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Former Australian rugby league team coach Ricky Stuart. AAP Image/Dave Hunt
I awoke to two of the least shocking headlines a rugby league fan can expect from the 2010 season. The first was that there are now suspicions that News Ltd knew a lot more, a lot earlier than what they had previously let and the second was that Ricky Stuart was calling time earlier than expected on his coaching career with the Cronulla Sharks.
It was hard to be that surprised by either.
Former acting chief executive (try saying that ten times fast), Matt Hansen, has told the Sydney Morning Herald “exclusively” that senior News Ltd executives knew of the breaches from as early as February.
His version of events contradict those of News’ boss John Hartigan. But it’s impossible to think anyone is going to come out of this smelling like roses.
I’d argue it is nearly impossible for News not to have a better idea than what they are letting on to.
Their argument that it was all concocted by the only employees that weren’t News employees is asking us to take a pretty big leap of faith. But then to defend themselves from the latest allegations by saying, “We were told, but not of exact figures,” smacks of the sort of double speak we’d expect from the worst of our politicians.
I’m really battling to come up with a scenario whereby two men would discuss this issue without figures being used unless one knew they were crook and didn’t want to be told so he could later on say “I wasn’t told the exact figures”.
It stinks.
Deloitte’s “independent” audit process is also starting to look a bit dicey when the blokes who were paying the bill somehow come out as clean as driven snow.
And while we are putting the boot into bean counters, let’s remember “Ernst and Young” never a spotted a thing the whole time they were looking after the books.
You get the feeling that it’s a story with a fair bit to run, especially when there is a further subplot of Fairfax getting to put the boot into News Ltd. So you can expect no stone unturned as Fairfax journos strive to uncover the truth.
And all so Victorians can have a rugby league team.
Meanwhile, Stuart’s coaching reputation has been dying a death by a thousand cuts over the past two seasons and the disgraceful performance by the Sharks on Saturday night was clearly the anvil that broke the camel’s back.
Fox Sports unintentionally spared me from the full horror of that match.
After having watched Parramatta’s stunning victory against Penrith, I was toying with the idea of switching off and doing something more productive with my evening.
Thankfully, a transmission error or the act of a merciful god then suddenly showed the players trudging off the field with the super reading “Half Time: Sea Eagles 36 Sharks 0.”
I was briefly concerned I’d lost consciousness, but sure enough, after the ad break the match then started with the scores at 0-0. Not for the first time I’d wished that you could bet in play during delayed matches.
So thanks Fox Sports, you spared me having to watch the full horror of the final 80 minutes of Ricky Stuart’s coaching career at Cronulla.
It’s hard to know whether the former halfback has given incoming coach Shane Flanagan a text book hospital pass by handing him a side wallowing near the foot of the ladder and with no prospect of playing finals footy, or has been incredibly charitable in giving Flanagan every chance to improve on their most recent results.
Let’s face it, he can hardly do any worse.
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