Marshall faces suspension after assault charge laid
Steve Jancetic
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...after-assault-charge-laid-20110306-1bjla.html
March 7, 2011
THE NRL is facing the prospect of suspending its pin-up boy for the season-opener for the second time in three years after Wests Tigers superstar Benji Marshall was charged with assault.
Marshall will face Downing Centre local court on April 20 to answer a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm following an altercation outside a McDonald's outlet on George Street in Sydney's CBD just after 3am on Saturday.
A 24-year-old male is alleged to have received a split lip as a result of the attack, with Marshall believed to have retaliated to a series of racial taunts.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Marshall, 26, was questioned and charged after he fronted North Sydney Police Station yesterday afternoon, accompanied by Tigers chief executive Stephen Humphreys and chairman David Trodden.
The incident left the NRL in damage control just days out from the season kick-off, with chief executive David Gallop ordering the Tigers to deliver a full report by midday today.
Marshall was last week given the honour of launching the NRL season at a gala event in Sydney's west but, much like Brett Stewart in 2009, the ''face of the game'' is in danger of starting the season on the sideline.
Stewart was suspended for four weeks for breaching the NRL's code of conduct as a result of his drunkenness at Manly's season launch two years ago.
AAP
Marshall charged with assault
Glenn Jackson and Les Kennedy
March 7, 2011
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/marshall-charged-with-assault-20110306-1bjnz.html
In demand ... NRL poster boy Benji Marshall addresses last week's season launch at the Casula Powerhouse arts centre. Photo: Getty Images
THE NRL has demanded a report by midday today from Wests Tigers officials after the club's star Benji Marshall, the face of the game in 2011, was charged with assault.
NRL officials will face pressure to act following Marshall's altercation with a man in the early hours of Saturday morning the altercation and the subsequent charges coming just days after the five-eighth launched the new season. Marshall, 26, who is believed to have engaged the services of Geoff Bellew, SC, to represent him, was interviewed by detectives yesterday before being charged with one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Tigers chief executive Stephen Humphreys said last night some key facts were in dispute.
Marshall's manager, Martin Tauber, had said repeated racial slurs prompted the Kiwi captain to respond.
Advertisement: Story continues below
"When you're baited and racially abused like that not once, not twice, but three times, what else would you do?" Tauber told The Sun-Herald.
The Herald has been told the victim, in his statement, makes no mention of any racial comment, only saying he told Marshall that "Darren Lockyer is a better player".
The Herald was also contacted by a friend of the victim who denied that a racial slur was used. Sources close to Marshall, though, insist that the victim, who received a cut lip, was acting aggressively and the player was entitled to feel threatened.
Those disputed facts have clouded the issue and will make the job of NRL boss David Gallop and the Tigers difficult in deciding a penalty. The facts around the drink-driving arrest and charge of Rooster Todd Carney, who was fined $10,000, were not in dispute.
"It's an unfortunate incident that has occurred," Humphreys said. "The timing of the incident is also regrettable. That said, it's subject to a legal process that we all need to respect.
"The facts are in dispute. The justice system needs to sort through all of that and eventually reach some sort of determination. Given that situation, we don't see that it's our position to make any sort of judgment."
But Gallop, in a strongly worded statement, said timing was everything.
We can't escape the fact that the game does not need to be dealing with an issue such as this at such an important time of year, he said. "The responsibility all players face at this time of year is clear and to some extent the level of responsibility rises with a player's profile, irrespective of his record. Players are not always in the wrong but incidents such as these will always demand close scrutiny by the game and the public. In every instance we have given the clubs the first opportunity to investigate and act upon behavioural matters before determining the need for any NRL intervention. I have spoken to Wests Tigers and they are aware of the need to address the matter as soon as practical. We cannot and should not attempt to replace the court system but we also need to be confident that we are doing all we can to assess the matter."
But Gallop added: "Clearly if there are matters that are in dispute then the correct place for this to take part is the court system. That has been a well-established practice on our part.
The timing is poor not only because it came days after the launch and before the start of the new season. Gallop faced criticism last week for not demanding sterner action by the Roosters following Carney's arrest, notably from Manly coach Des Hasler. Hasler was highly critical of the $10,000 fine handed out to Carney after fullback Brett Stewart, the face of the 2009 NRL season, was suspended for four matches for being drunk at the club's season launch. The Sea Eagles were also fined $100,000.
Quality stuff. I love how you admit to verballing a Bronco player with passionate hatred after a skinful of Bundy.
