Last night’s announcement from the Brisbane Broncos that they were no longer interested in chasing Josh Dugan’s autograph was another reminder that NRL is no longer just about the game.
Brisbane were on the verge of signing Dugan to a $2 million deal until a series of inappropriate comments from Dugan on his Instagram account put a stop to the deal.
Be it a shot of Dugan sipping on booze or a player posting pics from his latest “epic crew bender”, you have to keep asking who on earth is keeping an eye on these guys?
I could go into a spiel about the abuse athletes now have to cop through social media, but that can be left for another day.
The days of turning up to a game and seeing your favourite player signing autographs were once the only chance you had to access them or their lives.
In an era where social media means everyone can know their business, a footballer’s marketability can be flipped on its head in a millisecond due to one 140-character comment or mobile upload.
Only a few months back, then Penrith Panther Arana Taumata lost his contract with the club over a racial slur directed at two Indian contestants on the hit rating cooking show My Kitchen Rules.
At last Friday’s Bulldogs match I asked Manly halfback Daly Cherry-Evans, who recently started his own Instagram account, if he would be joining the Twittersphere.
“No way, never. I hear all the boys talking about it at training and it just seems like trouble.”
A smart move or an ignorant one?
Having an extra branch to promote yourself and your endorser’s products through social media is now standard practice, and when used correctly can be beneficial to both parties.
When it comes to Tennis Australia, Bernard Tomic, Marinko Matosevic and Lleyton Hewitt are nowhere to be seen on Twitter.
“I just look at Roger Federer; he’s not on it and that’s good enough for me. In the end it’s just another thing you have to worry about,” said Matosevic in January.
Coming from a media and PR background I personally think it’s a necessity for top athletes to be accessible to their fans, but where do you draw the line?
Fake profiles run by club media co-ordinators? Generic tweets with no actual personality coming through?
It’s guaranteed this won’t be the last social media gaffe we see from a footballer, but as far as losing a $2 million deal, Dugan’s mishap will be hard to top.
So I ask all club and player mangers this – are you watching over your talent? If not, why the hell not?
I understand it’s time consuming, but scrolling over your top names’ tweets hardly compares to a club or sponsorship contract being torn up.
Moving forward, for every athlete out there on the drink, on a roof or with your shirt off – turn your phone off.
Your name, tweets, and photos are now your job. You don’t just play footy. It’s not about how many metres you ran on the weekend or the hat-trick you scored last month.
It’s about this as well. And keeping out of trouble is pretty simple.
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