NRL players don't have to be squeaky clean but Warriors taking gambles with ill-disciplined recruits

There wouldn’t be many companies that have a roster full of squeaky-clean staff. Workers who have red marks against their name but are fabulous at their job.

The site foreman who is known for dabbling in substances on the weekend. The office manager who has lost her licence more than once thanks to the drink.

There’s also the brilliant business manager who got mixed up with the wrong crowd back in the day and has some criminal charges in his file.

But they are all still working. It may be at the same place that their indiscretions were discovered or somewhere new that offered them a fresh start. Not all places would keep them on, and not all places would welcome them with open arms – but some do.

When clubs sign a player, how much of what they are known for off the field is overridden by what they do on the field? Or how much of what they do wrong on the field is cancelled out by what they do right?

Does the image of a player matter? Does the history of a player matter? Should talent override anything else?
Or should it be viewed just as importantly – or even more so – than skill?

The Warriors’ decision to sign Knights forward Mitch Barnett got me thinking about this topic.

While Barnett is a solid back-rower and is not really known for any off-field drama, he comes to the Warriors as a highly penalised player, he is currently suspended for his elbow-to-the-jaw brain snap on of Penrith forward Chris Smith.

(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

He was also accused by Tyrone Peachey in a game against the Titans a couple of years ago of using a racial slur. Barnett later admitted to dropping the c-bomb on Peachey but denied using the racial epithet.

Barnett’s signing adds to the list of Warriors recruits with… um… interesting resumes.

Matt Lodge had his very publicised violent incident in New York, and Dylan Walker has been charged with assault and domestic violence. Then we have Addin Fonua-Blake who was charged with assault when he was younger and was also suspended in 2020 for calling referee Grant Atkins a ‘f…ing retard’ when he was playing for Manly.

All three are talented players who are making a big impact on the field. Is that all that should matter?

Jack de Belin was apparently quite close to signing with the Warriors, but he eventually decided to stay with the Dragons. De Belin was charged with sexual assault of a 19-year-old woman and aggravated sexual assault in company along with his friend Callan Sinclair. Both were eventually cleared, and De Belin always claimed that the sexual encounter was consensual.

Jack de Belin (Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)

What a relief that must have been to his pregnant partner that it was consensual and he claimed he only cheated on her.

The Warriors aren’t the only club that have bought players that came with baggage.

Api Koroisau snuck a woman – who was not his partner – into the Blues’ Camp Covid bubble during Origin last year. So not only did he step outside the lines of his relationship, but he could have put the whole Origin series in jeopardy. He has since been signed on by the Wests Tigers from next season.

Head chef of BBQ-Gate Paul Vaughan was sacked by the Dragons after his involvement in the Covid breach held at his house, only to be picked up by Trent Barrett and the Bulldogs.

And Todd Carney’s destructive relationship with alcohol saw him wear a multitude of jerseys over his rugby league career.

We all roll our eyes when one of the ‘bad boys’ of the game is sacked by his club only to be signed by a new one. I always feel sorry for the club that’s hands were tied and had to let their talented player go, only for them to move on and have another club reap the benefits. Then we hear the whispers ‘of course they signed him, his ability outweighs his faults’.

But, because you have stuffed up, does that mean you should automatically be blacklisted for eternity? Does the level of severity make the difference? If you were found innocent does that mean you can move on without judgement? What if you have served your punishment, are you free to start again?

Do players – like in normal society – deservedly get a second chance? At the end of the day, they are paid to play footy – is their ability all that should matter?

Or should the clubs – and the NRL as a whole – be taking a really hard look at what their signings, their blind eyes and their levels of forgiveness are really saying to their fans?

It will be interesting to see how the Warriors’ recruitment drive pans out over the next couple of years. NRL players don’t need to be choirboys but they need to have discipline to succeed.

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