I think the Dogs are dealing with this very well. It sounds like Barba has come forward for help because of some pretty serious personal problems and the club is serious about helping him. Obviously if that involves him not playing for a while there needs to be some explanation and I think thats why it has come out the way it has. Hopefully he gets things under control and can come back in a few months.
Todd said that Ben has broken club protocol. He also said Ben has come forward and asked for help with personal issues.
It sounds like he has broken the rules before he has asked for help. I think that is a fair assumption. Unless there has been an incident involving Ben and the club over the last couple of days that has immediately opened the floodgates, the club have known that he has been either struggling or misbehaving off the field.
I'm sure being depressed and gambling is not breaking club rules. And Todd made the point of saying rules had been broken. He said that it was not a police matter but did not seem clear on whether any illegal behaviour has been alleged or admitted too. But he was straight up in saying that Ben had let the club down.
So if the Dogs literally found out about something in the last 24-48 hours then they have handled it well by getting on the front foot.
If the Dogs have been sitting around watching destructive behaviour and hoping that Ben would be stable before round 1, and it has now imploded, then they haven't handled it well at all.
But now that everyone is onto it lets hope it all ends well.
