This morning I just wanted to touch quickly on some comments made by Mal Meninga over the weekend.
Over the weekend it was reported by Danny Weidler that Josh Dugan had slammed Mal for making comments suggesting that Josh Dugan should not have been picked for Origin 2. For those of us who have kept up to date with the media this year, it is clear that the reason Mal made these comments was because of numerous incidents involving Josh Dugan this year. These have included:
- Instagramming from his balcony, drinking a Bacardi breezer flipping the bird while he was meant to be at a team recovery session;
- being caught out with Blake Ferguson, whilst apparently recovering from an injury on the night that the State of Origin Game 2 team was announced; and
- most recently, been caught dry fishing, very late at night on a boat.... parked in the street.
Up to here, I am with Mal. As I have blogged repeatedly, the way the NRL has handled indiscretions in the past means that our current system almost discourages clubs for taking a strong stance in regard to player misbehaviour. Canberra have been the Club that over time have suffered the most. Following their working with and support of players like Todd Carney and Josh Dugan, both extremely talented players, there came a point where the Club had had enough and took strong action, sacking both these players. Unfortunately for the Raiders, both these players were signed by other Clubs quite quickly. Those Clubs essentially benefited from the strong stance that the Raiders took in regard to player behaviour. This disadvantage discourages Clubs from taking a strong stance in the future.
Further, picking Dugan for Origin again seems to be a reward for bad behaviour.
Now is when I can start getting angry at Mal.
When you consider Mal's statements more carefully, it seems that he has only made them to ensure that the Blues are unable to name their best side for Game 3. If Mal was truly serious about player behaviour and picking players who were both role models and sensational players, then Ben Te'o should certainly not be playing. Te'o is currently under police investigation.
So Mal, instead of being a hypocrite, perhaps you should practice what you preach, instead of trying to look like you are trying to take a stand on player behaviour.
What are your thoughts?
Love,
@LadiesWhoLeague
Whilst I am of the view that players should be treated innocent until proven guilty, just look at the Brett Stewart saga, something definitely went down on that night which involved not only Ben Te'o but also Darius Boyd. Whilst we're yet to prove whether it was anything against the law, there was alcohol involved which doesn't make their situation much different to Dugan's, if in fact, Te'o is found to be not guilty. It's a bit of the pot calling the kettle black, Mal!
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