It’s the wrecking ball bad-news rugby story which won’t die.
Just when the Australian Rugby Union thought that it may have, finally, washed its hands of the unsavoury Kurtley Beale text message scandal and moved on, it has reared its ugly head once more.
Di Patston, the Wallabies business manager who resigned after it became public she’d been subjected to highly-offensive messages sent by Beale to teammates, has spoken out in frustration after the backline star was fined $45,000 by a code of conduct hearing.
But it’s not just Patston’s sense of dismay that Beale had lied to her in June when he apologised for inadvertently sending her grotesque images of an obese nude woman with her name in two separate captions below that will continue the whole sorry saga.
As the tribunal ruled on Friday night that the second, more offensive, image had originated from a third party, the pressure is now on the ARU to investigate whether it had been sent by another Wallaby.
But the national body, widely condemned for its handling of the episode since Beale and Patston were involved in a mid-flight spat four weeks ago, said on Monday it wasn’t about to go looking for answers.
An ARU spokeswoman told AAP “if new, relevant information comes to light, we’ll investigate that information”.
ARU chief executive Bill Pulver was also unavailable for comment.
Beale’s statement submitted to the tribunal, and leaked to The Australian, revealed he originally sent a text to a group of Waratahs players two days after joining Wallabies camp on the Gold Coast on June 3.
Six days later, Beale mistakenly sent two obscene images to Patston when attempting to send it to Queensland hooker James Hanson.
Patston told The Australian she was so distraught by the tribunal’s findings, which cleared Beale to return to the game, that she was physically ill.
“If it was one image or two or 20, what does it matter?” Patston asked.
“They were both of very obese women in a very derogatory way. I am overweight and they were both naked with everything exposed.
“He (Beale) doesn’t know my background. I’ve had an ongoing illness myself and I’m on medication. There’s a whole story behind it.
“I actually said to my dad I felt bullied into not telling anyone about the photos because I was embarrassed.
“I’m not good. Life is probably the worst it has ever been. I’m alive but there have been times I haven’t wanted to be here.”
In Beale’s statement, he acknowledged that he did not reveal to Patston when he initially apologised to her that he’d sent the offensive image to some Waratahs mates six days earlier on June 3.
She told The Australian she wouldn’t have forgiven him if he had.
“Even as I was cuddling him, he said `I promise you, Di, I haven’t sent this to anyone’,” she said. “It’s like he played me for a fool.”
* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 and Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.
ols
Roar Pro
Hi Mr Oaf It's gotta be her latest phone if it's at the time of her resignation. That's how I'm reading that anyway. "He said that he had already established from an independent expert “that Ms Patston’s statements and explanations did not add up.” He added that he had ‘‘screamed for her phone to be produced’’ before she had resigned, but that it had failed to materialise."
Ruckin' Oaf
Guest
Hy OLS Well it doesn't say which phone Pulver was screaming for. I could go something like this Had old phone Handed old phone into ARU Old phone gets redistributed somewhere in the organisation then everything hits the fan Bill Pulver “screaming” for it. The article in question doesn't say who Pulver was screaming at
Jibba Jabba
Guest
xx
Ruckin' Oaf
Guest
Hey Jibba Jabba, Um I'm not the one announcing to the world they have difficult with comprehending written English. That's all you. Here's a tip those funny little squiggles that look like this " - well they are called quotation marks. And they indicated that the words in between them are, in fact, quotations. So my last comment started with a quotation. And I was quoting you. Any handicaps seem to be yours and yours alone. Maybe next time you could have a friend read the comment with you and help you work things out. We can keep doing this as long as you like or we can act like adults. Either is fine with me.
WoobliesFan
Guest
Sorry, don't understand. I'm in the field of I.T. (not Development anymore though, more a B.A. these days). I like my rugby. Good sport. Played it at uni (wasn't that good though). So explain to me what figures?
Jibba Jabba
Guest
You are right - sorry - i should have been more sympathetic and allowed for your handicap ....
