Haas can get back on rails
PAYNE Haas is the latest in a long line of footballers to cause strife off the field, but he certainly won’t be the last.
Two retired NRL stars who had their own troubles, Todd Carney and Craig Gower, have backed Haas’s vow to stop drinking alcohol, and given insight into righting the wrongs.
Carney (pictured) and Gower will feature on the All Stars Fight Night boxing event in Townsville on Friday night.
While this marks a brief return to the sporting limelight, their lives are markedly different to when they were among the most recognisable athletes in the country.
“The days of being in nightclubs and out past a certain hour ... I’ve got a concreting business now. Us boys might go for a beer on Fridays, have a bet on a Saturday, then my fiancee Suzie picks me up at a certain time and I’m home,” Carney said.
“But when you’re young and new in the scene, it’s hard to stay away from the bright lights because it’s there in front of you, and there are limitations and temptations. But only the players can work that out for themselves.” Gower is also in concreting. “Being an ex-player, you miss the adrenaline. You go to work and you don’t have that anymore,” Gower said.
“That’s why I am doing this boxing event (fighting Matt Bowen). You feel alive again, you’re putting your balls on the line, you’ve got people watching. And that’s a big motivation for me because when I first got asked I was 106kg and just cruising through life, so it’s been good for me. I haven’t been this fit since I was playing.”
Gower lost the Penrith captaincy and was fined $100,000 in 2006 following an alcoholfuelled rampage at a golf event, while Carney had several alcohol-related indiscretions that resulted in him being deregistered from the NRL.
So they know exactly the difficulties facing Haas.
“In 2010 I didn’t touch a drop of alcohol (when he won the Dally M). For this fight (against Scott Prince) I haven’t touched alcohol,” Carney said.
“But I still enjoy a beer.”
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