No more junior RL finals in Brisbane

[applesauce]

I understand this is not directly and NRL topic but this will have an effect on the NRL as a whole as juniors turn away from the game. This news story needs as many eyes on it as possible.

Brisbane junior rugby league finals axed following brawls

• by: Chris Garry, Jason Tin
• From: The Courier-Mail
• October 10, 2012 1:00AM

JUNIOR rugby league finals in Brisbane are set to be scrapped in the wake of two brutal brawls which resulted in 58 junior rugby league players being banned from the sport.

Greater Brisbane Junior Rugby League officials have imposed the bans to keep up participation as the sport grapples with the problem of violence on and off the field at teenage matches.

The suspensions mean dozens of players who did not a throw a punch may never play league again, banned because of their team mates' blood rush.

The unprecedented sentences are the results of the Greater Brisbane Junior Rugby League's gala grand final day on September 15 being ruined with violence.

One year bans were dealt to 56 players, while a 17-year-old Waterford junior was banned for life for stomping on a rival's head and a 15-year-old spectator who joined a brawl from the stands will not play league until 2015.

The role of Leaguesafe officers will be reviewed as well, with junior games now plagued by water runners abusing referees and instructing players to "bash him".

The Wacol event was supposed to be the highlight of the league season but quickly degenerated.

An under-15 final between Wests Centenary and St Brendans erupted into an all-in brawl with parents running on to the field.
Another fight broke out later in the day during an under-18 final between Redcliffe and Waterford.

A first aid officer was kicked while he lay on top of an injured player during that incident.

GBJRL operations manager Shane McNally said the bans were a statement the league was taking a stronger stance on violence.

"We have lost 58 league players next year because of this but we hope our stance will bring at least an extra 100 players into the game," he said.
"We are sending a strong message.

"At the moment the clubs feel they are not responsible for the behaviour of their players and supporters and we need to get the message through that they are.

"Unfortunately there are players who have been banned who may feel they have been dealt with harshly but we chose to ban the entire team to send a message.

"Allowing such behaviour to go unpunished would send the wrong message to all children and parents."

The incidents made national headlines when broken by The Sunday Mail.
Each player listed in the 19-man West Centenary, St Brendans and Waterford teams was banned for a year at the GBJRL judiciary while Redcliffe did not have a case to answer.

The clubs are appealing the penalties at a division hearing later this week.
As yet, no adults have been punished for participating in the fights.

In order to rein in rivalries that develop between teams during the season, the GBJRL are set to scrap finals next year and the team with the most competition points at season's end will be premiers.

It was found a major contributor to the brawls was pre-game tension because sides had played each other several times leading up to the grand finals.

"That created tension between the teams before they arrived at the ground," he said.

League icon Darren Lockyer said tackling violence in junior football was a complicated issue but the bans were too severe.

"I am all for getting violence out of the game, but perhaps there's other ways to go about it than severe bans," he said.

"Kids at that age deserve leniency, especially if they are first time offenders."

Renowned league tough nut Tommy Raudonikis also said the bans were over the top.

"That's too harsh. It is awful what happened but kicking them out of the game's not right," he said.

University of Queensland sports psychologist Anthony Ross said the ban would send a "strong message" that violence would not be tolerated.

"I'm very supportive of really strong measures being taken," he said. "It sounds as though they're really sending a strong message that the behaviour's unacceptable and they're trying to send the strongest deterrent."

Mr Ross said the difficulty of apportioning blame in the aftermath of the melee meant the banning of entire teams was likely the only viable option for officials.

"It sounds as though they're not able to say exactly who did what," he said. "In my opinion, it's better to go that way, where we're sending a really strong message that this is not going to be acceptable.

"It's better for other players within the team to maybe cop the punishment - when maybe they don't deserve it.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...following-brawls/story-fndo2iwh-1226492375645

 

[East Coast Tiger]

It's a reflection on the game's attitude towards officials and a reflection of society as a whole.

