Stewart banned till rnd 5

[Pete Cash]

Exactly, the complainers are very conveniently ignoring the fact that Tilse was sacked and de-registered and wasn't even charged.

If you want the NRL to be consistent Manly supporters I expect you guys are e-mailing the club demanding that Stewart be sacked and the NRL to make sure he sits a year out the game.

 

[bartman]

'

Considering Glalop has suspended him for being "Drunk" and not the pending court case i don't ever see this happening.

They appear to be the words Gallop has had to use, in order not to appear to prejudice the jury by adding weight to the charge by mentioning the alleged situation as a reason for the NRL action.

The same as Cronulla announced they had stood down Greg Bird without really making reference to the alleged incident at the heart of the matter itself.

 

[BWNB]

I do feel sorry for Manly, I really do. As a Raiders supporter I got to live through the Todd Carney yearly alcohol powered crime spree.

We did stand him down though on the last two occasions. (at least the last two occasions that made the media) and sacked him by the end of it.

Why, if you feel sorry for anyone feel sorry for the game for what Manly have done to it!
I despise Manly for what has gone down in the past week, alcohol fueled parties, assaults and alleged sexual assaults, shame on Manly!

 

[Lungfish]

I cant be bothered going through it all and it may have already been said, but bird has not been convicted of anything and has had to miss a finals series and an entire series.

So in the interests of consistency stewart, watmough, Sa, and the other roosters dick should cop the same.

Bird lied to the club and Police from the get go and tried to blame his mate,thats why he was stood down.

 

[bartman]

The NRL could be leaving themselves open to litegation on this. If Stewart is innocent, or had his drink spiked through no action of his own, both the player and the club may have grounds to take this to court.

What would they be sued for? Stewart is still on full pay, as he should be. Drink spiked... that's a new one. Would have come out of the Manly Board meeting if that was a reality, there's been time for tests.

Especially if Manly lose a lot of game while he is out.

Manly are on the record as accepting the suspension. So not especially... They are only intending to appeal the fine.

If the club has now accepted the decision, perhaps so should the remaining fans who are clutching at straws?

 

[Pete Cash]

Why, if you feel sorry for anyone feel sorry for the game for what Manly have done to it!
I despise Manly for what has gone down in the past week, alcohol fueled parties, assaults and alleged sexual assaults, shame on Manly!

I do feel sorry for the game as well. I meant Manly supporters, not the club itself. I forgot to write supporters at the end of what I was saying.

But it sucks. I remember the last time Carney stuffed up with the Raiders (and the incident that led to him being sacked) and it happened after we had just beaten the Roosters and we were starting to really put together some good wins.

Anyway I walked in from work to hear on the News a story about Carney being in trouble again and I was GUTTED.

Now Todd Carney might be a lot of things, but he so far has never been accused of what Stewart has been charged with. It must be tough for the average Manly fan. The club should have done the right thing though and stood him down.

The Raiders standing Carney down after the driving/Irwin sacking incident really hurt our season.

 

[Sea_Eagles_Rock]

Um, court date is on 7 April - that's between round 4 and 5. So a 4 match suspension takes things to the next stage in proceedings. A lot can happen between now and then... DNA results are due back to name one.


It's the right decision because we don't want any more Lockyer incidents, Lafranchi incidents, Crockett incidents, Tilse incidents (why doesn't anyone look at Tilse as the precedent?)... We're sick to death of it tarnishing our game, and this decision is the start of a way where we can eventually stop it.

Players have a right to be paid while being investigated for potential breaches of their contract and code of conduct (through virtue of when serious charges are laid). But they don't have a right to keep playing attending work until it is resolved. Same as it is in many industries, regardless of eventual innocence or guilt.

Ok. So it is now round 5:

The court case is suspended again... What happens? DNA evidence or not, it will be pushed back if there is even the smallest amount of evidence. Eye witness accounts will probably be enough to see this drag on for months.

On the same basis, at round 5, is it still the right decision?

 

[BWNB]

I do feel sorry for the game as well. I meant Manly supporters, not the club itself. I forgot to write supporters at the end of what I was saying.

But it sucks. I remember the last time Carney stuffed up with the Raiders (and the incident that led to him being sacked) and it happened after we had just beaten the Roosters and we were starting to really put together some good wins.

Anyway I walked in from work to hear on the News a story about Carney being in trouble again and I was GUTTED.

Now Todd Carney might be a lot of things, but he so far has never been accused of what Stewart has been charged with. It must be tough for the average Manly fan. The club should have done the right thing though and stood him down.

