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It took a bit longer to be reached than appeared necessary from the outside, but the decision to not play Shaun Kenny-Dowall for Sydney Roosters against the Warriors on Sunday was the only sensible one.
He has got a lot more to worry about than football at the moment and speculation about whether or not he will play next weekend is a waste of time as well – because it is not what is important right now.
All that matters at the moment is Kenny-Dowall’s first appearance in court on Thursday on domestic violence charges.
Ten charges: assault occasioning actual bodily harm, six counts of common assault, destroy or damage property, use carriage service to menace/harass/offend and stalking/intimidation – obviously equates to a very serious matter.
There will be no shortage of opinions about it, but the vast majority of them will be uneducated because we are yet to hear the evidence presented.
In the meantime, one can only hope the alleged victim, Jessica Peris, is getting all of the support she needs from those close to her. Presumably, that would be the case.
The Roosters will be looking after Kenny-Dowall’s welfare.
Kenny-Dowall’s playing career would surely be in tatters if the allegations were proven.
But should he be stood down from playing until the matter reaches its conclusion? That is the eternally difficult question.
On one hand it makes you feel uneasy to think someone could be allowed to continue playing with such serious charges hanging over his head.
But what if he was stood down for an extended period while a court case proceeded and the charges weren’t proven?
Who knows? Kenny-Dowall may not wish to play in at least the short term anyway.
I’m prepared to wait until his initial court appearance, where the reported indication is that he will plead not guilty, and see what the NRL and the Roosters decide to do then.
Chris Sandow’s situation at Parramatta is obviously vastly different to that of Kenny-Dowall at the Roosters, but again it’s a case of a player’s future being uncertain due to dramatic circumstances.
Sandow put in an awful performance for Parramatta in their loss to Canterbury on Friday night.
He appeared disinterested in the wake of having his application for a release from the remainder of his contract rejected on the basis that the Eels didn’t want to contribute a payout on top of what English club Warrington was offering Sandow to sign.
That is not surprising and probably understandable from Parramatta.
Eels coach Brad Arthur has since said the club would release Sandow as long as it didn’t have to pay him anything.
Sandow is reportedly unhappy about the non-payment of third-party deals, which brings us to a whole other story surrounding the repeated unreliability of such deals that deserves examination on its own.
Who knows what is going to happen with Sandow? He could be gone from the Eels within days, or even hours, or if he is still there he could play for them next weekend because dropping him to play for Wentworthville would apparently exacerbate the club’s second-tier salary cap situation.
It is an extraordinary state of affairs.
Sandow’s rant on Facebook, in which he said “I’m sick of some of these big mouth (expletive deleted) down here they think I’m one on my own should we run a muck or what I’m over the bulls**t” just added fuel to the fire.
Obviously, Parramatta and Sandow are better off apart. All we await now is to find out when and how the split finally happens.
Sometimes, it has seemed as if Sandow has been a convenient fall guy for the Eels. At other times, he has brought problems upon himself.
Whether England is the right place for him is debatable, but he’s a professional footballer. You go where the opportunities are.
Meanwhile, Roosters centre Michael Jennings is scheduled to appear in court today on charges of hindering police and offensive behaviour following that alleged late-night incident at a car park last month.
There’s never a dull moment in rugby league.
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