The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Todd Carney should get one more go

15th February, 2018
Advertisement
Does Todd Carney deserve one last shot? (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Grant Trouville)
Expert
15th February, 2018
78
2478 Reads

As a hardcore Canberra Raiders supporter, these are words I never thought I’d type: give Todd Carney another go.

The club that gives him that chance will be greatly rewarded.

The tattooed boy from Goulburn has been on a long and ugly trip through the world of rugby league since he debuted for the Green Machine in 2004.

While tough love from his coaches early on was sadly lacking, Carney has no one to blame but himself.

Now 31, he is desperate for one more go in the NRL to try and claim the last flickers of light of a career that could have been great – if he could have just stayed off the grog.

He had to go from Canberra back in 2008. We wanted him to stay and become the star we knew he could be, however when CEO Don Furner Jr pulled the pin in late July of that year, it was the right thing to do.

I said as much to Furner before the following weekend’s game and told him he had my support.

“If we win today then I’m right, if we lose then I’m wrong,” Furner replied to me with little joy. He hadn’t wanted to do it either.

Advertisement

[latest_videos_strip category=”rugby-league” name=”League”]

It was horrible watching Carney win the Dally M Medal with the Roosters in 2010, but his subsequent sacking from the club in 2011, followed by the bubbler incident in 2014 with the Sharks, suggested we’d been better off without him.

Carney would go down as a cautionary tale in the annals of rugby league. Talent wasted. Potential unrealised. A wild child who just couldn’t help himself.

However, my mind started to shift on this firmly held view a few months ago, when Raiders captain Jarrod Croker got married.

There, in the photos of the wedding party, behind Croker and his beautiful wife Brittney, was Todd Carney.

While Croker is four years Carney’s junior, the two are close mates – something I didn’t know until that point.

We’ve all heard the stories told about how recidivist miscreants like Carney are actually “a really good bloke who just gets a bit loose on the grog”. When I hear those tales I’ve always thought, “Yeah right. Sure they are…”

Advertisement

However, if a man of Croker’s calibre is prepared to openly vouch for Carney, then we should be listening. I certainly am.

Cronulla Sharks Todd Carney passing

(AAP Image/Action Photographics, Grant Trouville)

I’ve met a lot of complete assholes in my two decades in the rugby league media. Toxic, misogynistic, bully-grubs who think that because they have status in the NRL, they can do as they like abound. So when you meet a good person – someone of real integrity – you notice quickly.

I’m fortunate to work with the not just the best human ever to lace up a boot, but also the best man I know in general, Alan Tongue. The likes of Hazem El Masri, Wayne Pearce, Brad Clyde, Billy Moore, Sia Soliola, Trent Merrin, Jason Nightingale, Tim Mannah, Ivan Cleary and Petero Civoneceva are really good humans too.

Add Jarrod Croker to that list. For a man of 27, he is overloaded with integrity. A lot of people questioned why when he was made captain of the Raiders, but not one person who knew him did. He’s the sort of guy you want setting the standards and direction of your team.

So if he says that Carney should get another go, then the idea must have merit.

Talking to Carney, you know that he is desperate for one last chance. He is all too aware of how badly he’s played his cards, but if he can get just one more go to show his wares, he is determined to get it right.

Advertisement

The NRL is likely to register any contract put before them (assuming conditions are met) too.

“I just need a club to give me a chance,” Carney told me.

Todd Carney bleeding

The NRL’s former bad boy could be edging towards a return. (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Colin Whelan)

And why not? Three years out of the NRL is a heavy penalty, especially when Matt Lodge is getting another chance.

Further, Russell Packer just this week was given co-captaincy of the Wests Tigers, in one of the greatest turnarounds I’ve ever seen.

Jailed for a violent assault, Packer has now earned a university degree, done community service work – voluntarily – and has improved so much as a human that aforementioned NRL good guy Ivan Cleary has placed him in a leadership position.

If we can allow Lodge and Packer – after their violent crimes – to have another chance and they become better humans because of it, then surely we should give Carney one more go to rage against the dying of the light.

Advertisement

I want a club to give Carney one more shot at redeeming himself.

Make no mistake, it would be his last chance. If he so much as looked at a stubby or even farted in the tunnel, he’d be gone. But I reckon, while a slow learner, the kid from Goulburn really understands now what is expected of him.

I want him to have a chance at redemption. I want to see it. And I’d be happy to see the prodigal son once more in lime green.

He just needs the chance.

close