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Like a box of rechargeable batteries in a Christmas stocking, Todd Carney is the gift that keeps on giving.
The former NRL prankster has once again stolen centre stage, only this time it is his victory over authority that has headlines roaring and fans giggling once again in the presence of urinal cakes.
Currently sidelined with damaged ribs in the south of France, the Goulburn scallywag’s latest effort in winning his unfair dismissal case against Cronulla has not only tripped the NRL with their own red tape, but sparked unthinkable rhetoric about a possible homecoming.
The whole case reeks of bureaucratic bungling where the NRL appeals committee passed judgement on a dismissal which should have been carried out under NRL guidelines in the first place.
Further complicating the matter, head of football Todd Greenberg noted the role of the integrity unit in registering player contracts should bad boy Carney be pursued to once again assist clubs down an alternate lifestyle path.
It doesn’t add up. Shouldn’t the role of the integrity unit be to ensure dismissal processes of this nature are conducted in an appropriate manner – isn’t the primary function of the integrity unit, to protect both the club and brand? And shouldn’t extra care have been taken in this case given the Sharks were already vulnerable under the ASADA spotlight?
It would have prevented the uneasy situation we have now, where nine months on the NRL appeals committee has ruled Cronulla out of order – effectively reporting the management inefficiencies of the organisation they represent.
Now with the door ajar for Carney’s return, the NRL only have themselves to blame should the custodian of tomfoolery cut a swath through David Smith’s mountain of policies and procedures at a later date.
On a lighter note, the apparent resurrection of the former Dally M Medallist has granted others a timely outlet in their hour of need.
Manly coach Geoff Toovey latched onto Carney’s apparent return in a last-ditch effort to test if the contact pens at Brookvale had run out of ink.
Reportedly on the outer with respect to player signings, Toovey declared the Sea Eagles’ interest after the loss of Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran took Manly’s cumulative player drain beyond 1,200 games of experience over the past two seasons.
Using the Willie Mason bad-boy reformation guide, and memories of the Andrew Walker debacle in 2004, Toovey would have recognised Carney is years away from leading a Sea Eagle rebuild. But with the opportunity too good to refuse, the Manly legend used Carney’s good fortune to remind CEO Joe Kelly just how far down the well his hideous go-it-alone contract negotiations have taken the club.
But it was Cronulla chairman Damien Keogh who maintained the yearlong watercourse theme with, quite possibly, this tongue-in-cheek comment: “I wouldn’t rule out Todd Carney returning to the NRL one day, but from my point of view there has been a lot of water that has flown under the bridge since last June.”
And who wouldn’t rule out Carney returning to the NRL irrespective of late-night fountain mimics, especially in the presence of a largely invisible integrity unit who continue to dominate offenders with lettuce-slap penalties.
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