The Raiders standing Carney down after the driving/Irwin sacking incident really hurt our season.

I agree, Sharks fans can also relate to August 25 the day Bird got charged and was stood down straight away. You would think that the players would be smarter than what they are in avoiding these damaging situations but what can you do. And yes, i agree, for the Raiders and the Sharks standing their stars down really did hurt their season. The two clubs can really be applauded unlike Manly for not being able to take up a hard stance against this sort of thing.

 

[bartman]

Ok. So it is now round 5:

The court case is suspended again... What happens? DNA evidence or not, it will be pushed back if there is even the smallest amount of evidence. Eye witness accounts will probably be enough to see this drag on for months.

On the same basis, at round 5, is it still the right decision?

Mate, it's all hypothetical.

If after the DNA tests Stewart happens to plead guilty at round 5, then obviously the suspension continues and we're looking at much worse.

If the charges are dropped earlier (perhaps after DNA test results), then the suspension would most likely be lifted, even though on the surface it was about the drunkenness.

If Stewart pleads innocent, and a hearing is scheduled, then I expect that the NRL would be looking to Manly to this time do what the NRL sees as the right thing, and stand Stewart down until the end of the trial. Making this suspension until Round 5 gives Manly a chance to save face by taking the next bit if it goes on any longer.

Manly Board (Bellew?) argued a case could go on for a year. But with no witness statement really from Stewart, no he says she says type of issue going on, the case I'd expect the case to happen quite quickly relative to others.

Whatever the result it's a shame. He's one of the games best players on form. But the shame is that he could have avoided this with his various choices on the day. I guess that's what's ringing home to all players and clubs at the moment - the importance to the game of players making sensible choices rather than dumb and risky behaviour.

 

[MsStorm]

Finally, the NRL are showing some balls!
We can't afford for the game to be damaged any more.

According to Warren Smith & co. on NRL on Fox last night, the Manly Board were going to stand down Brett, but Hassler convinced them otherwise.

Who is running that club - the Board or the Coach?

 

[Lungfish]

Mate, it's all hypothetical.

If after the DNA tests Stewart happens to plead guilty at round 5, then obviously the suspension continues and we're looking at much worse.

If the charges are dropped earlier (perhaps after DNA test results), then the suspension would most likely be lifted, even though on the surface it was about the drunkenness.

If Stewart pleads innocent, and a hearing is scheduled, then I expect that the NRL would be looking to Manly to this time do what the NRL sees as the right thing, and stand Stewart down until the end of the trial. Making this suspension until Round 5 gives Manly a chance to save face by taking the next bit if it goes on any longer.

Manly Board (Bellew?) argued a case could go on for a year. But with no witness statement really from Stewart, no he says she says type of issue going on, the case I'd expect the case to happen quite quickly relative to others.

Whatever the result it's a shame. He's one of the games best players on form. But the shame is that he could have avoided this with his various choices on the day. I guess that's what's ringing home to all players and clubs at the moment - the importance to the game of players making sensible choices rather than dumb and risky behaviour.

If this is the case then i expect Manly to play him after the ban and so they should.They wont stand him down for a few months.

 

[Hanscholo]

The NRL are doing the right thing in my opinion. The RLPA should have a good hard think about its membership base, rather than moaning about some hard line action taken. If I was Rodwell i'd be ashamed to open my mouth at this point.

 

[bartman]

If this is the case then i expect Manly to play him after the ban and so they should.They wont stand him down for a few months.

Maybe we have different expectations.

If Cronulla didn't sack Bird in the off-season, then I'm pretty sure he still wouldn't be playing, until he is cleared by the court.

Stewart hasn't been found to be lying to the club, it's pretty honest to admit to the club or police you had no memory of the evening. But sexual assault charges are serious - more serious than common assault, and imo we and the league need to give them more respect, so the game isn't tarnished any further than it has been in the past.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

Right move by the NRL, but their reasoning was piss weak. If alcohol abuse was the main reason then Watmough should be on the sidelines with him, regardless of who's face is on the campaign ad. Hopefully the NRL will continue to enforce it's tough stance when the next incident comes around, otherwise they'll look like a joke.

 

[fatshark]

If Cronulla didn't sack Bird in the off-season, then I'm pretty sure he still wouldn't be playing, until he is cleared by the court.

Yep the NRL said do it, or they would.

 

[Hanscholo]

Finally, the NRL are showing some balls!
We can't afford for the game to be damaged any more.

