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Greg Bird in action during the NRL Round 24, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks v Sydney Roosters match at Toyota Stadium, on Friday, August 22, 2008. AAP Image/Action Photographics, Grant Trouville
It’s too simplistic to state that sporting codes, especially rugby league, need to change their culture to stop the shocking behaviour of its players. This isn’t a straightforward task. It requires acceptance by individual players that at the end of the day, the onus of responsibility is on them and no one else.
They need to pull their heads out and accept that they have a responsibility to act appropriately, not just as role models to their legions of fans, but also as law abiding and morally sound individuals.
Had Matthew Johns, for example, had the courage of his convictions, he could have put a stop to the group sex that occurred at a Christchurch hotel, set an example for his teammates, and save a 19 year-old girl from a terrible ordeal.
As the Four Corners show highlighted, the group sex culture in league is prevalent. But for all the collective connotations of group sex, it is individuals who make up that collective and individuals who need to put their behaviour under the microscope.
This over-sexed behaviour isn’t unique to sport. It’s sadly a common trait in many Generation Y kids, with their ‘want it all’ attitude and sense of entitlement.
But can sports stars who are young, good looking, idolised, out for a good time, not short of female admirers, hunting in packs and aren’t exactly the brightest sparks, be expected to act with restraint all the time?
The sad reality is it’s not always going to happen. You can blame them individually, the culture of the code or of our over-sexed society, but it cannot be denied.
Even the most rounded of individuals suffer from human frailty.
The Johns saga won’t be the last, especially with a media hungry for such scoops.
At least we can be grateful this story fell into the hands of the ABC and was produced with the balance and depth needed.
As the Four Corners story showed, there are education programs players undertake. Yet, as the Newcastle Knights players watched and listened, you had to wonder how much of the content they were actually grasping.
Despite these education programs, incidents will continue and the pressure seems to fall on the codes themselves to stamp it out.
This is an unfair expectation. Officials can only do so much. Will we reach the point where players are banned from any social outings and locked up like animals?
It’s unrealistic.
I am in no way condoning the deplorable actions of certain sports stars who have in recent years blemished their names and their codes with their actions. But we need to understand that such incidents are an unfortunate part of a society that puts these people on a pedestal.