ARL takes heat over bad boy Broncos
By Margie McDonald
October 17, 2008
AUSTRALIAN Rugby League boss Geoff Carr has used the threat of legal action as a defence for the controversial call-up of Karmichael Hunt and Darius Boyd in the Australia squad.
The Brisbane pair were announced as replacements for injured Manly full-back Brett Stewart and Brisbane centre Justin Hodges respectively, both of whom have withdrawn with serious shoulder complaints.
But Boyd and Hunt, along with team-mate Sam Thaiday, are still waiting to hear if the Queensland Department of Public Prosecutions will charge them over the alleged sexual assault of a 24-year-old woman in the male toilet of a Brisbane nightclub on September 13.
Detectives earlier this week announced the official police investigation had finished but it was now up to the DPP to decide if any of the players had a case to answer.
Carr agreed there was a risk in selecting Hunt and Boyd for the October 25-November 22 10-nation tournament because the pair could be charged during that period.
That could result in them being suspended from the Australian team, leaving coach Ricky Stuart with just 22 players. Under RLIF (Rugby League International Federation) rules, once a country has named its 24-man squad, there can be no additions during the 18-match tournament.
But if they were not charged and were denied the chance to extend their representative careers - both Hunt and Boyd played State of Origin for Queensland this year, while Hunt is a former Test full-back - Carr said the ARL left itself open to litigation.
"I'm not a lawyer but if we deny them the opportunity - as the best available - to earn a living when they are subsequently proven to be innocent, we'd cost them income and their reputations," Carr said.
"Would we (ARL) be in trouble? And the answer is "Possibly yes". So it's a difficult one because the game has taken a stand on this sort of behaviour."
"We haven't taken the (police) investigation lightly."
Although Parramatta's Jarryd Hayne, who can play full-back, wing or centre, and Penrith centre Michael Jennings were named in the preliminary Australia squad of 43 last August, Hayne was named by Fiji last week and Jennings for Tonga.
"We asked the selectors to give us the best available, keeping in mind that two players (Hayne and Jennings) were out," Carr said, adding that Manly's full-back-winger Michael Robertson, who scored three tries in the Sea Eagles' grand final victory, had been named by Scotland.
"So the best available as the selectors understood were Darius and Karmichael."
For Sydney University academic, Catharine Lumby, who completed a report for the NRL in 2004 on footballers' attitudes to women, she felt another course of action should have been taken.
"I acknowledge no charges have been laid but I reflect on the fact that high-profile politicians and members of the business community are often stood aside pending the results of an investigation," she said.
"As someone who is concerned about violence against women, I think we need to set the bar very high for people in sport, as well as other sections of the community."
Lumby said she was not saying that Hunt and Boyd deserved not to be selected.
"This is a difficult area because the principle of being innocent until proven guilty is at the heart of our justice system," she said.
Carr reiterated that the ARL and four national selectors had taken into consideration Hunt and Boyd's situation.
"If they are charged while they are in camp, and depending on the severity of the charges, we'll deal with that at the time," Carr said, acknowledging that could mean suspension from the World Cup.
