Let's hope the South Sydney incident wasn't an NRL cover-up

Yea exactly. I didn't even acknowledge what he said about Pearce.

Why is Richardson being interviewed by Integrity staff. It should be done by someone independant like what happened with Greenberg. Richardson is effectively these guys' Manager. It shows at best naievity, at worst a cover up. Both ways unacceptable.

Yeah the guys lost the plot above you. Pearce trying to get a girls attention. Maybe slap her arse isn't a patch on Sutton and burgess. I'd rather have my arse slapped than belted by a burgess or spat on and intimidated

If it was anyone but the 'pride of the league'

Walt, I think that is key to this issue. I genuinely believe that players are entitled to due process. What stinks here is that it now looks like souths have only told the NRL part of the story and the NRL have had to reopen their investigation. Because there's nothing from the integrity unit it appears they've been tacit in the cover up. If there were guidelines about what the integrity unit disclose and when they have a process they can be accountable for. At the moment no one knows what the IU should be doing.

It's not about the amount of money. It's the fact that a standard of behaviour is expected in return for that money. You ask where the line is? I'll ask you the same question. Where is the line that player behaviour becomes newsworthy? Spitting and swearing and assault and getting arrested is fine. Should the media have reported the Russell packer incident or should they turn a blind eye? Where's the line?

ferret, I don't think Carney would've had a leg to stand on if he attempted to sue the Sharks or the NRL.Same would apply with Dugan, Ferguson etc and in this case both Sutton and L Burgess. With respect, If you ran a business and your standards where this low, you'd go broke. You can't blame the media for Sutton and L Burgess poor decision making on that night. Souths chose to roll the dice and with hold evidence from the Integrity Unit and now it's come back to bite them. Souths need to take responsibility for this .The media are just doing their job. We will always have our fair share of off-field dramas and no club is exempt but it's the way that it's handled by the NRL that keeps the stakeholders satisfied.

I think that everyone is getting a bit to excited about all this because it is Souths. Now I am not a great fan either but if two people got a bit drunk and did something wrong that is not a rare event but rarely does it involve sacking or major job demotion. Maybe they have been punished enough but the problem is that Souths were not transparent about it which raises the question of what else the may have been hiding in relation to other incidents.

I think if your employer sacked you for what you did on the weekend you could sue for wrongful dismissal. If it's a question of money, where is the cut-off? Like, it's OK if you're only paid $50K, $75K, $132K. I don't believe footy players are role models, so therefore I don't think they should be held to a higher level of scrutiny than anyone else (irrespective of how much they get paid). I suppose when the media publishes all the charity work; school & hospital visits etc etc many/most/all players do. Then maybe I'll cut the MSM some slack. At the moment they're only interested in bad news stories. (Actually they've only EVER been interested in the bad news stories).

Maybe the integrity unit should visit the NRL office. One of their main men was dismissed last week with accusations of misconduct. Now Richardson is there and is facing accusations of a cover up. If the players can cop scrutiny so should the NRL. Thats fair.

The difference is these guys are paid a couple if hundred grand a year not to do stuff like that. If they want to get on the cans and spit and swear at bar staff and assault bouncers and get arrested good luck to them - but go to the valley or maroubra or Salford or wherever and hand back the pay cheque. That's before we even get into the fact that souths appear to have covered it up. If I went out with my work colleagues and carried on like that it might not make the papers but I wouldn't be holding my breath to have a job on Monday morning.

Like I said above, in my opinion it's neither here nor there, so I don't think it's a particularly bad look for Souths or the NRL. You obviously have a different opinion. Fair enough. Concerning the smh link - I don't read the MSM much anymore.

ferret, This is a great look for both Souths and the NRL right? No big deal at all ! http://www.smh.com.au/sport/john-sutton-and-luke-burgess-not-the-first-sports-stars-to-find-themselves-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-law-20150211-13bg58.html

By "quite serious in a court of law" i mean Souths/Richardson not being honest.Lying to protect their brand. It would be contempt of court in most countries and you'd be locked away for the night.

Hahaha i copped so much when i said the sharks saga will be forgotten and another club will stuff up , im fully aware that this doesnt compare to asada but coming from the premiers pretty funny as a sharks fan to see unfold!

I am a Roosters fan. You can't tell from my DP? You're clearly you're a Souths fan. You think getting arrested for assault while drunk is fine? I bet you also think the one punch laws are ridiculous too. They were spitting and smashed bottles. They weren't exactly trying to clean the place up. If people were at my house doing this I would kick them out due to them trashing the place. I don't know what's acceptable at your home. There is nothing wrong with getting drunk. If you do it responsible. Getting drunk at a BBQ at a mates place and listening to some music with friends if fine. Getting drunk and spitting on and assaulting people is not ok. Now getting drunk, spitting, smashing bottles and assaulting someone while you are representing Australia?? Definitely not ok. If Burgess was in Australia when this happened and he spear tackled the bouncer and the bouncer hit his head on the ground and died, Burgess would be looking at going to goal for a fair few years. I don't want to have unpredictable drunks like him here when he is only here on a work visa. As for Jake Friend and Nate Myles, back then I was saying the same thing. They should have gotten bigger punishments then they actually did get. But besides all that, all I am saying is that I hope the NRL is consistent with these two and the punishments are up to the same standards as recent similar events.

@ Squidward - from what I understand Sutton and Burgess have been arrested once. So hardly repeat offenders. Maybe they were just unlucky, or you've been lucky. Maybe it's because they took on the bouncer and you have more sense to do so. Either way n = 1 is not statistically significant. @ Kaks - Well, I suppose that just comes down to a personal opinion. For mine, I don't think it was too bad, but I'm happy to acknowledge that others may disagree. The "public eye" really is dependent on people looking / being interested. Personally I don't really care if footy players occasionally let their hair down. I'm more interested in how they conduct themselves on the field. I'm not a Souths fan but Sutton seems to be a fairly decent bloke, same for Burgess Iif I can tell 'em apart).

Did Sutton and Burgess trash a club? Where? Certainly not in Arizona. You whole comment is garbage. Two players got drunk and apart from behaving badly you want one deported and the other banned? So you want every player who gets drunk banned? What Pearce did was worse than what Sutton is alleged to have done but you want a six month suspension? I reckon you are a Roosters supporter. If so, remember Jack Friend and Nate Myles? Nothing much happened to them and they were repeat offenders. These two are not.

Difference is that these guys are in the public eye, ferret, and get paid good money for it.

I know he did more then just grab her bum. I am not a fan of Ferguson at all and think that his time away from the game was a really good outcome in that situation. Hopefully he has learnt from his mistakes and is committed to becoming a better human. Still, I was disappointed when I heard he was training with the Roosters. Peace deserved his punishments as well as he embarrassed the club. And Carney should have been booted from the NRL the moment he pissed on an unconscious man in Canberra. I don't disagree with these punishments at all. I just hope that the NRL stays consistent with the way it handles this whole Souths issue.