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Pride of the League & Arizona

Canard

Immortal
Messages
35,041
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 with the charges later withdrawn ?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.

There goes the theory that travelling overseas makes your more respectful.
 

ellskimore

Juniors
Messages
1,924
How dare Rothfield lecture clubs on ethics and responsibility to tell the truth to the public when only a couple of months ago he wrote a backpage story claiming a coverup of Auva'a's plea despite Souths releasing a press statement to that effect on the day he made the plea and it being widely reported at the time. Where was the rest of the media then to call him out on such a blatantly deceitful story? Two wrongs don't make a right and Souths did cover themselves, but spare me the righteous indignation from a bunch of hacks who are no beacons of moral authority.

The story posted there was written by Steve Mascord. Unless Rothfield said something elsewhere?
 

insert.pause

First Grade
Messages
6,446
The story posted there was written by Steve Mascord. Unless Rothfield said something elsewhere?
"clubs have an obligation to keep their fans informed - not lie to them when it suits".

https://twitter.com/BuzzRothfield/status/564719956504223744

and while I respect Mascord and enjoy his reporting I don't believe he said anything when Rothfield was deceitfully screaming accusations of an NRL cover up on the Auva'a plea, all those reporters would have received the same press statement from Souths back in May and yet none of them called rothfield out on it, hence my issue with the lot of them being so concerned with the need to be truthful with the public, now that it is convenient.
 

muzby

Village Idiot
Staff member
Messages
45,765
Manly have come out and said they knew about the incident when they signed Burgess.

of course they would..

**ring ring**

toovey: "hello?"

maguire: "tooves, it's madge. one of my players has ****** ** **** ***** ******** and i need to get rid of him to make an example."

T: "that's a serious incident. there needs to be an investigation"

M: "no, the NRL doesn't want it to make the papers"

T: "but there needs to be an investigation"

M: "oh shut up. need someone for this season or not?"

T: "depends, who is it?"

M: "sutton"

T: "f**k no. i hate that guy"

M: "okay, how about if i give you a burgess brother. he was also involved"

T: "was it the naked one? did he post another selfie?"

M: "nope"

T: "was it the one who looks just like the naked one?"

M: "nope"

T: "was i the one who looks like the big guy from the goonies?"

M: "nope"

T: "ah crap, it's the useless one, isn't it?"

M: "yep, sorry mate. do you need him? if not, i'm calling parra to see if they need him."

T: "f**k no, not having those guys steal another player. send him my way"

M: "thanks tooves. see you on wednesday for our weekly pedicure?"

T: "of course, sweetie"
 

Big Sam

First Grade
Messages
8,976
The way the Telecrap continues to go on with the story seems to confirm the theory that it was leaked to them from someone who was part of the NRL at the time but no longer is.

Why would the club suddenly and voluntarily divulge something that had remained private for 2 months? Clearly the club was confronted by the story from someone at the Telecrap (Frothfield) and had to reveal what exactly happened.

The timing is noteworthy as it became a story just days after that aforementioned NRL official was sacked for a conflict of interest. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that official the last remaining one from the News-Corp era?
 

insert.pause

First Grade
Messages
6,446
The way the Telecrap continues to go on with the story seems to confirm the theory that it was leaked to them from someone who was part of the NRL at the time but no longer is.

Why would the club suddenly and voluntarily divulge something that had remained private for 2 months? Clearly the club was confronted by the story from someone at the Telecrap (Frothfield) and had to reveal what exactly happened.

The timing is noteworthy as it became a story just days after that aforementioned NRL official was sacked for a conflict of interest. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that official the last remaining one from the News-Corp era?

The NRL released a statement a couple of days ago in the hope that it would get buried by lib spill. Wasn't leaked, but secrecy around Sutton being stripped of captaincy motivated them to dig into details once NRL released statement about incident. Their egos got all bent out shape as well because they feel entitled to know absolutely everything and the club 'lied' to them.
 

Cockadoodledoo

First Grade
Messages
5,045
Well it got out in the end... No surprise that the NRL smothered this whilst they hang others out to dry such as Mitchell Pearce. This continual bad publicity for Souths will really put the NRL under pressure as to whether they will continue to use Souths Sydney as their marketing tool in 2015 as they did in 2014 or will they be forced to go back to leaving the results to the players themselves.

No doubt the usual tards will blame everyone but the pair of drunken pricks who caused the trouble. Shane Richardson will fit in well with Greenberg at NRL HQ. A perfectly trustworthy pair to support a former banker who are the pillars of society.

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...ozy-night-out-in-arizona-20150210-13aukj.html

Rabbitohs pair left handcuffed on kerbside after boozy night out in Arizona
Date
February 10, 2015 - 5:57PM
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Michael Carayannis
Michael Carayannis
Rugby League Writer
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Sacked as captain: John Sutton
Sacked as captain: John Sutton Photo: Brendan Esposito
A boozy night out in a northern Arizona bar ended with blood dripping from a bouncer's head while South Sydney captain John Sutton and teammate Luke Burgess, both the worse for wear, sat handcuffed on the side of the road.

Fairfax Media has obtained the police report issued by Flagstaff police which details the behaviour that led to Sutton and Burgess being detained for eight hours and contributed to the former being stood down as captain. Both players were charged with "disorderly conduct, fighting", a misdemeanour offence, while Burgess was also hit with an assault charge. All charges were subsequently dropped. Police also noted the pair had "bloodshot red watery eyes and smelled strongly of intoxicating beverage".

The other man involved in the incident was Patrick Scruggs, a 21-year-old local security guard.

Flagstaff police had responded to reports of a fight in Monsoons Chinese Bistro and Sushi at 12.50am on November 30. The report says trouble arose when an intoxicated Sutton was asked by Scruggs to leave the restaurant, which doubles as a late-night club on weekends.

