**Official** NRL 2009 Thread

[James90]

Managed to catch the highlights of Titans/Knights this morning. Lol'n at Prince/Cartwright's outburst about the Zillman non-try. Nah Scotty, you only had the bloke in a headlock, nothing wrong there

The Lyon try was valid though...ball was already past the defender...if Lyon didn't get a touch on it then it probably would have gone out over the sideline so he was ensuring he caught it even if he may not have had the intention of grabbing it cleanly first go. In the other one Hayne intentionally nudged the ball past the defender.

 

[Burgey]

I'm interested no one has posted on here yet about Four Corners last night.

Thoughts?

 

[Johnners]

Seeing as there were never any charges laid, it's pretty disgraceful that the woman can come out and tell her story etc. shame/name the players, yet remain completely anonymous.

I didn't watch btw, so that could be completely irrelevant/wrong after last nights program?

 

[Burgey]

Seeing as there were never any charges laid, it's pretty disgraceful that the woman can come out and tell her story etc. shame/name the players, yet remain completely anonymous.

I didn't watch btw, so that could be completely irrelevant/wrong after last nights program?

The program made it clear there were no allegations of ***ual assault arising from the NZ incident, which was only one of several issues discussed on the show. What was made clear, however, was that whether or not the acts were consensual, that girl is a complete mess over what happened.

They also discussed the Tilse issue, the Stewart matter (briefly) and the 2004 Canterbury Coffs Harbour episode, together with the education program in place for young players (some very awkward moments there tbh). Interesting was Roy Masters indicating group *** has been seen for years as an acceptable team bonding exercise int eh game, up until the Bulldogs fiasco in 2004.

 

[howardj]

For people to blow up at what Johns did, and to demand his sacking etc, is to trivialise real incidents of ***ual assault - at no stage did she say it was not consensual. I think it's outrageous the free kick this woman has been given by the press over the last few days.

 

[Blewy]

I agree 100%...

What also annoys me and is very rarely recognised is the amount of woman who are out their looking for these type of group acts with players. That tramp that was on the show last night who acts as a link between players and girls looking to hookup with players shows that its far from all being the players fault, yet never is the girl faced with any of the blame for putting herself into the position.

That tart was also on 2day FM in sydney a few weeks back telling her story and seriously she is the biggest trashbag that ive ever seen..

 

[Simon]

Agree with Goffy, group *** may be considered Taboo by society in the main but its certainly not illegal if it is consensual. No doubting this woman is in a mess over what happened, but she made that choice now she has to live with it, we've all done things we have regretted, particualy when on the sauce but we aren't going to television networks to make a few quid or ruin other peoples lives.

 

[Burgey]

Isn't the issue more about the culture within the game and how it treats women in general, rather than this one incident? It was interesting to hear about the reluctance of the women to come forward because of the treatment they'd get from the public. I think this ties in pretty well with the reaction of fans to the Stewart issue - putting signs up saying they love him and they support him, calling the woman a slut - they don't even know what happened yet, but what we do know is she was having a smoke outside her house, not stalking him at a nightclub.

If you get a chance, check out the Knights Under 20s player's repsonse about "It depends how you treat 'em afterwards" - cringeworthy stuff but tough on a 19 year old kid to be put on the spot there.

Personally, I think it's a real problem. Blokes behaving badly is no new thing and isn't quarantined to the NRL though. Thing is, instead of playing up once per year on a weekend away, these young blokes are always in the team/ club/ footy environment. They live in a fish bowl where they don't think anything can happen to them. School's out kids. It can.

 

[Ausage]

So what has the average footy player learned this week?

• *** while being watched by your mates is wrong, but it's ok to splash the details to the media seven years later so that the whole country can get their titillation.
• Consensual group *** is not ok, but threatening to kill someone while on television is fine.
• You are completely responsible for the future mental health of any woman you have a one night stand with.
• If you get caught having a few drinks you're letting your mates, fans, club and entire industry down, while Karl Stefanovic's misdemeanors are his alone.
• You can be convicted by the media and public, while the rest of us get the luxury of innocent until proven guilty.
• Throwing a boozy pre-season function is not ok, but hosting a boozy Logies party is completely fine.

Any questions?

There's been some pretty low acts by footy players (Dane Tilse sounds lucky not to be up on an assault charge tbh) but if they're not doing anything illegal, they should be left the hell alone. As a society we need to stop using the personal lives of these players for our personal enjoyment.

