This afternoon the Dragons will name their side to play Manly on Friday, with a distinct possibility they will field a near full-strength team.
At this stage, it appears they will only be unable to play Zac Lomax and Daniel Alvaro, with the former having missed the club’s last game anyway, against the Warriors.
Since that golden-point victory over the Kiwi club, the Red V have been turned upside down due to the sheer stupidity of 13 of their players.
We don’t need a rehash of everything that has transpired since the ‘Dirty Dozen’ got together for beers at Paul Vaughan’s place.
But does it not seem completely nuts that after they put the entire competition at risk, to say nothing of the goodwill they torched in the broader community, Anthony Griffin could name a full-strength side in his team’s very next game?
And the only thing that is stopping him from having Lomax and Alvaro in the side is the pair’s refusal to sign a piece of paper that states there was no one from outside the club’s bubble at Vaughan’s BBQ.
It’s mind-boggling how hard the NRL has worked to make this as easy as possible for St George Illawarra.
The Monday after the party came to light, the NRL were made to look big and scary as they put out a media release with the headline: “St George Illawarra Dragons players fined $305,000 and given match suspensions”.
It sounds massive. But the reality was the club getting whacked with a lettuce leaf.
Of the $305,000, 100 grand came out of the pockets of serial offenders Paul Vaughan and Corey Norman, so the average fine was really a bit more than 18K apiece.
It’s not nothing, but it’s less than, say, Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr got a year ago, when they were the first-ever players to be fined for breaching Covid protocols.
As for the 20 weeks’ worth of suspensions, eight of them went Vaughan’s way so the reality is each player missing one week.
Yet in the media release, the NRL allege “that a number of players gave or were involved in giving misleading information about the event during the NRL’s investigation into the breaches and that some of the players conspired to withhold key information from the NRL.”
So a bunch of guys who were being investigated for breaking the law also lied to the NRL? Sounds an awful lot like what Nathan Cleary did last year, which saw him fined $30,000 and handed a two-match suspension.
Of course, the reality was that the Dragons players would end up missing two games since all players would have to self-isolate for 14 days because they breached the bubble.
But no, the NRL decided that they would allow the players to return to the club bubble as long as they all signed a statutory declaration saying that there was no one else from outside the bubble at Vaughan’s party – and it was to be one-in, all-in, if so much as one person didn’t sign the statement, they would all be out.
Except the players didn’t want to sign stat decs. So that part was changed and instead they’ve signed a non-legally binding piece of paper.
Guys who were thought to have lied and misled an investigation were told to sign a piece of paper that has no legal weight and we’re trusting them?
Then Lomax and Alvaro refused to even sign the piece of bog roll, at which point it was apparently decided that the one-in, all-in idea was a bit much so the ten who did sign the nothing statement have been permitted back in the bubble.
How about their statement doesn’t mean anything? It’s been acknowledged Paul Vaughan’s wife was at the party and she’s not in the bubble.
Basically, here’s the sworn statement:
I, a person who previously lied about the events that took place at Paul Vaughan’s place, swear that no one from outside the bubble was also at the party, except that one person who isn’t in the bubble, and you can trust I’m telling the truth because this statement is not legally binding.
Go f**k yourself, hahahahaha!
Dragons Player X
The kicker, as Nathan Brown pointed out on the weekend, is that people who have innocently broken the bubble such as Euan Aitken and Josh Curran get the two-week self-isolation.
“I don’t get how you do the right thing and you get two weeks, do the wrong thing you get one. It doesn’t add up to me,” the Warriors coach said.
It doesn’t add up to me either, Browny.
The Dragons players should have got fines that averaged far more, because that’s what Latrell and the Foxx got, they should have been given two-week suspensions for lying to the NRL, because that’s what Cleary got, and they should have been in self-isolation for two weeks after bursting the bubble, because that’s what Aitken and Curran got.
Instead, the club will be allowed to massage their squad over the next month, not unlike a team that have already secured the minor premiership and therefore are resting players in dribs and drabs ahead of the finals.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
And, again, in the game that immediately follows the largest breach of COVID protocols in Australian sport’s (admittedly relatively short) history, the club can technically name almost the exact same team as that which played the day before this all went down.
Of course, it’s doubtful they will – the Sea Eagles game is one St George Illawarra would have probably lost regardless. So if they’re smart, they’ll cop half their medicine this weekend, then take the rest of the licks for their match against Souths (another game they would struggle to win regardless of the circumstances).
Then they can have full-strength sides go toe-to-toe with the Titans and Raiders, and at the end of a month when every side in NSW has been forced to relocate to Queensland because COVID is really making life a bitch, a club that had almost half their first-grade squad wilfully break the law and lie about it could comfortably be sitting in finals contention.
The St George Illawarra Dragons’ season should have effectively been ended. It’s not fair on the club’s supporters and sponsors, to say nothing of the guys who did the right thing, but when 13 of your players make a decision like this, you really have no business featuring in the play-off conversation.
There’s a chance that will be the case anyway, as you have to wonder what squad harmony is going to be like in the wash-up, but it should be a given.
Kilgore Trout
Roar Rookie
That's correct ... The NRL gave them instructions on how the suspensions should be staggered otherwise I am sure The Dragons would have at least considered resting all guilty this week and "throwing" just the one game .
Mick Gold Coast QLD
Roar Guru
“Josh McGuire’s interview” Thank you Phil – I hunted around and found it, comedy squared! :laughing: That fella is 30-ish going on 15 years old, the other is a card carrying member of Dopes-R-Us at 25. As Tony says, utter airheads. They are ever so fortunate rugby league came along – without it, along with de Bell-end and the rest, they would be flat out getting work as an unskilled civil works labourer assistant – couldn’t tell the time on an analogue clock. There is hope for some – I have read that about 20% of current players earn university degrees while playing (RLPA reports).