Ruckin' Oaf
Guest
Only if she has the intention of dishonestly depriving her former employer of the phone.
Ruckin' Oaf
Guest
Hey Jibba Jabba, And where was Beale for that last game ? ? Correlation is not causation BUT
Ruckin' Oaf
Guest
Hey Dmac, What crime would that be ? The crime of your imagination, the crime of supposition? Tell me what crime has "Quade got done for"
Ruckin' Oaf
Guest
"She had the opportunity for a fair hearing in front of a magistrate." Nope she had essentially an opportunity to be a witness for the prosecution in the Beale case before the tribunal. All that would have guaranteed her would be a very vigorous cross-examination from Beale's legal reps.
Ruckin' Oaf
Guest
"Correct – I do not have any ‘Brians’, whatever that is...." Well you're obviously not smart enough to work out what a word means from it's contextual use. I certainly wouldn't be announcing that to the world but good for you on being comfortable with your limitations.
Jibba Jabba
Guest
Heh Wobbly, Did you not watch their last game against the All Blacks...suggest you do...was an encouraging performance which augers well for the NH tour. . Have faith in your team.
Jibba Jabba
Guest
Correct - I do not have any 'Brians', whatever that is and teams filled with smart professional ??? obviously you weren't one of them...Is English your second language ?. and you are right - i haven't played rugby union apart playing, coaching and managing between ages 5 to 45... just as well you were born a boy otherwise you would have had nothing and no-one to play with !! .
dmac
Guest
Ah I see, thanks Ruckin'. So it's ok to do the crime just as long as you settle it out of court. Good to know.
Sportym
Guest
Yeah ....cause rugby union players are all sports jocks with no Brians. Hate to tell you but there was a time the team was filled with very smart professional , be it lawyers , doctors, IT professionals etc. Have you ever played rugby union? Doubt it from your comment .
Jibba Jabba
Guest
So you are a nerd - figures.... ever played rugby?
Jibba Jabba
Guest
Only in Swanbourne ...
Jibba Jabba
Guest
tick ...
ols
Roar Pro
I tried to answer before RO but first name must have caused moderation problems! Got rid of old phone. Got new phone. Still has it. Bill Pulver "screaming" for it. http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/rugby/kurtley-beale-affair-exposes-glaring-management-failures-within-australian-rugby/story-fnp0m105-1227101595086
cs
Guest
Perhaps you ask too much Hoy. There are the odd swipes in anger, quite a lot of imaginative speculation, and some humour around the edges, but people don't generally seem to want to denigrate the person by dredging up specific charges and so on. The preferred form is to support the player. Patstone is both a figure in and a witness to the action, so her evidence is hotly critiqued, but she's not on trial. On the specifics, Lealiifano is pretty praiseworthy, I agree. But again, what the job was is all very vague. "I sort of treated her as a mother and she was the same to me and she was like my sounding board if I had any troubles ... She worked countless hours and I was always going over to her and telling her to take a break but she always had things on to make this team better ... Leali'ifano ... said many players, including those she knew from her 2012-13 stint at Queensland, appreciated her efforts. "This organisation will miss her," he said. "That's my personal opinion. "It's tough, you know. It's like losing a mother on tour." So what do we make of this? That she was hired as a mother? Pretty strange stuff. McKenzie barely does better in the same story: McKenzie [said] they both addressed team culture issues ... "She did an outstanding job for me over a long period of time and made a massive contribution" ... He revealed Patston saved the Australian Rugby Union between $600,000 and $700,000 from the Wallabies' budget in the past year and defended his management model, splitting into logistics and business positions, which both NSW and Queensland also use. Is she a 'team culture' adviser to the coach and 'a mother' to the players? Where is the line between the two? Does this advice affect selection? What is her line and area of authority over the players? Presumably the savings are in other salaries, of what jobs? And is she in logistics or business or both, neither of which sound like departments of cultural advice and/or mothering? Clear as friggin' mud.