No one respects authority, even when it's just some poor footy ref who pretty much volunteers to do the job so that the game can stay alive. It starts with parents, coaches and others in the community who model poor behaviour. Whinging and blaming anyone and everyone else for losing a game of footy is now an epidemic and it's usually the refs that cop it. I see it every weekend, especially once finals hit - at both junior and senior level. It's perpetuated by the NRL where referees are abused by all and sundry and their decisions questioned by commentators, players, coaches and fans. It's little wonder kids follow suit. There was a time when the ref was given some respect and his decision accepted, even if it wasn't agreeable to everyone. Those days are long gone.

In relation to violence, it's a reflection of society and it's growing criminal and bogan element. Again, it comes back to poor behaviour by supposed role models, but also for many other reasons. If anything, it's good to see the Brisbane JRL take a big stick to these people, because things like the criminal justice system certainly does not when it comes to crime. It's only going to get worse and more and more JRL bodies are going to have to come up with more extreme measures to counter it. There's just no other way.

 

[Cletus]

That's insane, no finals because two games had brawls? How many games were played without brawls, hundreds? I can understand the bans but punishing all the teams in Brisbane is a massive overeaction.

 

[Thomas]

It's a reflection on the game's attitude towards officials and a reflection of society as a whole.

No one respects authority, even when it's just some poor footy ref who pretty much volunteers to do the job so that the game can stay alive. It starts with parents, coaches and others in the community who model poor behaviour. Whinging and blaming anyone and everyone else for losing a game of footy is now an epidemic and it's usually the refs that cop it. I see it every weekend, especially once finals hit - at both junior and senior level. It's perpetuated by the NRL where referees are abused by all and sundry and their decisions questioned by commentators, players, coaches and fans. It's little wonder kids follow suit. There was a time when the ref was given some respect and his decision accepted, even if it wasn't agreeable to everyone. Those days are long gone.

In relation to violence, it's a reflection of society and it's growing criminal and bogan element. Again, it comes back to poor behaviour by supposed role models, but also for many other reasons. If anything, it's good to see the Brisbane JRL take a big stick to these people, because things like the criminal justice system certainly does not when it comes to crime. It's only going to get worse and more and more JRL bodies are going to have to come up with more extreme measures to counter it. There's just no other way.

Spot on. What other solution does the Brisbane JRL have? Banning the club? Sure, but another club will step in.

 

[adamkungl]

Wow. Banning players that didn't throw a punch and scrapping finals? It's absurd.

Ban the head-kickers for life, sure. But what about the poor kids who just want to go out and play footy...banned for something not remotely within their control.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Well, it might teach them that sometimes you get the rough end of the stick. And when you do you can either get on with it or lose your shit. This is a lesson that ALL people involved in sport should learn. It's not knowing this and being able to control your reaction that causes a lot of these problems. In fact most people don't even have to be wronged to lose their shit. They just have to be beaten. It's pathetic.

 

[Thomas]

The Courier Mail ran a story today about a kid who is on a Raiders scholarship who has been banned for 12 months. Witnesses have indicated he only tried to break the brawl up and didn't throw a punch. The Brisbane JRL is standing strong.

 

[Cletus]

Wow. Banning players that didn't throw a punch and scrapping finals? It's absurd.

Ban the head-kickers for life, sure. But what about the poor kids who just want to go out and play footy...banned for something not remotely within their control.

Exactly its collective punishment for players who weren't even in the same postcode when it happened. They've handed out bans to 58 players then banned finals for everyone else.

 

[joshie]

http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/br...eapais-nrl-dream/story-fndujljl-1226493568186

Written by Chris Garry of the Courier Mail

HE'S the shy halfback who tried to break up a wild junior rugby league brawl, now David Leapai's harmless actions have ruined his NRL career before it even started.

Leapai, 17, was one of 58 junior league players banned from the sport for 12 months or more following two grand final brawls last month.

The Waterford player has been signed to the Canberra Raiders since he was 15.

He was moving to Canberra permanently in November to begin training with the Raiders' elite development squad in the hope of cracking the Toyota Cup and eventually the NRL.