"[Sutton] was asked to leave the bar," the police statement read. "After being asked to leave, he slammed his fist on the bar and said something to the effect of 'f--- this' and began telling bar staff to come outside with him."

A supplementary police report indicated that Scruggs had been told by his manager that Sutton had spat on the bar counter and staff were "afraid of them causing an altercation".

"The male subject wearing a black shirt [Sutton] then started yelling and 'acting like an asshole'," the police report quoted Scruggs as saying.

It is alleged that while Sutton was yelling, bouncers came inside the establishment and asked him to leave. This is where Burgess became involved.

"Burgess grabbed the victim and threw him to the ground causing his forehead to bleed," the police statement read.

A supplementary document, written by a second police officer, added: "Patrick stated that the other male subject [Burgess], wearing a white shirt then started pushing him and took him to the ground and began fighting.

"Patrick stated that he put his male subject in a 'head lock'. Patrick stated that he was hit during the altercation and had a big bruised cut on his right forehead."

The police detained the two players as soon as they arrived on the scene. Scruggs declined medical attention but stated he wanted to pursue charges.

"Upon arrival I observed a white male wearing a Monsoons t-shirt bleeding from his head and pointing towards to (sic) male subjects standing in the street," the Flagstaff police officer noted. "I exited my patrol vehicle and was immediately told by several people the two males standing in the street had been causing problems inside the bar. Due to the information I had at the time, I detained both males into handcuffs and secured [their hands] behind their back and instructed them to sit on the curb.

"I spoke with John and Luke, both of whom had bloodshot red watery eyes and smelled strongly of intoxicating beverage. Both males were adamant they had done nothing wrong and kept asking why they had been detained.

"It should be noted that John Sutton had no photo identification and stated he is an Australian citizen."

Fairfax Media understands Scruggs quit his job shortly after the incident.

Sutton and Burgess were then driven to the Coconino County Detention Facility, where they had an eight-hour wait before the charges were withdrawn.

Both players were fined a significant amount by South Sydney and Sutton has since been stripped of the club captaincy. Burgess made a late off-season switch to Manly. The premiers travelled to Arizona at the end of November for an 18-day high-altitude training camp, less than two months after Sutton lifted the NRL trophy.

Incoming NRL head of game strategy and development Shane Richardson, who was South Sydney chief executive at the time of the incident, on Monday dismissed suggestions there had been a "cover-up" by the club. Richardson also said Burgess' switch to Manly had nothing to do with the prop's indiscretion, although he said it had contributed to Sutton being stripped of the captaincy as well as "other things".

"There was no cover-up in any way, shape or form," Richardson said. "We didn't unleash it to the media because it was a breach of a code of conduct. The club made the decision. The board, the NRL's integrity unit, the coaching staff, the players, their managers were all told when the breaches went out."

The NRL's integrity unit said it was "satisfied" with the way the Rabbitohs had handled the matter. Sutton has been named to captain an inexperienced Rabbitohs side in their annual Return to Redfern game against the Northern Pride at Redfern Oval on Saturday.
 
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muzby

Village Idiot
Staff member
Messages
45,765
Why would the club suddenly and voluntarily divulge something that had remained private for 2 months? Clearly the club was confronted by the story from someone at the Telecrap (Frothfield) and had to reveal what exactly happened.

The timing is noteworthy as it became a story just days after that aforementioned NRL official was sacked for a conflict of interest. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that official the last remaining one from the News-Corp era?

why are you pointing fingers at a disgruntled nrl employee?

plenty of other worthy suspects for leaking it to the press..

a bouncer with stitches who was annoyed charges were dropped..

a bar owner annoyed that his staff were verbally and physically abused (not to mention spat towards)..

why try pin your clubs bad behaviour on a scapegoat?

seems to me there are deep seeded issues at the club when you look at behaviour of contracted individuals over the past 12 months..
 

muzby

Village Idiot
Staff member
Messages
45,765
Do you have a link to that? Because as far as I'm aware the only released statement came from us on Sunday.
yes, because there were zero headlines about liberal party leadership issues on the two business days surrounding last Sunday........:roll:
 

Big Sam

First Grade
Messages
8,976
plenty of other worthy suspects for leaking it to the press..

a bouncer with stitches who was annoyed charges were dropped..

a bar owner annoyed that his staff were verbally and physically abused (not to mention spat towards)..

why try pin your clubs bad behaviour on a scapegoat?
Why didn't they leak it at the time?

seems to me there are deep seeded issues at the club when you look at behaviour of contracted individuals over the past 12 months..
Russell Packer signed for you guys yet?
 

eozsmiles

Bench
Messages
3,392
Do you have a link to that? Because as far as I'm aware the only released statement came from us on Sunday.

For all we know the story came from a disgruntled WAG (or mum?) flapping their gums in a cafe or having a phone conversation within earshot of a media type.
 

muzby

Village Idiot
Staff member
Messages
45,765
Why didn't they leak it at the time?


Russell Packer signed for you guys yet?

they may not have leaked it at the time as there may still have been other avenues they could have taken for action..


and are you really comparing a guy who was sentenced and did his time for assaulting another man (whilst at another club) with repeated current cases of assault of current players..?

really?
 

eozsmiles

Bench
Messages
3,392
If this incident is dead and buried now then the can of worms that will open next time a player gets into strife will be a monster.
 

Big Sam

First Grade
Messages
8,976
and are you really comparing a guy who was sentenced and did his time for assaulting another man (whilst at another club) with repeated current cases of assault of current players..?

really?

No I was smashing the morally hypocritical glass house in which you inhabit.

For the record, Auva'a is the only player to have been charged and convicted whilst being with us and I've said in the past how disgusted I am that he is still at the club.
 

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