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Corey Norman’s guilty plea to drugs charges in a Sydney courtroom this morning puts his future as a Queensland half in jeopardy.
One of the many great talents out of Keebra Park High School on the Gold Coast, Norman’s contract with Parramatta finishes at season’s end, at which point he could find himself without a club.
Talking to George (my local barista) today – an avid Eels fan – you can’t help but feel sorry for the members who pay each year for a season ticket, jerseys, scarfs and the rest.
The club fan-base was betrayed by their front office, leading to five members of the office being deregistered by the NRL.
The same fans who look to stars Norman for reassurance, then see him involved in unsavoury off-field issues.
Today’s developments raise two questions: what now for Corey Norman, and – more importantly – can this year get any worse for Parramatta?
Let’s start with Corey.
His contract is running out, he’s hanging around with the wrong people, and we don’t know what action the NRL Integrity Unit will take against him.
I suspect we won’t see him play for the rest of the season.
But taking into account his immense talent, there will probably be NRL clubs considering offering him a contract. Otherwise, the English Super League has always been willing to take troublesome players, such as Todd Carney.
Alternatively, we could see a code-switch, one of the easier ways to escape the media scrutiny of NRL journalists, Karmichael Hunt can attest to this, and given he’s born in Brisbane, Norman could be eligible to play for the Wallabies if he pursued union.
But what about Parra?
Sadly, things may get worse before they get better.
Few would back them to win their remaining eight games to make the finals. The only saving grace would be if Jarryd Hayne returned as the prodigal son of Pirtek and tried to rebuild the club.
It is not yet clear how serious a Hayne return could be. He is a superstar in his own right, so to come back to the NRL would take serious sums.
Nonetheless it’s worth it, if it can be done.
In terms of the administration, how about appointing directors who can be trusted to serve the loyal fans, like George and the thousands of others like him?
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