http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/there-can-be-no-argument-south-sydney-rabbitohs-actions-over-john-sutton-were-a-coverup-20150209-13aavh.html
There can be no argument: South Sydney Rabbitohs' actions over John Sutton were a cover-up
It seems that as far as the NRL and the clubs are concerned, as long as they tell each other what's going on they don't owe the rest of us anything.
That is the logic of outgoing South Sydney chief executive Shane Richardson, who like Todd Greenberg has been caught being less than truthful on the eve of a move to League Central.
Sacked as captain: John Sutton
Sacked as captain: John Sutton Photo: Brendan Esposito
When asked if there was "more to" the sacking of John Sutton as captain three months after he took Souths to a premiership, Richardson told a reporter "not to the best of my knowledge".
He has admitted that was a poor choice of words. It certainly was. It was a fib.
And we are increasingly seeing a pattern here: telling fibs seems to be part of the job in clubland and for some reason it is impossible to get out of clubland and into League Central without being caught out telling one.
My definition of a cover-up has nothing to do with the Integrity Unit. A cover-up, by definition, involves the public. This was a cover-up.
You tell me if South Sydney's 30,000 members, who have helped put $7 million in the club's bank account, deserve to know if their captain is locked up in Arizona and this contributed to him being the first skipper in premiership history stripped of the role after winning a title?
Souths actions indicate they do not deserve to know this. I obviously believe they do, or I wouldn't be doing this for a living.
Sutton and Luke Burgess were charged with the charges later withdrawn and Ben Barba wasn't. Now, the circumstances surrounding Barba, which got me into such a tiz regarding Greenberg, were more serious than being disrespectful to a bouncer.
But Greenberg also had more reason to cover things up than Richardson. He believed he was protecting a family. There is less justification for failing to be truthful about eight hours in the drunk tank just avoiding embarrassment and protecting a brand.
As we mentioned in Set Of Six on Monday, we expect our leaders at League Central to behave like elected officials. Paul Kind didn't measure up, for some reason, and was punted.
But if an elected official was caught out like this on the eve of taking office, telling a fib in a paper, it would be a major scandal.
We shouldn't accept so easily that lies are part of every day life. They don't have to be. This will impact (again, sadly) on the faith we have in the game's administration.
The integrity unit should, as a matter of course and to keep faith with the game's major constituents, announce all findings against players, officials and clubs - even if there is no sanction.
They currently have no obligation to do so.
Again, the set of values in place (and coming into) League Central is a worry.
As things stand, their list of what is in the public interest and what they owe us you, not me is much, much shorter than what it should be.
Twitter: @therealsteavis
