The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

The NRL can't allow Todd Carney back

20th February, 2018
Advertisement
Todd Carney appears set to sign with North Sydney. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
Roar Guru
20th February, 2018
30
1410 Reads

Todd Carney recently played his first game in Australia since 2014 and there are calls for him to be given another chance in the NRL – a final shot at redemption.

People compare his record, a long list of misdemeanours dating back more than ten years, to those of Russell Packer who was jailed for violent assault.

Packer did his time and learnt from his mistake, recently joining the Wests Tigers’ leadership group.

That’s where the comparisons between Carney and Packer end. Packer has kept his nose clean, never putting a foot wrong at the Dragons and will be a great asset to the Tigers.

Carney, not so much.

He was charged with drink driving and reckless driving in 2006 and banned from driving for five years. Carney was only 19 and this should have been a wake-up call.

Not so.

After another driving misdemeanour in 2007, whereby he borrowed the car of teammate Steve Irwin before leading the police on a chase through Canberra, he was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond. Incredibly, the Raiders sacked Irwin, but retained their golden boy.

Advertisement

In 2008, Carney re-signed with the Raiders until 2010, but still struggled to learn from past mistakes, with allegations he urinated on a man in a Canberra nightclub. The complaint was withdrawn, but the Raiders suspended him from their Round 21 match with the Titans.

The club imposed a strict set of guidelines on Carney, who, as a professional rugby league player should be able to follow. He’s not a 17-year-old anymore, he’s now old enough to know better.

Incredibly, the playmaker asked for an alteration of the guidelines, which the club refused. He was eventually sacked and banned from the NRL until 2010.

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

After going on a vandalism spree in Goulburn in February 2009, he played out the year for the Atherton Roosters, where two separate off-field incidents overshadowed his stay; being assaulted by four men in May, and allegedly setting a man’s pants on fire on New Year’s Eve.

Remarkably, Carney was picked up by glamour club Sydney Roosters and enjoyed his best season to date, playing a key part in the club’s charge to the grand final in 2010, where they were defeated by the St George Illawarra Dragons.

However, in February 2011, he was charged with low-range drink driving and following two more alcohol-related incidents in the year he was finally released by the club.

Advertisement

After a good first-up year at the Sharks in 2012, he spurned an offer from the Warriors to sign a five-year deal with the Shire club, but again, his alcohol troubles cut short his stay. In 2014, a photo showing Carney appearing to urinate into his own mouth leaked online and he was sacked.

He went overseas, plying his trade with Catalans in 2015-16 and Salford in 2017. He’s now been picked up by Intrust Super Cup side Northern Pride, who on their website claim: “Yes, Todd has had a chequered career but having played the last three years in France and England he has certainly matured and learnt from his mistakes.”

Interesting that he never learnt from his mistakes over the previous 14 years, but whatever.

Now the 31-year-old has the ambition to make it in the NRL again, with Manly emerging as possible suitors. If I’m Lachlan Croker or Jackson Hastings, I’d be filthy that the club would even contemplate signing Carney.

Carney clearly does not learn from his mistakes.

Does he deserve another chance? No.

The Sydney Roosters gave him a second chance when they plucked him from Atherton on a big-money deal and he blew it. The Sharks gave him another chance and he blew that too.

Advertisement

The NRL needs to firmly shut the door on any possibility of Todd Carney making a return.

close