NRL players union vs Newcastle 'sledgehammer' fines

Your last sentence hits the nail on the head. Players bad behaviour impacts not just their own club but every club in the competition. Players should be sacked by clubs and repeat offenders should be suspended by the NRL or even deregistered. That would stop them just going to another club. We also need to close the Superleague bolt hole for bad boy players as well. A simple agreement between the two comps is all that is needed.

I remember an incident at work once when a colleague sent an email containing a disgusting image with one of the company's products in it. He accidentally sent it to a customer who was not very pleased and cancelled an order. The fear was that the customer might send the email to the press and potentially cost the firm hundreds of thousands in lost sales. That employee was fired losing him 100% of his salary. He took the firm to court for wrongful dismissal and lost. Given a similar potential impact on the panthers and the game, maybe the Panthers are being too soft.

PHIL GARDNER IS A BRILLIANT ADMINISTRATOR LOOK AT THE SUCCESS OF WESTS GROUP UNDER HIS LEADERSHIP HE IS VERY FAIRMINDED & TRUSTWORTHY HE WANTS THE KNIGHTS TO RISE IN EVERYTHING STARTING WITH CONDUCT GOOD ON YA PHIL

Really? Are viewers and attendances going down because of off field behaviour?

Phil Gardner is between a rock and a hard place. His employer, the Wests Group have poured high resources into the Knights to keep the club viable and do Newcastle proud. No company wants to see their brand soiled by the stupidity of individuals and probably feel the need to penalise anyone who engages in acts of misbehaviour. Gardner's direction of the club will determine whether it floats or sinks and being the astute businessman that he is I have no doubt he will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure the long term viability of the Knights. In a previous era in the Knights history there were a few individuals who thought they were a special breed in the Newcastle area which did cause the Knights management a headache or two trying to contain their star players. Because of the Knights' impact on the district some incidents were swept under the carpet. Phil Gardner is old enough and wise enough to remember the past history and appears to want to ensure the same does not happen again. Sponsorship dollars are vitally important to any club and no sponsor would want their company name associated with a poorly led club.

If they fine Ponga a quarter of a million big ones if he feels he has done nothing wrong and just a victim of circumstances then he won't hang around I'd say. Alternatively if the players support Saffiti in this matter the club has a problem also.

But the game is under attack consistently by outside forces for commercial & social satisfaction. Whether that is fair or not, it is going to continue. TV Contracts finance the game and players standards of living. Contracts are negotiated on the game's popularity and the advertising dollars to be made there. So if Clubs & players continue to shoot themselves in the feet, and reduce their game's popularity and therefore its financial viability into the future, they have nobody to blame but themselves.

The problem with the stand taken by Phil Gardner is, the Knights have dawn the proverbial line in the sand and there can be NO exceptions. Gardner has apparently told everyone what constitutes poor behavior - well everyone except the fans. My other concern is his comment that society has moved on? Based on what? Hysterical press reports designed to sell newspapers or rational research with a groups of people to find out exactly where society stands on a range of behaviours. The Players Union should rightly be concerned, not about the approach but the BASIS for the approach. I look at the mob hysteria that was whipped up in cricket, following the ball tampering incident in SA and the subsequent penalties for the players. Much of this came from the media who really had a field day and with assaults being such a hot issue, they'll jump on ANY incident, regardless how small, simply to make money, but it could end up costing a player because guys like Gardner have decided on an approach and that's the way it's going to be. I applaud a strong approach to sorting out player behavior but suggest the Knights might have created a rod for their own backs, especially because we don't know what the players have been told. If an incident occurs, the media jumps on it but Gardner does nothing for very good reasons, where does that leave the Knights, especially if it involves a high profile player?

If he doesn't like the fine he can always go elsewhere. Its not as though he's one of the top front rowers going around. Some of these young guys are going to learn the hard way.

Just like the refereeing debacles it will be the inconsistencies of applying these rules that cause the most damage to the game. Certain players will cop it in the neck whilst others will continue to be protected species.

Sure make it fair. But if anyone is found guilty in court the NRL and clubs have got to come down like a ton of bricks. If they don't there won't be a game to worry about pretty soon the way these blokes are going.

