And this...
http://smh.com.au/news/league/gowers-ultimatum-defend-me-or-ill-walk/2006/02/05/1139074110257.html
Gower's ultimatum: defend me or I'll walk
The Penrith management's reaction to concerns detailed to the club by Craig Gower via his manager, Greg Willett, will this week determine whether the star player formally asks for a release from his five-year, $2.25 million contract.
Willett responded on Gower's behalf yesterday to end speculation about why the manager met Penrith chief executive Mick Leary and coach John Lang on Friday.
He said Gower was not angry with any individuals at the club nor was he necessarily seeking a reversal of the club's penalty - the loss of the captaincy and a $30,000 fine - for his alcohol-fuelled misbehaviour at a charity golf tournament on the Sunshine Coast in December.
But, Willett said, Gower remained deeply upset because he believed he did not get a reasonable opportunity to tell his side of the story before the decision was made and felt the club, while punishing him, should have done more to publicly defend his character.
"Craig gets back from his honeymoon on Wednesday or Thursday and I'll be looking to set up a meeting for us with the Penrith bosses before the weekend," Willett said. "We haven't asked for a release, but nothing has been ruled in or out at this stage.
"Part of the way you fix things is to sit down and have a chat, and Craig asked me to have a word to the club. The next step will be to bring Craig in on a meeting and see how the people in charge react to what was said.
"It's fair to say Craig is looking for the club to accept they went about things the wrong way. It wasn't so much the extent of the punishment, but the way the whole thing was dealt with that gobsmacked him.
"Craig put himself in a situation where he was drunk and he did the wrong thing and he had to cop something for it, but he didn't get the chance to give his side of the story.
"Some of the things he was alleged to have done, he didn't actually do, but the decision was made and dished out and that was it. He's unhappy about the process and he's also unhappy that the club didn't stick up for his character a bit more.
"You can go crook on a bloke for doing the wrong thing, but you can also point out the good things he does and Craig does plenty on behalf of the club.
"The club might still think they handled it the right way, but if Craig doesn't think the answers are good enough and they say, 'Bad luck', he might jump up and say, 'I'm out of here'. Or they might agree they could have handled things a bit better. We'll have to wait and see."
Willett also said Gower had no problem with teammate Tony Puletua accepting the vacant captaincy. "It's rubbish to suggest there is a problem between Craig and Tony," Willett said. "The talk that there is a problem between Craig and the other Penrith players because none of them were invited to his wedding is wrong, too.
"The guest list had to be kept to 90, including family and partners, and that was split between the bride and groom, so the invitations were obviously spread pretty thin. Craig thought that if he invited one or two teammates, others might get upset. He had a buck's night in Sydney with all of them instead."
Leary and Penrith chairman Barry Walsh said they would consider what Gower and his manager had to say.
"Penalising Craig like that was one of the hardest things I've had to do," Walsh said. "We'll talk to him and we'll work on building him back up and his image back up. He is Penrith through and through and we want him to stay."
Melbourne Storm's chief executive, Brian Waldron, said the club would be interested in Gower if he became available, and Castleford yesterday confirmed their interest in him.
