Players these days, particularly those with talent, are not feeling the repercussions for their actions.
Roosters star Todd Carney’s career could be over. (AAP Image/Sergio Dionisio)
Contracts are not worth the paper they are signed on, and punishments for poor off-field behaviour no longer fit the crime.
That is if you have the on-field talent.
Josh Dugan’s sacking from the Canberra Raiders came after a long line of off-field indiscretions.
The final straw came when he not only broke team protocol preventing injured players from consuming alcohol, but he did so on a roof with his offsider, Blake Ferguson, and was brash enough to post it on Instagram.
The caption read, “Make your own luck! Whatever will be will be!” While some see this as complete stupidity, it is quite evident that it was a direct attempt to escape his contract at the Raiders.
The Canberra-based club obliged him with this request and have released him from his contract. Due to the fact that he has broken a team rule and not broken an NRL policy or committed a crime, Dugan is free to sign with another club if he so wishes.
With the salary that prospective clubs are offering, wish he will.
The Brisbane Broncos appear to be the front-runners to acquire the signature of this injury-prone bad boy.
So when he inevitably signs for the $500K+ per season that he is demanding, and gets the sea change they he has desired, what lesson has he learnt?
For one, he has learnt that if he wants out of a contract all he has to do is play up. Breaking the same team protocol in less than twelve months ought to do it.
Also, he learnt that as long as he has the talent, teams will throw themselves at him. Hell, they will end up in a bidding war. It worked for Todd Carney.
After persisting with Todd Carney through incident after incident, the Raiders had enough. He was sacked from the club and the NRL deregistered his contract.
The result? A brand new contract at the Roosters, effective once his NRL-imposed, season ban was complete.
In 2010, Carney went on to win the Dally M Medal and star in the Roosters stellar season which led them to the grand final.
In 2011, Carney was caught on three separate occasions committing alcohol-related indiscretions and sacked by the Roosters. Surely, that was his last chance, right?
Wrong! As you would know, Todd then signed a deal with the Cronulla Sharks estimated at $700K per season. It would appear that Todd Carney laid the blueprint for Josh Dugan.
You can do what you like, as long as you have the talent that another club desires.
A few weeks back, I wrote an article that touched on Ben Barba’s standing down.
At the time, word was that he was looking at up to six months out of the game while he wrestled his demons.
Barba was admitted to rehab and has since been released, returned to training, and has now been named in their round four side to take on the Rabbitohs, months before most of us expected him to.
Don’t get me wrong, this is great news.
Ben is a young athlete who needs help, much like Todd and Josh. This help recommended that he “return to his day to day life and that obviously includes his commitment to football,” announced Greenberg, although not all experts agree.
It is, in fact, rather ironic that the Easter long weekend would bring about his resurrection in the NRL. So, where is the link with Dugan and Carney?
When Todd Greenberg, Bulldogs CEO, announced that Ben Barba was being stood down, it was clear that Ben’s actions warranted termination of his contract but the club had decided that would be “taking the easy way out.”
So, what indiscretion was committed that was so serious that it almost saw the sacking of the NRL poster boy and last year’s Dally M Player of the Year, but not so serious that it would require any more than three weeks on the sideline?
Would a player of any less talent be afforded the same forgiveness?
What are your thoughts? Should players of varying talent be treated equally?
Should the NRL have a league-wide player code of conduct or is it fine to leave these policies to individual clubs?
Lareena
Guest
What would be another disagree for a sports star bad behaviour is not ther fault, Clubs and the sports ceo bodies need to take more responsiblilites for there players actions off the field.. Players should take full responsibilities for there own actions...
SuperEel22
Roar Guru
The best players will always be looked after when compared with the younger players or less-known players. Why? Because it's easier to justify keeping your best player after an indiscretion than a lesser known player.
SuperEel22
Roar Guru
When Carney went to the Roosters I had a simple view. Either he behaved or he should be booted. Brian Smith is a tough coach and doesn't take crap. My view is simple. You have a contract with your club. As part of that contract you have to sign on with the club's code of conduct. If you break that code you break your contract. The Raiders tried everything to help him but he wasn't willing to help himself. He still isn't fully mature given he was suspending for drinking whilst injured last season at Cronulla. A NSW Cup player could tell you it'd be dumb to drink while you're injured. There's a difference between being caught in the wrong crowd or at the wrong place at the wrong time as opposed to knowingly breaking club policy which is what Carney has done at each of his clubs. In my opinion I think that Carney is on his very last chance.
SuperEel22
Roar Guru
The rumours have been flying about Barba considering it was when ASADA came knocking that Ben went into re-hab, let the heat die down and then re-surfaced miraculously. Given how quickly he recovered from a problem stemming from his childhood I'd like to know what the silver bullet was. It took Nathan Hindmarsh years to get over his gambling addiction and he said he isn't fully over it but that he can control it. According to Brett Kimmorley, no player would be able to go an entire season with hiding an alcohol addiction under Des Hasler. And Kimmorley was at the Dogs last season as a halves coach. Me thinks it was a little more than drug and alcohol. Any conclusions you guys draw from what I have said is your opinion.
