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As I am writing this Mitchell Pearce has had his first round of sanctions imposed, with the Sydney Roosters standing him down from training duties whilst the club and the NRL integrity unit work together to ‘investigate the issue’.
I have no idea what more investigation needs to be completed – there is no investigation required. Everyone has seen the footage and it is damning and given his past indiscretions it is enough for him to be deregistered from the NRL.
I am not interested in hearing from any apologists who might state ‘he wasn’t of sound mind at the time’ or ‘clearly he has some inner demons’ or the ever-laughable ‘if a player did this back in the good old days no one would know about it or care’.
Firstly he ‘wasn’t of sound mind’ because he voluntarily became intoxicated, not just drunk, but really, really hammered – the kind of hammered that is only remotely acceptable when you’re an 18-year-old uni student with a goon sack at New Years.
It was his choice and his alone.
Secondly, if Pearce has inner demons then send him to a therapist. Put simply, it’s not the NRL’s problem – duty of care only extends so far, it does not extend to babysitting a grown man of 26 who has contractual obligations to represent his club well at all times given, not least of all, the enormous salary that comes with this contract.
Thirdly, the argument that we either would not know or would not care if this had occurred 20 or 30 years ago is simply inane. Chances are if a story like this did break 20 years ago, it would be a case of hearsay and rumours, the fact is that in 2016 everybody has a video camera on their person at all times, it’s called a smartphone and it’s common knowledge.
Chances are this day in age that if you’re doing something stupid, illegal, funny, or memorable then someone, somewhere, friend or not, is probably filming it. Times change, technology changes and standards change – not that it was acceptable to ruin someone’s apartment and the innocence of their dog 20 years ago.
It is further ludicrous to say that such a reality is unfair to these players. We all live with this reality. I will, of course, admit that due to NRL players being somewhat celebrities, they are, naturally, in the public eye and there is an element of pressure that they cannot escape from. But this comes with the territory of being able to play a sport many of us would love to play as a job, a job that pays exceptionally handsomely. So in that regard, the extra responsibilities and pressures that come with it are reasonable enough.
What is not reasonable, regardless of your profession or public profile is making unwanted sexual advances against a woman, proceeding to claim “I don’t give a ****, I’ll **** anything, I don’t have a sexuality” upon being rightfully rejected, grabbing the owners dog and proceeding to dry hump it all whilst covering oneself and the couch you are residing on in your own urine.
It is a very poignant thing to note the similarities between Pearce’s misdemeanors and Joel Monaghan’s. Monaghan was a similarly high profile player (a NSW and Australian representative centre) who similarly engaged in a lewd act with a dog whilst intoxicated. He subsequently jumped before he was pushed out of the NRL, quitting the Raiders and retreating to the Super League. It is perhaps worth noting also that (not that it exonerates him) this was Monaghan’s one and only discretion.
Pearce has now had two alcohol-fuelled scandals in the last 18 months, both have included a blatant lack of respect for women, which is further concerning given Pearce’s own sister was the victim of a drunken Craig Gower during Pearce’s youth.
You can try and state that this is a culture problem within the NRL and in some respects that might be true, but the majority of NRL players are upstanding ambassadors for the game who never get themselves into trouble – players such as Pearce tarnish the entire group which in turn brings the game into disrepute, damages the brand of the NRL and along with it the integrity, financial capacity and fandom of the organization and the sport.
This is first and foremost a person problem and removing Pearce from the NRL is the most effective way to handle it – support can be offered thereafter.
If the NRL is serious about protecting its product as opposed to appeasing it’s heavyweight constituents in the form of ‘glamour club’ the Roosters and their supremo Nick Politis (and to an extent Wayne Pearce who serves as part of the ARL commission) then Pearce must go the way of Todd Carney as an example that things that should not be tolerated in general society and from ordinary citizens aren’t tolerated in a professional organization or due to privilege of position.
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