 

[Johnners]

Isn't the issue more about the culture within the game and how it treats women in general, rather than this one incident? It was interesting to hear about the reluctance of the women to come forward because of the treatment they'd get from the public. I think this ties in pretty well with the reaction of fans to the Stewart issue - putting signs up saying they love him and they support him, calling the woman a slut - they don't even know what happened yet, but what we do know is she was having a smoke outside her house, not stalking him at a nightclub.

If you get a chance, check out the Knights Under 20s player's repsonse about "It depends how you treat 'em afterwards" - cringeworthy stuff but tough on a 19 year old kid to be put on the spot there.

Personally, I think it's a real problem. Blokes behaving badly is no new thing and isn't quarantined to the NRL though. Thing is, instead of playing up once per year on a weekend away, these young blokes are always in the team/ club/ footy environment. They live in a fish bowl where they don't think anything can happen to them. School's out kids. It can.

Well said

The other question around the whole issue, is that is this a poor reflection of society as a whole, or is it limited to the NRL/Professional footballers (all codes)? IMO there is certainly an element of truth in the former.

 

[Johnners]

So what has the average footy player learned this week?

• *** while being watched by your mates is wrong, but it's ok to splash the details to the media seven years later so that the whole country can get their titillation.
• Consensual group *** is not ok, but threatening to kill someone while on television is fine.
• You are completely responsible for the future mental health of any woman you have a one night stand with.
• If you get caught having a few drinks you're letting your mates, fans, club and entire industry down, while Karl Stefanovic's misdemeanors are his alone.
• You can be convicted by the media and public, while the rest of us get the luxury of innocent until proven guilty.
• Throwing a boozy pre-season function is not ok, but hosting a boozy Logies party is completely fine.

Any questions?

There's been some pretty low acts by footy players (Dane Tilse sounds lucky not to be up on an assault charge tbh) but if they're not doing anything illegal, they should be left the hell alone. As a society we need to stop using the personal lives of these players for our personal enjoyment.

Also well said

 

[Ausage]

Isn't the issue more about the culture within the game and how it treats women in general, rather than this one incident? It was interesting to hear about the reluctance of the women to come forward because of the treatment they'd get from the public. I think this ties in pretty well with the reaction of fans to the Stewart issue - putting signs up saying they love him and they support him, calling the woman a slut - they don't even know what happened yet, but what we do know is she was having a smoke outside her house, not stalking him at a nightclub.

I have a bit of a problem with the bold. I get what you're saying, but group statements like that (which I hear everywhere tbh, not harping on you here Burgey) at once diminish the responsibility of the individual, and dole out this form of collective punishment against the honest, hardworking footballers that don't deserve that stigma. "The game" might need to do more to educate the players, but it's still individuals committing these acts which is something that the public seems to be forgetting.

I think the reluctance to come forward is starting to diminish somewhat as well. The fact we're getting so many of these incidents in the public domain is evidence of that. I'm sure there were incidents like this 25+ years ago, but I don't remember hearing about them. I hate the banner waving Eagles Angels types that come out and slag these women while a case is before the courts, but likewise the public hawking of a story that is 7 years done and dusted doesn't even seem to warrant a negative thought in the public domain. I rather cynically think it's because the media love the amount of papers it sells.

If someone has committed a criminal offense, they should be punished. Personally I think what we really need to see is a couple of these cases ending in a conviction. This will show the women involved that justice will be done, it will show the public that footy players are capable of committing crimes, and it will show the players that if they don't respect the law they will face the consequences.

Publicly hawking stories of consensual group *** though can **** off quite frankly.

 

[Burgey]

Well said

The other question around the whole issue, is that is this a poor reflection of society as a whole, or is it limited to the NRL/Professional footballers (all codes)? IMO there is certainly an element of truth in the former.

Agreed. It's a microcosm of society imo.

Agree with what Ausage says too, to an extent. The NRL/ AFL/ whichever pro-sport body are, however, perhaps in a better position than a lot of other organisations to educate and do something to maybe limit the damage, by using their own profiles.

Certainbly regurgitating something from 7 years ago aint the answer. But, irrespective of whether it was consensual or not, that girl is plainly damaged, and that's a sad thing.

 

[Burgey]

Away for the rest of the week, so early tips:

Broncos v Titans

Dragons v Bulldogs

Roosters v Knights

Panthers v Sharks

NZ Warriors v Cowboys

Sea Eagles v Eels

Wests Tigers v Rabbitohs

Storm v Raiders

 

[Blewy]

So what has the average footy player learned this week?

