Rugby League Players Association (RLPA) boss Clint Newton has called for the Ronald Volkman saga to be a line-in-the-sand moment, adamant contracting processes must be properly followed.
Volkman remains without a deal or certainty around the state of his shoulder surgery, after a one-year offer from St George Illawarra was pulled earlier this month.
Released by the Warriors in late December to head to the Dragons, the playmaker was judged by medical staff in Wollongong to require surgery after scans showed loose screws from a previous shoulder injury.
The situation has prompted a lengthy blame game, with St George Illawarra questioning why their medical report conflicted with a Warriors one that noted shoulder irritation.
In turn, the Kiwi club are adamant that their medical report was accurate, accusing the Dragons of not completing due diligence on prior injuries.
Complicating the matter further is that Volkman’s Dragons medical was completed at club training, while no contract was yet registered with the NRL.
That has led to concerns that Volkman will not be insured for his surgery and he could face a lengthy wait time in the process.
Newton is furious that Volkman took to the field at the Dragons while not registered with the NRL, and has also questioned the gap between his Warriors termination and Dragons contract.
“A player shouldn’t be in a position where a termination occurs and several days go past before a player has a contract registered with the NRL,” Newton said on SEN.
“The process of one player departing a club to join another should be pretty straightforward.
“The player is given permission to talk to other clubs.
“A medical takes place and then your termination occurs pretty quickly before your contract is then registered with the new club.
“Ronald’s case has been completely jumbled up and botched really. And the only person affected in this case is the player.”
Newton wants heavy sanctions handed out to any party found to have committed wrongdoing.
His other fear is this situation is not a one off, and other players are released early and enter new clubs without insurance.
It comes after last year’s protracted collective bargaining agreement negotiations, where the RLPA were adamant uncontracted players should not train with clubs to protect them.
“I wouldn’t have thought this would be required but it seems as though there needs to be further communication in the industry to minimise the chance of this ever happening again,” Newton said.
“When you go to work, you want to know you are properly protected and that those responsible for looking after you will comply with their obligations.
“And if they don’t, they’ll be held accountable.”
Dragons coach Shane Flanagan last week conceded he regretted Volkman doing the medical examination at training.
But he said he had never seen a player fail a medical report in 20 years, and noted that Volkman’s “strength was down about 60 per cent” when he arrived.
Dumbo
Roar Rookie
Gordon, I think Mr Newton is just blowing off steam to keep himself in the eye of the public, the NRL management, and the players that the NRLPA represents. Just sales & marketing in action. Mushi, the player contributed to this by being an idiot and taking to the training field without a contract and thus without any insurance cover.
mushi
Roar Guru
Not sure how the player has contributed here? It's unlikely that he's able to have covered up screws being loose in his shoulder unless he's some kind of Marvel character that can manipulate the x-rays combined with super human pain tolerance to mask it during training. And if he did possess such powers wouldn't he have simply done the same process for the dragons medical and training?
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
You know the old saying: "If a tree falls in the woods and nobody see's it, does it make a sound"..? If an 'RLPA boss' cries foul and nobody listens, did it actually happen?
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
Who exactly does Newton want to blame? It seems to me the Warriors & Dragons hierarchy have played a part, as has Volkmann's manager and the player himself. I agree it's a real mess, but the RLPA might regret demanding heavy sanctions, if it's found the player contributed to the situation, eg by failing to disclose the full extent of his injury and the impact that had on his ability to play in the NRL.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
Part of the issue seems to be the Dragons accepted the medical report from the Warriors that presumably said Volkmann was good to train, etc, but found out later he had a pretty significant medical problem.
Maxtruck
Roar Rookie
Where was Mario Tartak during this contract process? Lunching at Grappa or Doyles, living the highlife off the % he has been pulling out of Volkman since he was at the Roosters. And not mentioned in Newton's "all to late" spray ?
andrew
Roar Rookie
I thought any player who signs with a club has to have a medical before turning up at training. I know it's easy with the benefit of hindsight but Saints shouldn't have let Volkman train until he received a medical clearance.
mushi
Roar Guru
I think they had signed but not registered the contract. Flanagan even is conceding they should have done the medical earlier. The issue should be between Warriors and St George though as to if it was more the warriors were dishonest or the Dragons sloppy (both seem to have played their part).
Nat
Roar Guru
For once i absolutely agree with the RLPA. This player should never have been at the Saints training Iain without a contract. Although his manager should accept some responsibility here as well for getting him out of NZ without a signed contract.
Robbo
Roar Rookie
Hadn't signed him yet - that's what they were doing
Succhi
Roar Rookie
I’m not sure of the correct process here, but I would have thought the Dragons would have checked this guy out well before he turns up at training? Particularly if he is relocating from Auckland?