It may be nit picking, but I would say there is subtle difference between Ennis copying a clap and AFB basically telling the crowd they are cry babies.

Neither of us know if his words were genuine or because he knew pleading innocent and being found guilty meant jail, vs pleading guilty and staying out of jail, so he did it to protect himself. I can live with the position I choose of prove me wrong. Not saying you or anyone else has to, I am not judging anyone else. My choice is to put a line through him until he proves me wrong because I think any man (but in particular a man his size) kicking his partner – Sorry it is a fair way back from there….

A link to an article that outlines his actions and guilt and a bunch of words he said to keep himself out of jail.

One of the things he says is I was caught up in this life of thinking I was better than everyone else when I wasn’t. I hadn’t even played first grade but I carried on as though I had … implying that he thinks first graders are entitled. Implying that he thinks first grade players are better than anyone else and can do what they like – like mistreat women.

So I choose to put a line through him until such time as he give me reason not to. I am sure he doesn’t care, and neither do I.

I realise that what I see on the football field isn’t the entirety of who AFB is, but does he look like a guy that has matured to anyone? Not me.

The year was 2016 and it was the final round;
Robbie Farah – His last opportunity to play for the Tigers but he was left out of the side.
The Wests Tigers were 9th and knew their fate. They needed a win over the Raiders at Leichhardt Oval in their last game of the season to make it into the Finals… win you’re in, lose your out. They promptly not only lost, but got slaughtered 52-10.

Come the final round of 2019 – it is reasonable to assume the Tigers will be sitting 9th, Robbie will be sitting on the scoreboard again and they will be playing their finale at Leichhardt against a Sharks side who in all likelihood will have something to play for. Would it suprise anyone if the enigmatic Sharks turned up to Leichhardt and put 50 on the Tigers?

He says it is ultimately up to the referees to make a call and pointed to the fact that given both players were binned and are now facing suspensions, they did not get away “scot-free”

There is a big difference between playing 10 minutes without a player and playing the last 60 minutes without a player. Especially in a game which was decided by less than a converted try.

How about we make this a rule; If a player strikes another player in the back of the head, while the latter is lying defenceless on the ground, after the play has stopped, and with force.. Why don’t we define that as a send off offence?

You sound like a bit of a romantic Dec 🙂

I think you would find the majority wouldn’t be so kind to Mr Smith. Cameron Smith could help an elderly nun across the street and people would say he was dragging her too fast, but anyone else does it and they are a saint.

Its like Kerrod “Chicken Wing” Holland. Can’t make a tackle without trying to force an arm out of a socket… but anyone in purple does it…

Apparently stating a fact about AFB is not allowed on The Roar?

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/addin-fonuablake-wants-to-prove-hes-a-better-man-than-his-record-20160504-gom4u5.html

Milton is it…? that is apparently my name too..

I just watched the clip on The Roar because I only really saw it in slow motion yesterday.

My view on BJ’s knees. If I were honest, I could make the case that after sprinting 100m, maybe ( I said maybe) he could have lost his feet and fell into Garrick and maybe it was an accident. So intent would be a little harder to prove, none the less, it was dangerous and requires a suspension.
Roberts actions were deliberate – clearly. unquestionably deliberate and targeted the back of the head of a player. Roberts is much, much worse in my opinion. But it is just my opinion.

Good to see you back after a couple of years “Milton”.

Lol – A minor mistake… If you call 5-15 years a minor difference…
If you want to talk about libel , then maybe stop accusing someone of being found guilty of something way more serious than what they were charged with.
I reckon your mate JDB’s lawyers would much rather hear he has been charged with indecent assault as opposed to sexual assault – that might make a significant difference to what plea they put in….

Your straw poll would be right, I don’t argue that. I don’t understand why people think that way. I would rather see Nadal/Djokovic/Federer in a Grand Slam Final than someone from the next tier down, because I want to watch the best of the best play each other, it’s the same with the Football for me. The Raiders, Manly or anyone may beat the Storm or Roosters on any given day, doesn’t make them the better team. I don’t think there is an argument anyone can make that suggests the Storm and Roosters aren’t the two best teams.

Agree with all of that. I had Alvaro pegged as a potential rep forward coming out of juniors and I know props usually take longer to mature (players like Haas are the exception to the rule) but he just hasn’t kicked on.

The Eels are frustrating on so many levels. They just seem to consistantly butcher the pack make up and then when you look at the backline it may sound silly to say given Sivo is one of the top try scorers, but there is no combinaitons working on that side. Indiviaully, Brown could be anything, Sivo can be damaging, Jennings is still a very competent player and should be a smart player, and Lane can run a decent hole. But they don’t gel at all. The nly time that side of the field has any punch is when Gutherson chimes in.

On the right, Moses and Ma’u usually work well together (they were out of sync against the Dogs) and they usually have Ferguson to finish. I don’t know about Blake. has all the god given ability but football smarts… i am not so sure.

I don’t mind this for a read – though it as a touch of the Miramax about how much his actions mean vs how much they would mean to a team in a movie.

Can I pose this;

If Nathan Brown flies in and should charges Jerome Hughes. And while Brown is being spoken to, Cameron Smith walks up and gets in Brown’s face, calls him a bunch of expletives, and then 11 Storm players fly in and crash tackle a single man, standing on his own – is that viewed with the admiration, or are the Storm absolutely trashed and caned by every journo and keyboard warrior alike?

