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John Sutton forced to cop it tweet

30th May, 2013
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John Sutton will not face any further punishment for his part in Souths' Arizona incident. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Roar Guru
30th May, 2013
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1482 Reads

If you can’t trust the official Twitter account of the New South Wales Rugby League for news on the State of Origin side, then who can you trust?

@NSWRL tweeted the following yesterday afternoon: “NSW VB Blues Coach Laurie Daley has just announced John Sutton as Kurt Gidley’s replacement. #uptheblues #Origin”

The only problem was that Daley had done no such thing.

A short while later the NSWRL released a statement.

“The NSWRL would like to apologise for a miscommunication that incorrectly named John Sutton as the 17th man for the NSW VB Blues,” it said.

Fair enough. It could happen to any of us.

“Members of the media team read news reports that John had been selected and, with the need to be timely on social media, tweeted the incorrect information,” the statement continued.

Official Twitter accounts have come to be seen as an extension of the PR team involved with the side.

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News tweeted from official accounts is followed up by an e-mailed press release 99% of the time.

More often than not, it confirms the official press release word for word.

This time, it seems, the need to be “timely” outweighed actually relaying official information.

The tweet was deleted and replaced with the correct information but, in some quarters, the damage had already been done.

“Once again, we would like to apologise to John and his family, NSW VB Blues fans, and South Sydney fans for our error,” the release went onto say.

It was a fitting end to what, in itself, was a bizarre situation.

Seven days out from the first game of the State of Origin series and the coach calls for what was being dubbed a “train off” for the 17th spot in the side.

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It was hardly a fair way to ease a debutant into their first camp.

Daley had one training session to see how both players slotted into the environment.

How much would you really learn and was it worth the expense of potentially shattering the confidence of the man who was told to pack his things and go at the end of the day?

Reynolds was the last man standing, while Sutton now has to try and regather his thoughts ahead of the Rabbitohs’ clash with the Knights tomorrow night.

The five-eighth has been in career best form, but with Daley clearly trying to fill the sizeable shoes of utility Kurt Gidley, he was always going to finish second best to the smaller man from the Bulldogs.

Sutton could cover the halves and the back row, while Reynolds is cover for most of the back line and hooker.

Case closed.

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It was as clear from the outset as it was after the train off.

At least now we can concentrate on the more important things ahead of the series opener in Sydney on Wednesday night.

Queensland are the underdogs right?

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