SPOILED B Y A FEW
jonathon. tuxworth@ news. com. au @ bulletin_ sport FORGET ‘ Super Saturday’, last weekend was ground zero for rugby league. And for those living up north in particular. As Homer Simpson would say, I was gearing up for a “lazy Saturday” when a tidal wave of drama, even for rugby league, came crashing down. First a Canberra court was told Kiwi pair Jesse Bromwich and Kevin Proctor had taken cocaine in the aftermath of their Test match loss to Canberra the night before. Neither player has been charged. Next it was Sharks chairman Damian Keogh allegedly caught with a bag of cocaine, just months after tearing up star fullback Ben Barba’s contract for the exact same offence. The icing on the cake was applied when news rolled through Cowboys talisman Johnathan Thurston had suffered a shoulder injury during the Test, which could sideline him for game one of his swan song State of Origin series. If you believe the Western Bulldogs banner for their clash at Manuka against the Giants, there’s not much to do in Canberra on a Friday night. Jesse Bromwich and Kevin Proctor only required a week to prove their AFL cousins wrong after playing for the Kiwis in the capital.
I spent six years in Canberra. I can understand why famous footballers, used to the glitz and glamour of Melbourne and the Gold Coast, might feel the need for some pharmaceutical help to jazz up a night at Mooseheads.
But the drama couldn’t have come at a worse possible time.
Cowboys players John Asiata and Antonio Winterstein this week spoke of their immense pride in getting another chance to represent their beloved Samoa during representative round.
What a shame that was overshadowed by the negative headlines. While we should have been celebrating the beauty of sport’s ability to bring different cultures and values together as one, we were lamenting league’s renowned talent of ripping itself apart.
What a shame this week’s indigenous round, where players have the important responsibility of being role models for indigenous communities, weren’t given the full spotlight the initiative deserved.
In my opinion it was the right call for Kiwis coach David Kidwell to ban Bromwich and Proctor from World Cup selection.
Representing your country is a privilege, not a right, regardless of your standing in the game. Had they been allowed to play, it would send a message to impressionable youngsters they can break the law, and still have the biggest honour the game has bestowed upon them.
It would teach them that there’s a different set of rules for some, as long as they’re good at sport.
Players choose cocaine over alcohol when they’re partying for two reasons – they recover far more quickly and don’t gain weight, and it doesn’t register on NRL testing who only test for performance enhancing substances.
As far as the scandal- o- meter is concerned cocaine use is lower on the scale than performanceenhancing drugs, match- fixing or domestic abuse, all of which have unfortunately reared their ugly head in the NRL in various stages.
To dismiss those issues as simply “a reflection society, not rugby league”, is a cop- out.
The Joe Blogg on the street who may like to snort a line or two on the weekend doesn’t have a duty to present a good image to club sponsors, to ensure they get bang for their buck and to set a good example for kids.
Already Infinity Group Australia has pulled out of their sponsorship deals with the Roosters and Sharks after the drug dramas at those clubs last week.
Most rugby league players use their profiles to give back plenty to community organisations and charities.
But it’s an unfortunate fact of life that it only takes a couple of bad eggs to spoil it for the rest.
The players are at loggerheads with the Rugby League Players Association for a bigger slice of the pie when the new TV deal begins.
The product on the field has never been better. The 1 per cent of those who ruin it for everyone else need to lift their game if they want the rewards to follow.