Eagles legacy lies in shreds
Article from: The Sunday Telegraph
By Phil Rothfield, Executive Sports Editor
March 07, 2009 12:00am
RUGBY league's greatest coach Jack Gibson always said winning premierships started in the front office - he was right.
The terrible behaviour and allegations against Manly players Brett Stewart and Anthony Watmough splashed across the front page of today's newspaper comes in the wake of a boardroom brawl and a public spat between two multi-millionaire owners.
And now it's spilt over into the playing ranks at a club regarded as the most disciplined and well-run in the game. This should be a time of celebration for Manly. Their grand final win was incredible, last week they won the World Club Challenge in England and were rated perhaps the greatest team in the club's long and proud history.
But the Sea Eagles are disintegrating. Instead of being the NRL's flagship team, they are the Titanic - and they are headed straight for the iceberg.
Clubs can say what they like about how off-field squabbling - like the ugly sniping between co-owners Scott Penn and Max Delmege - has no effect on the players. But the front office should be setting an example. And we are talking about the premiers here, so what do they really have to be fighting about?
Which brings us to the sad and disturbing events of early yesterday morning, when senior players let their hair down and became embroiled in allegations of misbehaviour.
One of Sydney's top security experts Dave Millward is usually with the Sea Eagles whenever they are out at night. He can spot trouble from a mile away. He's been a bodyguard for politicians and rock stars. He runs security at Dragonfly, Hugo's and all the big Oxford St night clubs.
And Millward spent two weeks in the UK with the Sea Eagles, where there was not the slightest hint of drama. If Millward can't be with the team, veteran official Peter Peters is left in charge of team security.
Peters left the season launch as soon as his duties as MC were finished because he was worried about staying, having a few beers, and getting into a row with Delmege, the man who wants to sack him.
Manly coach Des Hasler is the strictest disciplinarian in the competition. On the team's recent flight to London, the players weren't even allowed one drop of alcohol. He instructed flight attendants to ensure every player had five litres of water - and even conducted urine tests to check their hydration levels during the 24-hour flight.
Without Millward, Peters and Hasler, who also went home, the players were primed for a big night. I'm told some were skolling glasses of wine at the restaurant where their season launch was held.
David Gallop's phone rang at 8am yesterday. It was his media man John Brady with news that two of the Sea Eagles' premiership-winning heroes were in serious trouble.
"I can't believe it,'' Gallop said yesterday morning. "I'm about to go and launch our domestic violence campaign at Redfern. And Brett Stewart is the face of our TV advertising campaign.''
Stewart was so proud last Wednesday night when he and his brother Glenn officially launched the 2009 season. Heavily jet-lagged after arriving home from the UK, I spoke to him about how much he had achieved in the past 12 months.
"It's unbelievable,'' he said. "To be here tonight and launching the year ... I'm really nervous but very proud. The whole family is. The last 12 months has just blown us away and I'm really looking forward to doing it all again.''
Ask anyone in the game and they will tell you Stewart is the last person you would expect to be in this sort of trouble. He has been a magnificent role model, judged the sexiest man in league and is a diabetic who appears in campaigns for fellow sufferers of the disease.
As the NRL fights for sponsors, this is potentially the biggest black eye imaginable for the code. The season kicks off on Friday, with the premier team and its poster boy facing serious allegations.
Hasler is left to pull Manly together in a week, while Gallop is left to patch up wounds from a code that continually shoots itself in the foot.
