You're a disgrace: premiers slam NRL
Brad Walter | September 27, 2008
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/new...1222217528326.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
IN ONE of the most extraordinary post-match press conferences in memory, Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy and chief executive Brian Waldron unloaded at the NRL and Sharks coach Ricky Stuart over the grapple-tackle issue and comments by Stuart the Storm duo believe may have influenced the Cam Smith judiciary case.
The comments drew a stinging response from Stuart, who labelled Waldron an "idiot".
Waldron criticised the leadership of the NRL, while Bellamy suggested the judiciary might have been influenced by media reports before Wednesday night's hearing - which resulted in Smith receiving a two-match suspension that has ruled the Storm captain out of the premiership decider.
Bellamy went as far as to say that he believed Smith's fate was sealed when he saw betting odds that had the Australian captain at $1.18 to be suspended and $4.25 to beat the grade-one contrary-conduct charge, and claimed that St George Illawarra hooker Stuart Webb was guilty of an almost identical tackle the week before but escaped any action.
"Cameron Smith was hung out to dry straight after the match, and then it continued for four or five days from some sections of the media that seem to have an agenda against Melbourne about the grapple tackle," Bellamy said.
"I'm not trying to throw stones at Stuart Webb or St George, but you have a look at that tackle and tell me that's not a worse tackle than Cameron Smith's. So, again, why is it Cameron Smith that pays the price? Is it a Melbourne thing and we will make a stand with a Melbourne player or are we going to make a stand with one of our great players in the game at the moment - the Australian captain, the Queensland captain, the Melbourne captain and the Golden Boot winner?
"But the other thing that was very smelly about the whole lot was when I saw on Wednesday morning that there was a betting market
that's a fair spread in a two-horse race. Bookmakers and betting agencies, they don't guess. They've got good information. Take that as you may. As soon as I saw that on Wednesday morning
he was thousands."
Waldron said betting agencies should not be allowed to frame markets on judiciary cases and also called on the NRL to prevent rival coaches from commenting before hearings. "It questions the integrity of our game at the core and we need some leadership to fix it," Waldron said at a lengthy and heated press conference that was attended by NRL officials, including chief operating officer Graham Annesley.
"To allow Ricky Stuart to make those comments is an absolute disgrace and a blight on the game. We need to address that, and to allow betting? This isn't a contest between the Warriors and the Storm, this is about three people under enormous pressure making a decision about someone's future in a preliminary final.
"The game has a responsibility to fix it and the people running the game need to fix it, because we are sick of it and we will fix it if someone else won't. When the pressure comes on from above, people are forced into extremely difficult situations where their integrity is questioned - and that is the reality of what has happened here."
Annesley declined to comment before an NRL review of what was said, but Sharks coach Stuart returned fire. "Brian Waldron is a flip," Stuart said. "Wally Waldron should go and learn the rules before he goes and complains about me making comments. The more that flip goes on about it, the stronger I will be about it. It's a shame for the game but the game and me didn't make the tackle - and tell that idiot Waldron the same thing."
The post-game slanging match overshadowed what happened on the field, but the Storm face a further week of judiciary woes, with Brett White on report for striking a "filthy" Ben Ross with his elbow.
Because of a previous suspension - also for striking Ross - even a grade-one striking charge would rule White out of the grand final. "I can't remember anything from the game but everyone's told me that he collected me twice," said Ross, who had a suspected broken nose and swollen eye. "I can't comment because I haven't seen it, but it f---ed my game up - so I'm pretty filthy."
Asked about the support of Bellamy and Waldron, Smith said: "They feel very strongly about what happened during the week. That's their opinion, and I'm glad they're behind me. That's my coach and my CEO so I expect them to do that."
