Stand him down now!
Written by:
Matt Starkey
Mar 11, 2009 10:36am
Success breeds arrogance and in some cases boundless self importance.
Unfortunately for the Manly Sea Eagles, they are not bigger than the game. But their recent Premiership and World Club Championship success has invoked in them a sense that they are untouchable.
Everyone in the Rugby League community viewed them as a shining example of excellence.
They were trailblazers in private ownership. Their fitness was unquestionable. The coach had a 5-year plan which culminated in a 40-nil drubbing of Melbourne in last years Grand Final.
And then they went to Leeds and won a game few Australian teams had managed to do before them.
They
were the bomb.
But they have fallen from a great height, and are now setting new standard of how to bring the game into disrepute.
Their star fullback Brett Stewart has been charged with one count of sexual assault and it has created a media storm that will not go away until they stand him down.
Every day that goes by a fresh TV crew will venture to the peninsula to film him training. He will be the focus of the weekends football not for his blistering pace or deft handling.
Once this story broke the game was always going to be dragged through the mud.
Take the example of swimmer Nick Darcy. He was stood down from Swimming Australia pending his assault charge against Simon Cowley. He was not allowed to swim for Australia at the Beijing Olympics and he was not allowed to train with the Australian Squad either.
He was presumed innocent until proven guilty (which he was found to be) and within a few days the storm passed and Swimming Australia went to Beijing and competed without Darcy.
Can you imagine the press that would have surrounded the team if he swam?
Back in 2005 when John Hopoate slid the final nail into his own coffin by knocking Keith Galloway just about into the Jane Try stand, Manly acted swiftly and decisively.
Sensing a media storm, they requested an early hearing for Hoppa, bringing it forward from Wednesday to Tuesday. By Thursday the situation was resolved and everyone went back to talking about footy.
If only they could take off their rose coloured glasses for a second, pick up a copy of their own code of conduct, and see in the harsh light of day that what Stewart is alleged to have done is in direct contravention of that.
And then stand him down as they should.
Manly has lost its moral compass.
At the end of the day a young girl is at the centre of all this. Shouldnt her welfare be the focus of the situation and not whether a bloke plays footy or not?
A good article by Matt Starkey of LU. Taken from the news section of this site.
I agree 100% with what he says. Just because you stand a player down, doesn't mean that you are automatically judging him as guilty. What you are saying is that in the players, the club's, the NRL's and most improtantly, the victims best interest, we are standing you down until this thing is sorted out. If Stewart continues to train and play he will invariably continue to draw unwanted media attention to the situation. If he is stood down, the situation will die down and then the alleged victim will not have this thrown up in her face and the game of NRL will be allowed to get back to what is important.
I honestly couldn't think of anything worse for a young Woman than to be involved in something like this and see it splashed all over the papers everyday for the next few weeks.
