South Sydney Rabbitohs star John Sutton breaks his silence over altercation in Arizona
After five weeks of silence from sacked South Sydney captain John Sutton, coach Michael Maguire convinced him he should face the media to ensure he and the Rabbitohs could move on from the fallout over his arrest in the US.
Sutton, who was stripped of the captaincy before Fairfax Media broke the story on February 7 of how Arizona police were called over a bar room altercation involving himself and Luke Burgess before the premiers were due to return home from an altitude training camp last November, had previously told Souths officials he didn't want to do any interviews for the entire season.
Even as stand-in skipper for the Return to Redfern game against Northern Pride, Sutton did not attend the post-match press conference and in England during the World Club Challenge he tried to avoid any contact with the media.
But after the Rabbitohs season opening 36-6 defeat of Brisbane last week, Maguire and others at the club decided Sutton and the team would be best served if he fronted up to the media, and the 30-year-old conducted a series of interviews before training at Redfern Oval on Thursday in which he was open and honest about how the episode had affected him.
"I would rather come out and just get it off my chest now and move on with my football," Sutton said. "We have had a pretty good start to the season and I don't want to take the shine off any of the boys, the way they have played and the way they have handled themselves. I had a bad week in the media but I have moved on, and all of the boys have assured me that they have moved on as well."
Replacement captain Greg Inglis said he had seen the hurt Sutton felt "in his eyes" and believed a "weight has been lifted off his shoulders". "We are not hiding anything any more so it is out in the open and we are just moving forward," Inglis said. "John has learned a valuable lesson and I am pretty sure the younger players have as well. They see their leaders obviously have a hiccup and then see the punishment for it all."
Maguire also said it was better that Sutton had publicly dealt with the incident. "I think it is. He understands his role in the game and with us as a club, he loves the place and it is great that he is now moving forward as we all are," Maguire said. "It is obviously something in the past that we have all learned from and we are looking forward to the clash this weekend against the Roosters. It shows the environment that we live in, the boys are role models and John himself definitely knows that. He is now going about things that show the person he is and always has been in my time here. He made an error and is now getting on with it."
However, Sutton knows there is nothing he can do to erase the police mug shots of him and Burgess that appeared on the front page of The Sydney Morning Herald and other publications. "I have a young daughter and it is not the best way to show her what her father is like," Sutton said. "I have seen it a few times and deep down it is not who I am.
I have never been in trouble with the law before and I was really disappointed in myself. I have learned from it and I am going to make sure I never get myself in that position again."
With Maguire having announced on January 21 that Inglis would take over as captain this season, Sutton thought the incident had been dealt with and was overwhelmed by the media coverage after the reason for his axing became public.
"I was pretty angry at all media in general, just with the way I was portrayed," he said. "I know I had done a mistake but a whole week of being on the front of the paper and on tele every day was a bit harsh I thought. It was probably worse for my family, with my mum seeing my mug shot all over the papers."
After captaining Souths to their first premiership in 43 years, Sutton admitted it hurt to lose the job but said he accepted Maguire's decision and hoped to get the chance to be skipper again when Inglis is on State of Origin duty.
"Madge had to do what he had to do," Sutton said. "One thing I have learned from this is that it was a great honour to captain this club last year and I guess losing it was pretty tough. But I am still a senior player in this team and a leader in this team, so I will be doing everything I can for the team."
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...r-altercation-in-arizona-20150312-142gd4.html