According to Warren Smith & co. on NRL on Fox last night, the Manly Board were going to stand down Brett, but Hassler convinced them otherwise.

Who is running that club - the Board or the Coach?

Manly to me seem to have missed the last three years, where seemingly all clubs overhauled their system of discipline and many put in place very tough code of conduct procedures and are adhearing to them. Now Manly have had a golden run, they havent had any issues to speak of and it seems like they are in a time warp of sorts with their policy. If Stewart played for Newcastle he would have been stood down on Saturday morning. I imagine other clubs, the dogs, canberra, cronulla would have done the same thing. Manly are rallying around stewart, well, thats brave in this day and age to do that, to be seen to condone the misconduct, whatever it was. Same with the other idiot that alledgedly punched the sponsor. If it was any other club, they would have either sacked him on the spot or stood him down until they finished an investigation. No, not Manly with their 1980's desi inspired ideals leading the way.

What a lot of people who love to carry on about guilt being proven first forget is being charged with a very serious offence carries a certain responsibility, IF YOU DID IT OR NOT, you have been charged with an offence. He could just as well be sitting in a remand centre right now waiting for the court date instead of crying about not playing this weekend. Lets not forget that either, it seems manly see it as a bit of a joke.

They are caught in a time warp, and their lack of self awareness and ability to see what was coming has cost them 100k. I have no doubt that fine was meant to be a wake up call more than anything. I am really annoyed that the season has been hijacked by this, and I am even more annoyed that Manly have dug their head into the sand and attempted to pretend nothing is wrong. I have heard so many f**king lame excuses so far from the bar not having enough food, to peter peters not liking the owner so he left early and didnt mind people, to diabetes, to the events co-ordinator not choosing an appropriate venue.

 

[bartman]

Yep the NRL said do it, or they would.

Yep, that sounds like it's the go now for players charged with violence/assault against women. As long as it's consistent from now forwards that's all anyone should be bothered about.

 

[Hanscholo]

Mate, it's all hypothetical.

If after the DNA tests Stewart happens to plead guilty at round 5, then obviously the suspension continues and we're looking at much worse.

If the charges are dropped earlier (perhaps after DNA test results), then the suspension would most likely be lifted, even though on the surface it was about the drunkenness.

If Stewart pleads innocent, and a hearing is scheduled, then I expect that the NRL would be looking to Manly to this time do what the NRL sees as the right thing, and stand Stewart down until the end of the trial. Making this suspension until Round 5 gives Manly a chance to save face by taking the next bit if it goes on any longer.

Manly Board (Bellew?) argued a case could go on for a year. But with no witness statement really from Stewart, no he says she says type of issue going on, the case I'd expect the case to happen quite quickly relative to others.

Whatever the result it's a shame. He's one of the games best players on form. But the shame is that he could have avoided this with his various choices on the day. I guess that's what's ringing home to all players and clubs at the moment - the importance to the game of players making sensible choices rather than dumb and risky behaviour.

Your forgetting there was a witness.

From a laymans perspective, having someone there, that saw what happened, no matter the relationship with the girl has to hurt the defence.

 

[Eels Dude]

While Stewart is suspended till the court, it will be interesting to see what happens after. I think it would be a very brave act for the Manly club to reinstate them. He will have his hearing in a few weeks, but the case will be adjourned for several months at least probably so this is going to be a long drawn out saga.

If Manly do reinstate them, they are going to recieve a backlash from the NRL, their sponsors, plus rugby league supporters in general. It is in the best interests for the club and Brett Stewart himself if he's kept out of the public eye for the coming months. The media intensity and public pressure will be extensive until this matter is over with. Whatever the end result is, the NRL's image and Manly's image will both be tarnished deeply if Brett Stewart continues to play.

 

[Eels Dude]

Mate, it's all hypothetical.

If after the DNA tests Stewart happens to plead guilty at round 5, then obviously the suspension continues and we're looking at much worse.

If the charges are dropped earlier (perhaps after DNA test results), then the suspension would most likely be lifted, even though on the surface it was about the drunkenness.

I don't think that's too likely charges could be dropped unless the girl changes her story. DNA results may prove inconclusive so it's not just a matter of saying 'oh yeah there's no dna match he must be innocent' (Which is probably what a lot Manly fans will be saying in here if the tests are made public in a week or so). The cops were able to charge him without the DNA evidence in the first place so have some solid evidence, getting a positive DNA result will not be necessary, but rather make Stewart's case even worse.