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The Canberra Raiders board have announced that Australian back-row enforcer Josh Papalii will be banned from one club game after he pleaded guilty to drink driving last week.
He played for the Raiders against the Bulldogs last Saturday night and has conveniently been scrapped from the Raiders next game against NRL strugglers the Newcastle Knights.
The line from Raiders HQ that the board could not meet until Monday, doesn’t sit well in this day and age of technology. The integrity of the Canberra Raiders needs to be questioned over the timing of the ban, given he was removed by the NRL from the Kangaroo squad well before the Raiders made a decision on the matter.
How long did it take the Raiders board to make the final decision on Monday? Surely they were well aware of the upcoming court date and had ample time to make a call on what action should be taken in advance.
Is winning on the field more important than eradicating behaviour that would result in many an employee being sacked from his or her place of employment?
When you compare Anthony Griffin’s decision to dump three players from First Grade to NSW Cup who broke curfew and had a few drinks in Melbourne, which included skipper Matt Moylan, it’s not a good look from the Raiders.
What’s worse having a few drinks and breaking a curfew, or being behind the wheel of a car while being well and truly over the legal limit and posing a serious risk of injury or death to members of the general public?
Would the decision by the Raiders been different had it been a fringe first grader or someone the club was keen to off-load from the final year of his contract? I suspect it would.
I get that Raiders fans still suffer from the loss of Josh Dugan, Blake Ferguson, Joel Monaghan and Todd Carney, but the punishment in this instance does not come close to fitting the crime.
Just ask any person who has had their lives turned upside down after losing a family member or close friend in a road accident with an intoxicated drunk driver.
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