On Monday, the NRL handed down their punishment to Paul Gallen for the comments he made on Twitter last week.
Gallen was fined $50,000 and will also be ineligible for selection in the Australian team next year if he does not successfully complete a leadership course.
Looking at this incident in isolation, the punishment is fair. Given Gallen’s stature in the NRL, there is a higher expectation of him. It is not ok for any player to make those types of comments publicly, let alone a club and state captain.
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However, if you compare this incident to some other recent indiscretions, the NRL were harsh on Gallen.
In 2014 Mitchell Pearce was stood down for one game and fined $20,000 after being arrested in Kings Cross for failing to leave a licensed premise when asked.
Konrad Hurrell was fined $5,000 when an inappropriate video was leaked online. While it wasn’t anything illegal, it was a very bad look for Hurrell and for the game.
In 2013 James Tamou missed a State of Origin game and was fined $20,000 by the NRL for drink driving.
Nathan Peats missed one game and was fined $10,000, half of which was suspended, for an incident that occurred at a friend’s wedding last year.
Gallen definitely deserved to be punished for his actions, however players who ended up in front of a judge received lighter punishment.
The NRL are doing a great job about taking a stand against players who do the wrong thing but what we need is consistency. There needs to be a grading system for player indiscretions, similar to how the current match review system works for on-field foul play.
A benchmark needs to be set by the NRL. When an incident occurs, the Integrity Unit investigate and reviews the incident and then apply a grading, using the benchmark that has been set. The grading will determine how many games the player will miss and how much they are fined. Any players who receive the highest grading would have their playing contracted terminated.
Demerit points will also be applied to each grading, which will stay with the player for a certain time period. If repeat offences occur, these demerit points will be applied on top of the grading given for that offence, which will increase the overall grading and in turn see a larger punishment.
Any fines paid should also be donated to a charity linked to the indiscretion.
We will no doubt see inconsistency between gradings at times, this system will definitely improve the inconsistency of the punishments we are currently seeing.
Chook
Guest
Who is Jim Wilson?
Chook
Guest
That will teach him not to gets s..t faced and mouth off
Jay C
Roar Guru
I would be fined 100 percent of my ability to continue working at my company, and likely all or most similar companies in my industry if that was my Tweet and it was discovered.
Maverick
Guest
I wonder if any of us would've been fined if we called our boss a c**t
Isaac Nowroozi
Roar Guru
All about the money. 50k fine is a joke. The way the NRL is run at times is a joke too.
TQ1908
Guest
I'm tired of all the support for Gallen, not only was it massively inappropriate , but wrong Gallen blamed the NRL for he's own clubs actions. To the supporters of Gallen, I suggest you walk/ tweet your boss today and tell your boss strongly he's a '@@@@' and see how you fair. Will you still have a job after such an outburst? What would the same boss do if you told/tweeted him u we're booked DUI (assuming you didn't need your licence for the job)? To top of this unsavoury incident instead of saying "I made a mistake" Gallen wants to appeal; on the basis of what? Stupidity! Gallen, man up and admit that you made a gross error of judgement and stop the usual whining when things don't go your way.
Koash James
Roar Rookie
Completely agree with this article! Penalty was way too harsh. And the money for all such fines need to go to a charity! Gallen was a scapegoat for something bigger here. (This was a tweet that was linked (or replied if you may) to a tweet, which could only be seen if you clicked on the original tweet, or clicked on PG's profile (which no-one "reeeally" does) & would have never shown up on some lil kid fans twitter page as one of PG's " public tweets". Public, yes, but not really.. so thanks again for exploiting the game media!!) I personally believe this is yet another mountain made by a tiny, tiny mole hill!
Jay C
Roar Guru
The NRL pays his Salary through contributions to the club. they are contollers of the league. And Gallen isn't just an employee of the Sharks he is an ambassador of the game and a role model. If he doesn't like that he should forego the huge salaries his status in the game generates. Winning games isn't valuable. Selling advertisements is. Even the Roosters said winning the premiership put them in a financial hole. Gallen's job, whether he likes it or not, is to sell advertisements. I also doubt Gallen is making anybody millions of dollars a week so you have stretched that one a bit far. If you view them as Sport's players only then that is fine, he should be able to do whatever he wants within the law and normal social contraints. But if you are going to accept the cash that comes with sponsorship and advertisements you need to accept the resposibility that comes with it as well. And Muzz, Auva'a is nobody. He is probably on 60K. You can't fine him 50K he would be living on the street. With great power comes great responsibility and I would be so appalled if my club allowed the sort of stuff he has gotten away with. If someone that worked for you told all and sundry you were a big ol' C..t who didn't care about anyone I reckon you might take a pretty slim view of their chances of promotion as well.
Rabbits
Guest
NRL = Nitwits Running League
Glenn Innes
Guest
Gallen did not call his boss nasty names, Gallen is not employed by the NRL he is employed by Cronulla.When he plays rep football he is employed by the ARL. Would you be sacked for calling a manager in head office nasty names, depends how good at your job you are I guess?If you were a trader working in say Hong Kong for a New York based transnational investment bank with a track record of making the firm millions of dollars a week on trades and you got drunk one night and called the CEO back in New York nasty names my bet is you keep your job.
Muzz
Guest
Lets compare it with 2 other incidents that happened this year Kirisome Auva'a attacked his former girlfriend and was charged with reckless causing injury and criminal damage. He was fined $2k and stood down for 7 days by the Bunnies Mitchell Pearce is arrested for failing to leave a licence premises. He was fined $20k by the Roosters, was stood down for 1 game and arguably cost him $90K in SOO player payments.. Paul Gallen drops a C bomb directed at NRL HQ and is fined $50K
WoobliesFan
Guest
Criminals get off lighter because our justice system sucks your know what. The NRL doesn't.....bravo for making a strong message
Jay C
Roar Guru
Gee, we can live in hope.
Jay C
Roar Guru
What evidence? Are you kidding me? There's no secret conspiracy here. He just got drunk and sent a dumb tweet.
Jay C
Roar Guru
what's the alternative? A 10K fine would be like a $500 dollar fine for a regular person. It would annoy you but it wouldn't do much to curtail that kind of behaviour.
Jay C
Roar Guru
Way less and he won't have to pay it. There will be some backdoor. Guaranteed. It's all a dog and pony show.
alicesprings
Guest
I reckon he got off lightly..surprised he didn't cope a suspension of sorts..50k is chicken feed for those guys. If i said that to my boss i wouldn't have a job. Poor Gallen, not the sharpest tool in the shed, has been in the headlines a tad lately.
jayrigg
Guest
Cue the whinging........where you from Trent?
Big Marn not DB
Guest
Yeah double it for you and it could then said to be even
michael steel
Guest
He was jesting.