I wouldn’t have condoned the Storm, or any team, charging in like that and for that reason I (personally) think Josh Jackson and Lewis got away with something they shouldn’t have and should have and I’m less impressed than the majority seem to be.

To be clear, you can be found not guilty without a false accusation being made.
Don’t fall into the trap of equating every case to that which Brett Stewart faced…

Yeah – Not sure what the point of the matrix is.

Is it supposed to act as a deterrent? Because surely the criminal punishments in place do this – and if they don’t, then a suspension won’t change that.

Is it supposed to provide consistency in suspensions? It won’t. Because every case will be different and their will be different extenuating circumstances. And in many cases th epublic won’t know all of the important details that are considered in handing down a suspension. So you will end up with differing suspensions and people will continue to be up in arms about favourites and consistency.

Like you say, it should come back to the impact on the game, it’s brand etc..

The only positive I can see (at the moment) is that if it takes the matter out of the clubs hands so we don’t end up with the club that sacks a player and another club scoops him up. But there are surely other ways of doing that.

And they are losing Ma’u. Of all the Eels forwards, he is the one who has actually improved into a genuine internaitonal and they are letting him walk. The rest have all plateaued or gone backwards.

Lol… Yep – beat me to it.

According to this matrix, Scott Bolton would get suspended for 5 games and 3% of his salary in the future. He got suspended for 10 games this year and 5% of his salary.

I can see the Eels going straight out in the first final, regardless of who they play.

They lack a prop. Paulo is good for an offload, but doesn’t get the defence retreating with a tackle bust and a quick play the ball and Evans is Evans. he has got better but he is still a fringe first grader, not a number 8. Then they have Alvaro on the bench, who tries hard and Niokora who they are trying to change into a front rower… All the while Mannah plays at Wenty..

They have tones of creative talent out wide and Ma’u has really developed a ball playing game.

And yet the MRC called it the lesser “dangerous contact” and not striking…. it is clearly striking. One can only deduce that this is so that they could find a charge that would have him back for the semi finals.

Why do we want to the two clubs who are far and away better than everyone else not playing the big game at the end of the year?

Once people take their own team out of the equation, isn’t watching the best play the best what we want to see in any sport?

To clarify, Ponga is contracted with Fox and doesn’t appear on Channel 9 correct?.. Yeah an unsurprising take really…..

So DV is treated the same as a mid-range crusher tackle basically…?!

The edict around sexual assualt, armed robbery etc equating to deregistration is irellevant. If a player is found guilty of these things they will go to jail anyway. If the thought of spending years in jail isn’t a deterent, then not letting them play rugby league is hardly going to change their thought process.

I am all for some clearer punishment guidlines but as The Barry suggests, if they can’t get it right in the smaller parameters of a football field and a game of rugby league, how on earth will they manage the broad specturm of potential issues that can happen in broader society with all the variables that can be presented.

We need to stop saying the bunker. Once again it was Jarrod Maxwell! Three weeks in a row he has made clearly wrong calls..

So Couple of things on the Matt Lodge comparison;
As Barry pointed out;
Lodge – charged in 2015.
Sacked by club shortly after
Found guilty in December 2016
First game with Broncos was 2018

I assume you can see the difference there?

Next – The No Faulty Polciy is for players facing criminal charges that carry min 11 year sentances. Matt Lodge was facing a year (one, singular) in jail, JDB is facing 20….

So “if another Lodge” appeared on the scene, the No Fault policy wouldn’t be considered as it is not a chrage which carries an 11 year sentence.

I look forward to the next irrelevant comparison.

Why would the NRL encourage fisty cuffs when they are well aware of the damage it has caused?

Exactly! Why would the NRL continue to have a player at the centre of a rape case (regardless of innocence/guilt) front and centre on millions of tv screens every week when they know the damage it would cause? You say they don’t know it would cause damage – Didn’t the Bulldogs lose a long term major sponsor after Mad Monday last year? Plenty of people thought the Dogs players were framed in that whole debacle, but didn’t stop a sponsor pulling out.

Same club – the Bulldogs – lost sponsors after Coffs Harbour – Anyone charged in all of that?

As for Alan Jones – “Guilty of foul comments”? Where do I find that legislation? What were the penalties for those crimes? It is your opinion that his comments are foul. He isn’t guilty of any crime… And yet it doesn’t stop sponsors pulling out.

On the flip side, if he goes through the judicial process, is found not guilty, or insufficient evidence or any other outcome that results in him not going to jail and being free to play in the NRL; Do you think any sponsors are pulling out because the NRL didn’t let him play while he was challenging a serious conviction? Of course not.

Still don’t see it do you….

Moses certainly put his immediate future at risk going in the way he did. To me as an instinctive reaction, he didn’t think he was going to get there so he just threw whatever body part he could out to try and save a try. As a team mate or coach, I would appreciate the desperation, but you are right, he took a big risk because if he miscued slightly and got the guy with a knee or his boot got Meaney’s face, he could have been looking at a holiday.

Rabs (the commentator) was the guy I wanted to be as a kid. But the highlight of Rabs night last night was being a smart A.. toward Andrew Johns because Johns got something right (implying it doesn’t usually happen), and then Warren himself promptly getting the teams mixed up in his very next sentence….

😂