The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

T-shirts, shorts and thongs? Players show Titanic disrespect

25th February, 2015
Advertisement
Expert
25th February, 2015
90
3912 Reads

This will be my shortest column to date on The Roar. In essence, there is not a lot to say as the matter under discussion is so basic that it requires few words.

Numerous players, past and present, from NRL club the Gold Coast Titans have been implicated in drug offences – serious drug offences.

Additionally, multi-code jumper Karmichael Hunt, currently indentured to the Queensland Reds, has also been charged over drug-related issues.

These players have been stood down by their respective clubs, who are taking the allegations very seriously.

For the Titans it is just another layer of unwanted news – no major sponsor, no training venue and now players stood down pending court hearings over alleged drug use.

You would think in the circumstances that the players concerned would be endeavouring to do whatever they could to try and aid the club in a period of crisis. Well, think again.

Much of the vision we have seen of those under investigation since the story broke is of them entering and leaving police stations as they continue to be questioned over their alleged actions.

And what, in the main, have they been wearing? Shorts, t-shirts, thongs and caps.

Advertisement

Surely the players in question could present themselves before the authorities in a manner that does not suggest that they have had to interrupt a day at the beach in order to waste their time over what they appear to consider trivial matters.

Perhaps it is their way of thumbing their noses at the police, but what about their employer, the code and the fans?

Cronulla players appeared similarly attired when fronting ASADA investigators, as did West Coast Eagles players Ben Cousins and Michael Gardiner a few years back when called to Western Australia Police Headquarters to be interviewed on drug-related issues.

Nowadays it appears many players in the elite-level football codes feel they have some sense of entitlement with respect to their behaviour.

It is about time that mindset was put to bed.

How about in future when players are stood down by their club as a result of police charges they at least try to claw back some modicum of respect for themselves and their employer by at least dressing in a fashion that does not, in effect, show a complete and utter contempt for the law, the club’s decision to stand them down, and the fans who invest their hard earned in supporting them on the field.

Fight, by all means, to clear your name through the courts.

Advertisement

But in the meantime at least try and show publicly that you are taking the situation seriously, and stop treating it as a sideshow.

close