Delpy
Roar Pro
Which club are you referring to? The Roosters? He broke their team drinking policy on 3 separate occasions, one of which included a drink driving charge in which he fled from the police. At Cronulla, it seems that he has been well behaved. I hope this is true. Hopefully he has matured and become aware of the impact caused by his actions. He has been there 12 months, hopefully he is successful there for much longer.
Delpy
Roar Pro
I'm not so sure that there would be many AFL players suited to our game. We have enough outside backs that cannot tackle as it is. The U20's hasn't helped that. Personally, I hate watching tries scored off bombs to the wing. Some clubs, particularly those that do not have creative halves, resort to this on nearly every attacking set. It's a speculator and boring.
Delpy
Roar Pro
Initially, we were led to believe that this was to help with Ben's rehabilitation. Now, I'm not so sure.
Delpy
Roar Pro
So where is the line? How much can a player get away with before enough is enough? As long as they keep the game interesting they can do pretty much whatever they like? When Carney was at the Raiders he was actually bringing down the club's reputation. Player misbehaviour can turn away more fans than their on-field brilliance bring. I think when Canberra finally took a stand with him they gained a lot of respect,
steve
Guest
Oikee I think youre right, players do need to be nurtured and coached to maturity - in some cases. But dont you think the raiders would have tried that with Carney? And the roosters too? Dont get me wrong, i'd hate to see someone like Carney out of the game because of his mistakes but you have to draw the line somewhere. Clubs are a multi-million dollar brand and poor behaviour by their players that is tolerated makes the club look weak. Clubs should dish out much more serious fines and stand players down for off field indescretions. Hit them in their pay packet and they'll start taking notice. Or, as you suggest, start looking to the AFL - they seem to fair better with these sort of issues. Not to poach their talent, but to manage their talent in a way that the NRL still hasnt got right.
Alan
Roar Guru
Food for thought that's for sure. Good article
dishes
Guest
It is ridiculous to suggesting players should have to throw their careers away just for having a few drinks. Consider what the soccer players in England get up to. humans aren't perfect, cut these guys some slack and support them i say. See what happened with Carney, he joined a club that was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and treat him like a human, and he did fine.
oikee
Guest
The NRL has to send our scouts down to AFL heartlands and be prepared to buy some decent talent. It is not hard to find players suited to our game, big jaw boned strapping lads. Like Jonathon Brown and Gary Jack's son, and Fervola and the Swans guy would have been good as well who is retired now that use to swing punches. He would have been good, guys with plenty of testosterone and need discipline. Our game would be perfect for them. Our game can be so much more spectacular, it is now, but imagine we upped the ante for wingers, made them fly even higher. And running at speed, imagine them popping passes or kicking ahead with great skill. That would add the final demention to our code. This is just common sense natural progression, it has nothing to do with robbing other codes of players,. I think all codes will have swapover players one day, go to where they are needed or can enjoy international success. The 2 rugbies and AFL could be all intergrated to suit our athletes. Jarad Hayne is already thinking about trying rugby union for a couple of years or more, and i think he would be brilliant at union. Daniel Vidot as well , i think he would be good at union,.
oikee
Guest
If you keep kicking out the best players in the comp, you wont have many left to watch. Have a look at the Broncos, who would pay to watch a bunch of one out footballers. The only guy worth his weight is "Half a Game Hodges". It is easy to say get rid of them, and what are we left with, it is hard enough now to find half decent players, the guys who are good are norammly wild children. We need to nurture those wildchilds, succkle them, keep them on their mothers teet as long as possible and try to mature them as fast as possible. You wont have a game if all our talent is lost. It does not take much to lose your best talent. We are still struggling for good backs, while big Issy is running around in super rugby. We need to hang onto these guys. Get him back and find some more. Maybe we start looking at AFL players. The floodgates have got to open sooner or later, maybe sooner might be the go, lets go looking for some good fast players. They can already kick and catch, half the battle is won. I think this is where rugby league can then make progress with bad boys. If we can find talent from other codes, then the bad boys wont be worth as much to our code. Trust me, this is the way to go. You can start alot of them on the wings, and slowly bring them into the game, into the middle and see if any have passing skills. It could take 10 years, but we need to start looking now, turn up to AFL juniors with checkbooks in hand. Same as we do with rugby union juniors.
turbodewd
Roar Guru
Carney didnt get off super lightly, he had to sit out all of 2009. An appropriate result.
katherine
Guest
i was wondering the same thing about barba. dont get me wrong he is a good player but why was he given so much sympathy and molly coddling from his club, the press and most of the supporters? why are his indescretions any less serious than those of other players who have been sacked or stood down indefinately. and for that matter why wasnt it ever stated what bad things he was doing. if they werent that bad why wasnt the public told. all very hush hush.
Mike from tari
Guest
I have my son who has been trying to get into the NRL, he has played Q Cup for 4 years but can't get a gig, it seems that good kids do come last. These 2 guys Dugan & Ferguson have brought the game into disrepute, they should be kicked out of our game, let them go and join Beale & Cooper then they can all play together.