts.

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After talking to those scary ‘sources’, I’m not so sure everyone could have been spared. But I do believe that this issue could have been knocked on the head halfway through this year, and everyone would be a whole lot cleaner.

Appearances can be deceiving, but a lack of strong leadership led to this mess. And there’s nothing deceptive about the appearance of that, as this has been one hell of a mess.

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