- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Fate had NRL boss David Gallop at Brookvale last Friday night. The visit had been billed as the first time he’d been in the presence of the two clubs since he’d acted against both:
* The Brett Stewart four-match suspension of two years ago when he was charged with indecent assault, but months later totally exonerated – that decision still festers at Brookvale.
* And the Storm salary cap rort, whipping two premierships, three minor premierships, and the 2010 World Club challenge off the club, and fined it $1.689 million.
As it turned out, Gallop was welcomed on Friday night by both clubs as his position demands, and deserves.
But nobody could possibly have predicted Gallop’s presence was far more important. He witnessed at first hand the first half stink between Manly, and the Storm.
As it sits, there’s every chance many from both clubs could be missing from the finals series through suspensions, even the grand final – and that would be a tragedy.
Nobody wants to see a premiership decided without the best players on duty. Gallop has an honourable out to avoid that probability.
In 1985, Kangaroo Greg Dowling, and Kiwi Kevin Tamati, went hammer and tongs in a Lang Park Test match. Both were sin-binned, and left the field side-by-side.
Bad call. The inevitable happened; the stink started again right in front of the grandstand, and went for a few minutes.
Officials should have learned from that experience that players binned together should leave the field separately.
Just like Manly’s Glenn Stewart, and the Storm’s Adam Blair, who were binned together in Gallop’s presence on Friday.
The inevitable happened, the stink between them broke out again heading for the stand side-by-side, bringing team-mates from 50 metres away into the fray, and cleaning out both benches.
The incident was a bad look, the binning turned into two red cards.
But had Stewart and Blair left separately, the bigger and more serious stink wouldn’t have happened, and we wouldn’t even be discussing it.
Not so tonight. There will be plenty of discussion, with up to 10 players likely to be suspended, and/or fined.
Your move David Gallop.
I rate him highly among the leading sporting administrators I’ve ever dealt with around the world over nearly 50 years.
In short, the second stage of the Stewart-Blair dust-up was a NRL stuff-up, it should never have been allowed to happen.
So fine them what you will, and give the money to charity. But keep them on the park, even if you think suspensions are warranted, make them long suspended sentences..
Rugby league needs them, their clubs need them, the spectators need them – so too the television viewers.
And let’s get on with it.