• *** while being watched by your mates is wrong, but it's ok to splash the details to the media seven years later so that the whole country can get their titillation.
• Consensual group *** is not ok, but threatening to kill someone while on television is fine.
• You are completely responsible for the future mental health of any woman you have a one night stand with.
• If you get caught having a few drinks you're letting your mates, fans, club and entire industry down, while Karl Stefanovic's misdemeanors are his alone.
• You can be convicted by the media and public, while the rest of us get the luxury of innocent until proven guilty.
• Throwing a boozy pre-season function is not ok, but hosting a boozy Logies party is completely fine.

Any questions?

There's been some pretty low acts by footy players (Dane Tilse sounds lucky not to be up on an assault charge tbh) but if they're not doing anything illegal, they should be left the hell alone. As a society we need to stop using the personal lives of these players for our personal enjoyment.

Absolutley spot on..

These issues are hardly locked into the Rugby League community, in fact anyone who goes to their local will most likely see people trying the same thing...

As i said before im not saying that all rugby league players are angels and in my position in the game i have knowledge of a couple of instances by players where they have done things that really deserve to be rubbed out of the game however saying its a culture in rugby league/afl or whatever sport is totally insulting to everyone involved in the game..

 

[howardj]

Very good discussion this.

I think the NRL/AFL do a hell of a lot more than other professional associations do. Really, all they can do is educate the players, have in place a code of conduct, and in my view they have then discharged their obligations. Having a family who is in the building industry, I can comfortably say that many tradesmen would share a similar attitude to those young players in the NRL education program last night. I don't think you see the HIA (Housing Industry Association) conducting education programs though. I think the NRL and AFL do all they reasonably can be expected to do.

 

[Burgey]

The hypocrisy in all this is amusing, I admit.

This morning I'm at the gym, and as usual they have some appalling FM music station on, "The Edge" or something, with the Cornflake ****ers, or whatever supposedly catchy name they have.

And of course, they're talking about the show, which is fair enough, and there's a female presenter who says it's appalling, which is fair enough as she's entitled to her view, and the guys agree, which they're entitled to do of course.

Then they wrap up the spray and we get "And now her's Flo Rida [or some other hip hop or rap douchebag]with his latest hit "I Love Women with Big **** and Shapely Arses"", or some such ****. The irony was dripping out the stereo.

 

[speirz]

If you get a chance, check out the Knights Under 20s player's repsonse about "It depends how you treat 'em afterwards" - cringeworthy stuff but tough on a 19 year old kid to be put on the spot there.

As a 20 year old from Newcastle, I dare say that'd be close to the response of about half the blokes around here.

 

[Ausage]

Yep, that anecdote illustrates the point perfectly.

How about Big Brother? We watch young 20 somethings fiddling with each other beneath the sheets. The whole country is watching FFS, but no one seems to care. There's big ratings involved, and plenty of money to be made. John Howard even got lambasted as "out of touch" when he labeled the show disgusting.

And don't get me started on some of the filmclips. A semi-naked girl writhing against scantily clad ripped male dancers talking (not singing) about how she wants to take a ride on my disco stick.

Man just re read all that. 26 y/o and I feel like an old codger

 

[Redbacks]

So what has the average footy player learned this week?

• *** while being watched by your mates is wrong, but it's ok to splash the details to the media seven years later so that the whole country can get their titillation.
• Consensual group *** is not ok, but threatening to kill someone while on television is fine.
• You are completely responsible for the future mental health of any woman you have a one night stand with.
• If you get caught having a few drinks you're letting your mates, fans, club and entire industry down, while Karl Stefanovic's misdemeanors are his alone.
• You can be convicted by the media and public, while the rest of us get the luxury of innocent until proven guilty.
• Throwing a boozy pre-season function is not ok, but hosting a boozy Logies party is completely fine.

Any questions?

There's been some pretty low acts by footy players (Dane Tilse sounds lucky not to be up on an assault charge tbh) but if they're not doing anything illegal, they should be left the hell alone. As a society we need to stop using the personal lives of these players for our personal enjoyment.

I saw the story from a completely different view point. The premise was that an investigation took place at the time of the incident so everyone involved at Cronulla would have been well aware that the group *** incident took place, thus the story doesn't rest on concentual/forced *** or the criminality of the act. They wanted to ask the Sharks what action did they take in light of the evidence that: 10+ people came in and out of the room and also that players entered the room through a bathroom window which seems very odd if they were welcome. Evidence suggests the administration didn't do anything...and the current CEO apparently never knew the incident had occured

Thus the code of silence refers to the inhouse cover up of the story, no players fined or sacked etc. and the NRL kept in the dark. So the question could be, how could the behaviour be stopped if the misogynist at the top thought it was a simple case of boys will be boys. They further investigated other incidents and once again we got a sense of moral backrupcy from the clubs and Roy Master's suggesting things only changed because the Bulldogs incident went public.