Cowboys sack Ben Barba for 'significant' breach of contract

Yeah while I have no sympathy for Barba, I can also see him calling out the double standard if he's banned for life while never being charged for a crime, when Russell Packer, a prove violent offender plays.

Yeah there is video footage and on the surface that would appear clear however as with everything there are extenuating circumstances. Apparently both BB and his wife had been drinking at the casino for 7 hours prior. But aspects of that just raise more questions. I have seen a report where BB's wife has asked for him not to be sacked. Why I have no idea. The CCTV apparently shows BB throwing rocks at his wife. I don't condone any of that behaviour and I agree with the Cowboys decision to terminate his contract simply because he has displayed prior bad behaviour and his contract no doubt stated he had to be totally clean and well behaved. If there are to be any more charges come out of this incident then so be it but I suggest that BB has been sacked because he breached his contract conditions and as far as the Cowboys are concerned that is the end of the matter.

I'm glad they took this stance. Hopefully the NRL continue to crack down on this kind of behaviour.

The clause could just be not to bring the club into disrepute. Nice and broad.

I wasn’t trying to compare nudie runs to wife bashing, just making the point of how standards have changed and how Rapers nudie run would be treated today compared to back in the day. If Raper did it these days there’d be CCTV footage, camera phones and he’d be treated more like Elliott was than as a lovable larrikin as it’s remembered.

Big difference between pi$$ing yourself at the blackjack table and smacking your wife at the blackjack table.

There is a huge difference between a nudie run in a hotel and smacking your wife in a casino. Nudie run while completely unnecessary and immature don’t hurt anybody. Actually didn’t some young Bulldogs player get on top of a bar and get naked at Mad Monday last year??? I’m pretty sure that happened and the press blew it completely out of proportion. Regardless you don’t get naked in public. As for Barba he has certainly done his dash.

Genuine question: How is Barba's track record and the nature of offences worse than Matthew Lodge's? Freely admit to some ignorance but how is Barba (likely to be) banished for life from the NRL when Lodge, who has also attacked women and had more than one strike, allowed a contract? Not picking a side, genuinely curious.

The action by the Cowboys has forced Greenberg s hand. If he didn't he may as well have handed his resignation in. The trouble is the same situation as Walker if the spouse decides not to press charges. This is why the NRL has to draw a line in the sand police charges or not. Looks like the courts are going to be busy and the media are having a field day.

That’s a really good point but the clubs are on a hiding to nothing without the NRL’s support. A club takes a strong stance against a player because they don’t approve of the behaviour but the NRL doesn’t support them by sanctioning the player because there was no conviction recorded. An opponent swoops in and picks the player up at a discount rate. There’s a double disincentive for a club to make a stand. Weaken themself and strengthen an opponent. So I agree in principle but the clubs need the NRL’s support.

That’s an interesting point. Maybe the number of incidents is the same but with technology the likelihood of getting caught has increased. Even if that’s the case the end result is a worse problem. Johnny Raper’s nude bowler hat run through a UK hotel in the 60s is rugby league folklore and regarded as quintessential larrikin behaviour but can you imagine if that happened these days...? Technology has changed but probably more importantly attitudes and standards have changed regarding violence against women. The game needs to move with it and reflect the changing attitudes in society. It’s happened with punching, shoulder charges and concussions but it feels to me the game is dragging its heels with regards to violence against women. Really interesting point about Barba and his history. I think the fact there’s video footage has made it a pretty easy clear cut decision but I think with his history if there was an allegation of domestic violence he’d have been stood down immediately regardless...and rightly so. Maybe the sacking would have taken a bit longer.

Happy that the club I support has taken immediate action. The Cowboys like other clubs in the past have tried to hide or denied bad behaviour. Ben Barba has obviously zero self control or respect and I’m glad in away this has happened before the season started.

The Cows.

It’s time for clubs to get on the front foot themselves,don’t wait for the NRL,like the Knights have done with J.Saf. and now the Cows here to disqualify players internally.. Inaction by clubs for poor player conduct has to be damaging their brand value to sponsors and investors..

Serioulsy what an idiot this Barba is! Perfect opportunity to get his life right and buggered it up before he even played one game.

The Cowboys were able to act swiftly because there is obviously clear cut evidence on which to make a decision . This is only an assumption based on them not wanting to sack their star recruit before he had played a game based on " he said , she said ". In the other cases ,where there is no definitive evidence ,the clubs and the NRL have no option other than to let it play out through the courts . Justice is not always simple . That's why lawyers all seem to drive really nice cars . If you want to start handing down extreme punishments , for being stupid , that's another whole can of worms . You would be asking the NRL to implement some new moral code that differs to the one our current legal system has .

It’s actually not that hard. If a player wants to get blind and get in a cab with a teenager they’ve never met at 1.30am that’s fine. You’re an adult. Or pick fights or wee in your face. Whatever. If you get away with it, fine. But if you create or are involved in a situation that beings the game into disrepute then there will be consequences. If you choose to engage in high risk behaviour good luck but you’re rolling the dice every time you do. At the moment there are zero consequences unless there’s a conviction or video footage lands in the NRL’s lap and it shows in the players behaviour and choices.

Fair comment Barry, but I wonder if the problem is getting worse or it’s just more published these days, back in 04 there were no cameras on phones and cctv footage was not as good as it is now. So is the problem getting worse or is it more published these days. Both answers are extremely negative regardless and it seems that Greenberg is going to take a no tolerance stance on this. But again I question if these was a first offensive for Barba would the result be the same???

The game can get serious on the allegations when they stick . Maybe this time some will and they can bring down long bans.

Someones going to have fun defining these non criminal situations players are putting themselves in. Good luck drawing the line.