Kaylan Ponga emerges from a pub at midnight some time in the future after a fair few drinks to hail a taxi. He gets heckled by a few cretins who approach him and one takes a swing. His defensive punch to the head leaves this cretin in a bad way yet the police clear Ponga as they did Saffiti. Good luck resigning Ponga in the future if he feels the quarter of a million dollar fine is unfair which it could well be. The CEO is rightly upset at the bad publicity but does that give him the right to unfairly fine someone? Without knowing all the facts in the Saffiti case I wouldn't be surprised if the fine doesn't stick if appealed. I'm all for meaningful punishment particularly if it is a deterrent but they have to be fair as well.

I agree 100% with the Knights. It was only a short time ago the players through the RLPA held the game to ransom for their 29% of revenue demand. They threatened to go on strike or boycott official NRL functions. They said they wanted to be partners in the game and work with the NRL to take it forward. They got their money. Remember Jimmy Moloney saying 'without the players there is no game'? I'll give Jimmy a tip, the way things are going there will be no game because of the players!!!!!! The biggest existential threat the game has is the current behaviour of our players. I know the offenders are in a minority but compare them to other sporting codes. Where have the recent atrocities been for Rugby players or AFL or Aleague?? Our blokes are worlds worst!!! These players are making the game impossible to defend even by hard core fans. The cost in lost sponsorships must be in the tens of millions. How many mothers and families will let their kids play a game tainted by such disgusting indefensible behaviour? I applaud the Knights!! And if the NRL don't come down with multiple life bans, career ending suspensions and massive fines RL will be confined to the dust bin of history by a playing group destroying the code as 'partners in the game'.

It's time for the NRL Players Association to enter the real world, if it purports to be acting in the players' best interest. The whole code, the Clubs & players, will be facing serious financial pressures in a few years time , when the new TV contract ( which basically funds the game) comes up for renewal . With the media landscape increasingly being divided up amongst all sorts of free to air & pay TV entertainment channels, the next NRL TV contract is expected to significantly drop in value, putting great pressure on Clubs , Salary caps and ultimately player remuneration and even employment slots. Outside of this looming financial issue the game also has to deal with the saturation of "virtue signalling" attacks via MSM & Social media, where any name associated with the game is under constant 24/7 scrutiny of being captured for media headlining for commercial or social satisfaction. The players are targets to throw mud at, and as we know a lot of mud sticks onto the game. So the NRL Players Association, if it is to act in the best interests of the players, needs to get on board with those Clubs and interested parties trying to keep the game's image worthy of future financial support. The Players Association successfully screwed down 29 % of the revenue from the last TV contract. That percentage will be rapidly depreciating in value at present and the players need to understand that their "gift horse" is severely under the whip coming to the turn, and any added weight of media controversy , will see the game suffer and the players standards & futures in jeopardy.

I APPLAUD OUR beloved Newcastle Knights boss Phil Gardner the players need to know the impoertance of acceptable behaviour.

Agree . I would add the practical component. What is the point of fining these players $5,000 here and $5,000 there if the net result to the business is the loss of a $300,000 sponsor? They need to recoup some of what these actions are costing them. As for Pendergast. He says fine are not the answer, but doesn't actually offer a solution. … And editors: We are accepting F bombs in our writing now?

It's zero tolerance..cant be any clearer. The same player was in front of the board less than 12 months ago for misconduct. Fans should revolt if marquis players are given (I have complete faith that they wont) preferentials. The NRL ought to be supporting clubs who sack players for misconduct by not allowing them to be picked up immediately by preying clubs..anywhere.

This is true but I'm probably on the side of the author. In private enterprise, if you bring the company into disrepute by doing something as dumb while being a public figure/face of the company you are not fined but sacked. Then you have to explain to the next employers why you were sacked. Agree the fine is excessive to the average Joe but I'd sooner take 75% of my salary and a stern lesson rather than 0% and in the dole line. Hopefully the next bloke considers this as well. As for the union, that's just what they do. Like a criminal lawyer: right, wrong or otherwise tey are paid to represent the players best interests. Take it with a grain of salt as I'm sure the Knights are.

I understand the sentiment, but I think you have to keep things within reason. There's not too many careers where you could forfit up to a quarter of a million bucks or more for playing up outside of work hours. People always want to enforce discipline until someone actually gets punished, remember how people were saying that pierce getting fined $75k was way over the top? Will Knights fans (or any fans for that matter) still support this if it drives a promising player out the door?