Mick Gold Coast QLD
Roar Guru
I appreciate your response NickoM. Your points are well made - on the face of it they can sign but qualify their statements; and observers must be suspicious of any refusal or obfuscation by player signatories. These palookas have demonstrated by their instinctive actions when sprung that personal integrity means nothing to them therefore one must assume there is more to this chapter than has been revealed.
MPG
Guest
Re: The club did everything right ...... Because the CLUB chose the PLAYERS for their playing ROSTER.
BustlingBillDunn
Roar Rookie
I too have searched online for details of this "Biosecurity 4 Protocol". I suspect the NRL keep the protocol rules - and breach response steps - secret so they can break them dependent on the situation. Case in point - Jai Arrow. He met with his partner then trained with the entire QLD team the next day, yet he & he alone is quarantined. I guess when there's an origin to save it's okay to break the "protocol" - whatever it is.
Larry1950
Guest
Like the Cronulla supplements ( e.g. drugs) suspensions Christo?
Larry1950
Guest
But they’re your idiots danwain! As a broncos supporter how do you reckon I’ve felt over the past 2 COVID seasons. Fifita plays up in Bali, the club rightly or wrongly throws everything around him to gain a reasonable outcome & the ungrateful brat walks down the road without a thought. Haas gets signed on good money as a kid then gets 4 weeks for failing to cooperate with the integrity unit last season & a few more weeks this season for an alcohol fuelled rant at the cops. They’ve rewarded that behaviour with a ten year contract upgrade offer in response to poaching approaches by other clubs, where’s the gratitude in that? What about a rule where players who get fines & suspensions for off field breaches also get no pay from the club for those games?
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Plenty of iron.
Heyou
Roar Rookie
T-bone or fillet of something I’d say.
Heyou
Roar Rookie
Laws… I keep reading about people breaking lockdown ‘laws’. Restrictions, temporary rules maybe, but surely not laws? Can said ‘laws’ be repealed when the Covid-19 danger is over? How can a law be repealed when it was never made a law? Semantics … yep I know, but it is of some importance to me to get it right. If there is a legal eagle out in ROAR land I would appreciate some help here. “In Australia, laws are made: by politicians in Parliament. by judges making decisions about court cases.” 3 Sept 2020 https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au › ho... “A bill can only become a law if it is passed by a majority vote in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The bill must be agreed to in identical form by both the Senate and House, and given Royal Assent by the Governor-General. ... It may take months or even years for a bill to pass through Parliament.” Please enlighten me if I’ve got it all wrong, but I’m assuming that prison sentences could be a result of breaking the so called laws of lockdown? Since infringements are being handed out by the police… Am I still living in a democracy? Seriously, lock the Dragons dills up for breaking the backyard bbq ‘laws’ Personally I’m flummoxed by the entire situation of lockdown and bubble ‘laws.’ Those silly lost boys who didn’t toe the party line… Tch tch tch Lock em up Sheriff.
The Barry
Roar Guru
You too bud… I like the “covid.iots”… that may get stolen
Tony
Roar Guru
Nor have I defended the Dragons Covid.iots. Have a good day. :happy:
mushi
Roar Guru
I thought the incubation period was 14 days (hence the 14 day quarantine) so testing doesn't rule any of that out.
Tony
Roar Guru
And nor have I defended the Dragons covidiots. Have a good day. :happy:
mushi
Roar Guru
Given the club actually directed them not to do it I think that type of punishment is an over reach. But if they're going to give them flexibility as a club the suspensions should be longer.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Yep… those two court cases also failed to reach a not guilty verdict… nothing to see if you don’t want to You’re right. It was ordinary. But some comfort Bulldogs sacked and suspended players for inappropriate behaviour rather than waiting for the NRL to do it So “nothing to see here” for a player who had six(?) charges laid against and two court cases failed to find him not guilty and you’re bringing up Coffs Harbour from 20 years ago where not one charge was laid… and you think I live in a glass house Look, all teams have players that behave badly. We can probably go tit for tat for another few days if we want to (I don’t). What I will say is that I’ve never defended or tried to justify any of the behaviour in Coffs Harbour, the school visit, the salary cap, the Bulldogs COVID breach because of the colour of the player’s jersey…
souvalis
Roar Rookie
You wanted to know who lied. The Dragons singled out Vaughan by name.. paragraph 2 right there Then, ' certain individuals did not immediately acknowledge their attendance at the event in question.' Simply put, they said they weren't there..l..i..e.. Thems all the facts you need regarding your first question. Really don't know how clearer your own club can get your comprehension on this.
Paul
Roar Guru
Yeah why not?
Paul
Roar Guru
Did you read my questions to the author or not? "First of all, tell me who lied? Specifically, which players from the StGI Dragons lied?" No answer from the author, you or anyone else. Second, have you written to the NRL or bothered to find out WHY they applied the penalties they did? In other words, all you critics have zero idea why some players copped larger fines than other, why one match bans were handed out to the majority, yet you're all happy to jump on a bandwagon and say it was wrong. I fail to see how you can do that without ALL the facts.? I guess you're happy to read a piece of righteous indignation and accept what has been written as gospel.
Paul
Roar Guru
Perhaps you need to grow up yourself. The author had an agenda which I disagreed with. I challenged him to provide facts to support his claims and he did not do so. How then can I show respect for a piece of writing better suited to some rubbish tabloid? Your immature response shows you have little or no idea about how to write or read objectively.