Investment company Infinity Group Australia has withdrawn over $2 million of sponsorship in the last year from Parramatta, the Sharks, and the Roosters.
Last year it was Parramatta cheating on their salary cap, and that’s cost the Eels $1.3 million in Infinity sponsorship.
And yesterday, Infinity pulled the pin on the Sharks to the tune of $700,000, and the Roosters $300,000 over pending cocaine charges.
Who could blame them for opting out after a spokesman said the company doesn’t want to have anything to do with clubs who don’t do the right thing?
Throw in Mal Meninga’s belief that drug users should face a no-tolerance policy and be deregistered from the NRL for their second drugs offence.
Meninga backed up his belief by adding no player found guilty of drug-taking or drug selling will ever wear the green Kangaroo jersey while he’s the coach.
A similar message has been sent by Kiwi coach David Kidwell, with skipper Jesse Bromwich and senior forward Kevin Proctor already barred from New Zealand’s World Cup for later in the year.
Bromwich has also been suspended by the Storm for two matches and relieved of his leadership role.
Proctor will not retain his co-captaincy with the Titans anytime soon, and he’s also been suspended for four games, fined $20,000, and ordered to do 50 hours of community service.
In all fairness, the NRL can’t come down hard on the others at the centre of the scandal unless those charged are found guilty in court.
Three-time Olympic basketballer Damian Keogh has stood down as Sharks chairman until his court case on June 30.
The Roosters have suspended Shaun Kenny-Dowall indefinitely, and the Newcastle Knights look set to put his contract, which is due to start next season, on hold.
If found guilty the NRL Integrity Unit will come down hard, but how hard will be the big question.
The bleeding hearts are already surfacing, saying the NRL has a duty of care.
What utter bollocks.
Keogh is 55, and highly regarded by all those who know him.
Kenny-Dowall is 29, and has played 224 games for the Roosters, and 20 Kiwi Tests.
Bromwich is 28, with 164 games for the Storm, and 23 Tests for New Zealand.
Proctor is also 28, with 179 games for the Storm and eight for the Titans, plus 17 Tests for the Kiwis.
There are no possible valid reasons for all four to be drawn into this scandal.
But one thing is for sure, the NRL has no duty of care for all four in this situation. None whatsoever.
If any official or player wants to play Russian roulette with their careers and lives, the NRL is not obliged to pick up the tab.
The more important question is, why run the risk of wrecking their lives and never being able to match their rugby league income ever again?
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Nanco
Guest
Cathar, the AFL players Assoc agreed to widespread testing based upon a 3 strike rehabilitation program which has got a tick from the AIS. It would be very difficult to throw out a persons entire career if they tested positive and they were set up by a malcontent and were innocent.
Nanco
Guest
True but it probably wasn't intentional on Gallens part as he was part of a club program. Though Cathar will claim the Essendon players are all cheats because they are AFL players.
Nanco
Guest
Funny Fitzsimons wrote a long article on the many concussions suffered by a fellow Manly Rugby stalwart forward which resulted in a before his time death. And had a go at RU about a George Smith concussion in the Lions test. But I guess you write fiction and choose the bits you want to - its the NRL who came out hard against the teams who didn't do the right thing in Round 3 only for another forward to stumble around the next week and be left on the field. Somehow we got onto concussion (Cathar has played a bit too much). On the other hand Infinity and this is a trend with sponsors they get their names on the jersey and the exposure and then use any excuse (before the courts have made any decision) to pull the plug and presumably not have to pay all the money. And they appear to be holier than thou by pulling out so double good exposure.
Nanco
Guest
db
Guest
I apologise for saying he is a convicted drug cheat. You are correct that he is a self-confessed drug cheat as he plead guilty prior to ASADA handing down the same finding.
Justin Kearney
Guest
Check the meaning of the word 'convicted' db or pull your head in.
Justin Kearney
Guest
Peter fitzsimons? Less said the better.
Birdy
Guest
Hit a player in the pocket. If a player does something, drugs or other, which causes a sponsor to withdraw then the players contract should be adjusted accordingly.
M.O.C.
Roar Guru
Good one Infinity Group for making a public statement. It's their money to invest, they specialise in investment and they can see that investing in these clubs in this state of affairs is a bad investment. The NRL, players and staff who are creating a bad image for the game are shooting themselves in the foot by devaluing their own product.
mickyt
Guest
Certain high profile players were known internally to be big users but essentially ringfenced as they were high profile players in NRL and AFL. One caught after his career was over, the other still playing on a massive contract. The police busts were out of their control with Canberra and Keogh. The ones they do catch tend to be B and C grade players to throw a bone to say we are doing a job.....
Elliott Wrigglesworth-Smith
Guest
We have become pathetic as a culture to have such prolific drug use and to have so many people excusing drug use. These aren't guys taking a puff off a joint. These are hard drugs they are using. Nasty drugs sold by bad people. An industry built on blood and misery. These guys have been watching too many movies where hard drugs are glamourised and they're living in a society where drug use is punished with the weakest of slaps on the wrist. Jail drug users. Give 20 year sentences to drug sellers. Capital punishment for traffickers.
Craigo
Guest
Peter Fitzsimons is a joke. I too read what he wrote about the concussion issue as if Rugby Union was a Non-Contact Sports. NFL, AFL, NRL and even Football all have this same problem.
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
I know the AFL policy, the point is, dozens, were caught in AFL tests yet there are AFL & other people in the media indicating the NRL is the one & seemingly only sport that has this issue. Just as someone like Peter Fizsimons has changed the narrative of the concussion issue by only mentioning the NRL & dropping the AFL & union from the discussion. It is crafted media exposure of the NRL which causes sponsors to leave otherwise, as I have pointed out, it is public knowledge for all to see that a sport like AFL has rampant issues (& perhaps just as many 1 strike NRL players are caught, we don't know) & surely sponsors would not be happy that a potential factory line of Ben Cousins are still being made by this failing AFL drug regime too? Sponsors don't care about players & their health issues, they just care about themselves, so pox to the faux outrage.
clipper
Guest
no good posting a link that requires you to subscribe to the paper. The AFL has a 3 strikes policy, the NRL has a 2 strikes policy - if caught in house the names are anonymous, so you should be having a go at the NRL too. These guys were caught out in the open, so quite a different situation.
db
Guest
Why did Meninga make an exception for Paul Gallen, a convicted drug cheat?
Cugel
Roar Rookie
My guess is that is that most of the executives of this company, and most of its employees are also regular drug users - just different ones.
spruce moose
Guest
Hear hear.
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
No, sponsors just prefer the stuff they know exist in all levels of society remain that way. The AFL have 'dozens' who have tested positive for 'illicit' drugs last year, for example, but sponsors haven't come out & said this is a problem please name these players. Whilst they remain incognito, the sponsors will get on with their own hypocritical lives until the media find someone to point their outrage toward. Good level headed article in the SMH today by Andrew Webster, worth a read http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/afl-illicit-drugs-scandal-league-refuses-to-reveal-shame-list/news-story/b295ecd4f47960463a230d754baffd63