As Suzanne Young, the NRL’s Chief Operating Officer, delivered the findings of the investigation into the Rabbitohs’ dealings with Tom Burgess and John Sutton, neither the media nor fans were expecting much in the way of punishment.
Needless to say they were right. The NRL have fined the Rabbitohs $20,000 with no further action to be taken against the players involved.
Young stated that the Souths had met their obligations in advising the integrity unit of the incident. However, she then said Souths have been fined because they did not follow the investigation “to its conclusion” – i.e. the charges against Burgess were only dropped after a payment had been made to the bouncer involved in the altercation.
Young went on to say, “there is no evidence to show Shane Richardson, who was CEO at the time, or any other official was aware of the payment.”
It is hardly remarkable that those were the findings given, as Young stated, “the integrity unit relies on the clubs to provide reliable and accurate information about any incidents involving players.”
Thus we are still left with a raft of questions. Who made the payment to the bouncer? If it was indeed Burgess, how did the club not know he had made the payment given he was on an official club trip? And lastly, how can we be certain the Souths made full and frank disclosure considering the integrity unit rely on clubs to provide said disclosure?
In addition to the above issue is the punishment doled out to the two players. Sutton has had his captaincy stripped, however when asked by The Daily Telegraph if there were any extenuating circumstances for the demotion, Richardson replied, “Not to my knowledge – it was Madge’s [coach Michael Maguire] call”.
Granted Sutton hasn’t been found guilty of anything, however when Mitchell Pearce was fined for refusing to obey an order to leave a licensed premise he was fined $20,000, given a one-match ban, and ordered to attend counselling. Boyd Cordner was fined $5,000 for being with Pearce.
Tom Burgess was granted a release to move to Manly without any other punishment. This is clearly inconsistent given Parramatta’s Nathan Peats was given a one-match ban and a $5,000 fine following a complaint for an alleged altercation in Bali.
Given the police report into Burgess’ actions were made public, it reeks of inconsistency that he has faced no further sanctions. Even Konrad Hurrell was given a $5,000 fine for filming himself receiving oral sex while driving. You would have to imagine assault would lend itself to a larger penalty.
The soft punishments doled out to Souths and the two players highlights the shortcomings of the NRL integrity unit. There is no incentive for clubs to give full and honest disclosure for off-field incidents, because if they don’t they are likely to receive less of a penalty.
Perhaps instead of using their war chest for the marquee player allowance, the NRL should invest in a robust investigative arm, as it is apparent that self-reporting is not working.
One thing is for certain, Suzanne Young and the integrity unit need to improve quickly, or the integrity unit will become another rug under which clubs sweep player indiscretions.
Parrafan
Guest
According to the Intergrity Unit the crime was that the Souths didn't follow their investigation to its conclusion. That is why the Integrity Unit slapped them with $20,000 fine. As I've asked you above, do you really expect people to believe that no one in Souths'management knew of the altercation? Did no one question where they were the night before? Did no one think to ask why they were going to miss their flight? Did no one ask why the charges were suddenly dropped? If journos can pay $15 to get a full police report on the incident 2 months after it happened why couldn't the Souths and the Integrity Unit do the same? Is it may be because if the Souths' didn't investigate the matter properly they can turn around to the Integrity Unit and say, well we weren't informed and get off with a minor punishment. As I've stated this is the reason the Integrity Unit needs a proper and independent investigative arm, or otherwise clubs will continue to sweep matters under the rug.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Rossco - please don't tell me you believe that this trouble started, Souths reported it to the NRL, the IU investigates and then in the meantime Burgess goes off and gets independent legal advice and pays a settlement to the victim, all without notifying Souths until it was done and dusted !?!?!?!?!?! No one is that naive, surely?
claude
Guest
Right - the club didnt know of the payment - so Burgess didnt tell them he was in gaol or were they asleep at the wheel - its like the Storm management didnt know of the salary cap infringements either...either you are derelict in your duty or you knew...
rossco
Guest
So, Parrafan, what was the crime here? The arrests in Arizona, reported to the IU and charges dropped against Sutton and Burgess paid a court-approved compensation. Maguire was there (it was their last night in Arizona and the camp was over) and he didn't know about Burgess' action. Why? Because Burgess didn't tell him. So what is the crime?
Squidward
Roar Rookie
I don't think Pearce actually even groped her. More of a lunge
Parrafan
Guest
So Rossco are you willing to believe that the Bunnies management really had no idea, when the evidence to relied on by the integrity unit to support that claim is, wait for it, the word from the Bunnies management? If you look at Pearce's charge sheet, he was fined for failure to leave a licensed premises, not assault and not resist arrest. I used him as an example as Sutton himself was charged with 'disorderly behaviour', which is in the same vain of conduct. They have received vastly different punishments, and their in lies the inconsistency. If the real culprit really is Luke Burgess then why was he not fined, and provided with a ban (say 1 game) for his actions? You're entitled to your opinion regarding News Ltd hacks. For the record I don't subscribe to any news limited paper and generally only give Rothfields articles a cursory glance. My opinion is in this instance the media took the correct approach. Souths either knowingly or unknowingly didn't provide the Integrity Unit with the proper information. Without the media taking an interest in the story the club and the players would have got off even lighter than they have.
Jay C
Roar Guru
To be fair it is exactly how any private firm would handle such matters.
rossco
Guest
Evidence for your assertion please.
rossco
Guest
Bit too much hyperbole. Pearce did more than refuse to leave licensed premises. He groped a woman and resisted arrest. What is the fine for? That Souths didn't know Burgess had paid a legal compensation claim? Neither did the Integrity Unit know until the media found out. The real culprit is Luke Burgess who did not tell the club about this. As to the media generally in this: News Ltd hacks will never get over they no longer control the game or a privy to inside knowledge. However the rest of the RL public are glad they aren't. Proof? Look at Rothfields writings - all about this Arizona story and almost nothing about the cocaine story.
Squidward
Roar Rookie
Even the bloody dogs got $20k for coming out in the field on GF night late. Reeks of favouritism
The Barry
Roar Guru
Yes Jay C unfortunately I think you're right. The club report it to the IU. Neither do anything further until the story breaks in the media. Then the club says "we followed the appropriate protocol, we reported it to the IU." Then the IU says "we're following up on our investigation." Then they enter damage control. That's what we get instead of good corporate governance as promised by the NRL. I'd say 'as long as it's consistent' but it's already proven not to be.
Wascally Wabbit
Guest
How do we get Phil Rothfield to join the Integrity Unit ?
Jay C
Roar Guru
You misunderstand what the integrity unit is about. It is about protecting the NRL's image, not delivering punishments or anything else.
Hamish WIlliams
Roar Rookie
My apologies. It should be noted that at family gatherings I'm often get my daughters name mixed up with her cousins.
The Barry
Roar Guru
The integrity unit has completely undermined itself with this fiasco. No souths official was aware of the payment?!?!?!? That's the biggest load of garbage I've ever read. If the IU let's this pass without any further investigation then clubs can get away with anything. As bad as it seems now it's only going to get worse when someone else does something relatively minor and gets a $50K fine and two weeks. Shut it down now, save money and let's just go back to how things were.
Chris Morrison
Guest
The player in question is Luke Burgess, not Tom. Probably important to at least get their name correct.