Media executive John Hartigan has savaged the NRL for allowing Kieran Foran back into the game, lifting the lid on the troubled footballer's abusive texts and phone call to his late wife Rebecca Wilson.
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"That abuse caused great hurt and pain to my wife in the last days of her life," said Hartigan, who called police following the alleged threats. "It appears the NRL has given him the green light despite his behaviour. If they really have standards, for the sake of having a supposed star in the mix, they've dropped the flag."
Foran's contract with the
Warriors has been registered and he will be allowed to take the field in round three provided he passes a psychological assessment and adheres to a set of strict conditions. had also been a key issue for integrity unit boss Nick Weeksand his team.
Evidently, not so much now with Foran walking back into the game without sanction because it's "what's best for Kieran".
"He sent her a text first and it was just horrible – it was just sickening," Hartigan said. "She didn't get unsettled too often but this left her really distraught. Then he rang and started abusing her again, that's when I pulled the phone off her and I said, 'if you want to threaten someone, threaten me but don't threaten my wife'.
"She felt so distraught that she rang a contact at the police, and then we had two detectives in the house. We wanted him told that under no circumstances can he contact her with that disgusting nature of his threats. They said, 'No, you have to give a statement and press charges'. Bec didn't want to press charges, she just wanted him to be warned off."
Those who knew Bec understood how tough she was. She had her car tyres slashed and received appalling hate mail as she doggedly pursued some of sport's biggest stories. None of it seemed to worry her.
But I vividly recall how rattled she was the day after Foran had called her. She informed NRL boss Todd Greenberg. Foran was still contracted to the Eels, so she also phoned coach Brad Arthur. She was eventually interviewed by the integrity unit's chief investigator, Karyn Murphy, who showed great compassion.
Wilson was one of the first to know about Foran's break-up with partner Rebecca Pope and the dramatic impact it was having on his football career. Foran had contacted her about it and Wilson had agreed not to run the story for the sake of all involved.
In allowing Foran to play, the NRL again shines a light on its own hypocrisy. It slaps Mitchell Pearcewith an eight-match ban and $125,000 suspension for some drunken madness involving a poodle caught on camera, but allows Foran to walk away from Parramatta and then back into a juicy deal with the Warriors.
It makes all the right noises about domestic violence and the abuse of women – but let's this abuse of Wilson just slide. We wonder what its stance would be if Rebecca were here to defend herself.
The NRL was mostly worried about Foran's involvement in the NSW Crime Commission's investigation into alleged match-fixing. By allowing him to play, head office clearly believes its going nowhere and that Foran won't have a case to answer.
Meanwhile, Warriors boss Jim Doyle should stop beating his chest about finally getting his man.
Parramatta are making no comment about the Foran situation, but some are privately seething that he's been allowed to walk back in. They are particularly bemused at Doyle's comments to Fairfax Media that, "I wouldn't have released him".
A quick recap of what actually went down …
Foran had been breached for not attending sessions on his busted shoulder. They were also furious that he was spending time with Hayson in Brisbane, instead of the rehab clinic where he was supposedly dealing with his mental issues.
The Eels wanted him to go away and sort his life out, but Foran was adamant he wanted a release on compassionate grounds so he could take "indefinite leave".
He was given it, didn't have to front the integrity unit on a range of issues including the Wilson incident, and will now miss just two matches of the 2017 season before snapping up a nice, fat contract with the Warriors.
Sounds fair to me ...
