It’s that time of year for NRL – but worse
Bad player behaviour off the field needs heavy-handed treatment
THEY aren’t kidding when they call it the off-season from hell.
Since the close of the 2018 NRL season last October, a spate of rugby league players have been in the spotlight due to repeated episodes of bad – often disgraceful – behaviour.
It has been a never-ending storyline through the summer months of the players being in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
From rape allegations, indecent assault, aggravated sexual assault, common assault and domestic violence — you name it, the NRL’s got it.
We’ve all heard about the atrocious behaviour of footy players in recent days.
But is anyone at NRL head quarters actually formulating a plan to put a stop to it or, at the very least, reduce the amount of incidents in the future?
At a club level, the Newcastle Knights recently introduced tough new financial penalties in a bid to curb undesirable off-field behaviour.
Just before Christmas, Knights prop Jacob Saifiti was slammed with a $50,000 fine (50 per cent suspended) for an incident outside a Hamilton hotel in December.
The fine was the equivalent to 25 per cent of Saifiti’s salary.
This hard-line stance is what the NRL needs and has needed for many years.
Rugby league fans would agree that enough was enough What do you think of this? @rowansparkes Tell us what you think a long time ago – the “off-season from hell” quip is nothing new.
But, despite this, the Rugby League Players Association doesn’t see the Knights’ “sledgehammer” approach, as they call it, solving the problem.
RLPA boss Ian Prendergast said there were concerns about players being fined 25 per cent of their contract and that other things could be done that would have a more meaningful impact.
I don’t know about that – fine Saifiti the full amount and see if he plays up again in his career.
I have no issue with the action taken by the Knights, and I’m sure most rugby league fans would share the same sentiment.
Dishing out hefty fines teaches players that there are rather severe consequences for their terrible actions.
If the players can’t understand why they’re being fined so much, maybe they should chip in for the sponsorship revenue the club loses every time they screw up.
Earning that amount of money to play a game is a privilege – act right or lose the privilege.