Report card: How the Raiders rated in 2012

Now his dreams are in tatters because of the Greater Brisbane Junior Rugby League's hardline stance over ugly fights on their gala grand final day.

Leapai has also lost tertiary education scholarships the NRL provides for teenagers, despite witnesses stating the only role he played in the brawl was trying to break it up.

Every member of Leapai's Waterford under-18 division 1 team was banned for 12 months, with one player banned for life, after a brawl with their rivals Redcliffe on September 15.
League Central: Raiders Report Card



Year-long bans were also dealt to all players listed on the team sheets for the under-15 grand final between Wests Centenary and St Brendans after their game erupted into a fight.

Raiders' veteran development officer in Brisbane Brian Edwards, who has nurtured Leapai's talent, said the teenager was "shattered".

"I spoke to him recently and yeah he's pretty upset, he's shattered," Edwards said.

"David's probably been lost to rugby league."

 

[Kirky]

Sucks for the kid, but I prefer the iron fist approach to the feather duster. Also, individuals like David are free to appeal the decision.

 

[OVP]

Dont give up young man ... you have grounds to sue the living crap out of these idiot dinosaurs.

 

[WayneBennett]

Wait til the heat goes away and appeal.

 

[Dragonwest]

A blanket ban for every player involved is completely unjustified. You should need footage or sign statements on individual players throwing punches before anyone can be banned.

 

[roarr]

The Courier Mail reported the brawls as an absolute disgrace for the game... now the bans are ruining people's lives. Make up your mind.

 

[fourplay]

If they want to send such a strong message about violence then maybe they should implement a real intervention like videotaping the finals games from that stands and use that footage, that way instead of banning innocent people for a year they actually ban the offenders. Plus they'd probably make money from selling the game to parents players so it costs nothing.

But nah, it's much easier to be lazy and instead of trying to actually do a job properly, just ban entire teams.

 

[Wizardman]

I agree with the bans. Send a strong message to the teen thugs of the game.

 

[adamkungl]

Sucks for the kid, but I prefer the iron fist approach to the feather duster. Also, individuals like David are free to appeal the decision.

How about the approach of banning those who committed the crime rather than everyone who saw it?

Absolutely ridiculous. 90% of players go out there to have fun and play footy.

 

[Mr Fourex]

If they want to send such a strong message about violence then maybe they should implement a real intervention like videotaping the finals games from that stands and use that footage, that way instead of banning innocent people for a year they actually ban the offenders. Plus they'd probably make money from selling the game to parents players so it costs nothing.

But nah, it's much easier to be lazy and instead of trying to actually do a job properly, just ban entire teams.

In this case I don't think it's being lazy, they simply didn't have the technology available at the time to record the game. Though what you're saying ....for the future, would be ideal.

It's a tough situation. Partly I agree on the bans that have been dished out, but in the case of the young kid who tried to break up the fight surely common sense has to kick in with the admin handing out the bans. I mean if they can determine that one player deserved a life ban because eye witnesses saw him stomp/kick a players head and all the other players only received the blanket ban of 12 months, then surely they can use the same line of thinking when they have eye witnesses stating young David Leapai was only trying to break up the fight.

It's a common problem with organisations being reactive and operating under knee jerk circumstance......the colours are only black and white. They constantly fail to recognise the many shades of grey inbetween.

Tough break for David Leapai ........hopefully sanity will prevail and he can possibly appeal the decision.

12mnths in the grand scheme of a young footballers life isn't the end of the world. He can still train.....still work on his skills, he can still prepare to fulfil his ultimate goals in Rugby League

 

[Mr Fourex]

How about the approach of banning those who committed the crime rather than everyone who saw it?

Absolutely ridiculous. 90% of players go out there to have fun and play footy.

Unfortunately in areas like Waterford 90% of it's population are scum.

They are anti-social degenerates that install violence and thuggery into their kids.......

 

[GC_Gladiator]

Is there an arrangement that a decision of the greater brisbane rugby league constitute a national decision? My point being, wouldn't it just be a case of the banned individuals playing in another region? If they are as promising as the half back is said to be then I am sure it is within the realms of possibility.