GOLDEN POINT
THE STATE OF PLAY ...
THUMBS UP
Titans godfather Paul Broughton’s call for a code of ethics to be introduced at the club is a great idea and one that should be looked at by all professional sporting organisations. Broughton is right when he says the NRL’s code of conduct provides only a set of rules and punishments that will follow for breaking those guidelines. But players need somehow to think about the ramifications of their actions and mere punishments are not the answer. It is only when these young men – and as Broughton points out, women, as women’s sport takes further steps into the professional realm – deeply consider what it means to represent a club and community, that off-field incidents will decline. It certainly will not rub them out altogether, however, it’s a starting point, and a good one for all organisations to consider.
THUMBS DOWN
Footballers behaving badly have taken the spotlight away from some of the more deserving actions of our sportspeople over the past fortnight but they should not go unnoticed. Australia’s clean sweep of Slovakia to return to the Davis Cup world group was a stirring effort by players including Bernard Tomic and Nick Kyrgios, who all too often are in the headlines for the wrong reasons. Here’s hoping the pair can continue to clean up their acts and continue to make news for the way they play, rather than what they say on and off the court. Lleyton Hewitt’s team takes on the Czech Republic in the opening round next February and if Tomic and Kyrgios can bring their best game Australia can reclaim its place as a Davis Cup heavyweight.
LAST WORD
The Titans picked up more than just a couple of handy players when they signed Jarryd Hayne and Nathan Peats this season. Extra fans and the media spotlight followed – and the club also gained a major social media boost. Stats collated by Ogilvy public relations show Hayne was the NRL’s “player of the year” when it came to social media presence, dominating the conversation on Twitter throughout the season as well as having the most followers (213,000) and the most retweeted post with his Muhammad Ali tribute. Nathan Peats (22,000 follower) was deemed second overall with his pithy tweets a hit with fans across the code.