Stewart salute reveals double standards

[Loudstrat]

As Daddy Cool says, Cronulla stood down Bird. Who says Manly have to honour whatever Cronulla decide is their standard?

 

[Phil McGrawhan]

Hate Sticky with a passion ....but he is spot on here .
If Brett Stewart is found guilty how will those cheering & clapping feel?.
Probably a lot of them were calling for action against Bird.
Double standards ...yes.

 

[squiddy]

Stewart is dead set 100 % correct in this piece !

What really upset me last week was seeing 10 year old girls holding up signs " we love you Brett " FFS would you let your 10 yr old wave signs like this around after what he has been charged with ??

I ahve no problem Stewart playing until his court case but let's remember there is another party involved here and we should be a little sensitive .

Having said that I havn't seen too many smiles on Stewarts face even after his tries last week and last night - looks like a man with a lot of weight on his shoulders at present.

 

[LESStar58]

Stewart salute reveals double standards

By Ricky Stuart | April 19, 2009

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,25351907-5016307,00.html




IF Greg Bird ran out for the Sharks today, would you stand and cheer? Given the events at Brookvale Oval last Sunday, it makes me wonder. Despite still facing police charges for an alleged assault on a teenage girl, Brett Stewart returned from a four-match ban and was hailed a hero.
The Manly fullback finished with a hat-trick in a performance that almost single-handedly got the premiers' season back on track.
Good on Brett. I enjoyed watching one of the most brilliant individual performances seen in a long time. On the footy field is where he belongs.
And Brett was immediately talked about as a possible Test and State of Origin candidate.
Meanwhile, Greg Bird is today living in France awaiting the outcome of an alleged assault that took place last year. Where is the consistency? This is in no way meant to be a personal attack on Brett, or an attempt to defend and justify Greg's alleged actions.
I'm simply trying to point out the double standards at work in our game - and the frustration that comes with what I believe is an unfair system. If Brett Stewart's suspension is now the benchmark, I would welcome Greg Bird back to the fold today.
Every NRL coach would do the same, if their decision was based purely on football. Our club was forced to make a exposes the double standards within our gamestand last year on Greg's future.
Given the backlash from fans and the game's administrators - but most importantly our sponsors - we had no alternative but to release our star player.
Last Sunday, Sea Eagles fans couldn't get enough of their try-scoring machine. They gave him a standing ovation. Players then celebrated with a lap of honour.
Double standards? Seriously, you tell me. Manly could argue the difference is Greg Bird allegedly hindered the investigation by lying to police and the club. We still don't know fully what happened at Manly's season launch and in the days that followed. The courts will judge that.

For now, Stewart plays on. A month ago, when the NRL was at war on bad behaviour, administrators pulled out the big stick and said "no more''.
But as soon as the hysteria died down, the issue was swept under the carpet. The NRL said a flat no to calls for an independent tribunal to judge off-field incidents.
When Greg Bird was still at the Sharks after his alleged assault, women's groups were threatening to protest at our matches, while concerned sponsors were ready to pull the pin. But last weekend Brett Stewart received unwavering support.
How do we treat the next case? If it comes down to winning and losing, and the decision is made by clubs, they will attempt to do what is best for the football team. But is that best for the game?
I arrived in Adelaide on Thursday to prepare for our match against North Queensland and discovered an AFL player down here is returning after an alleged assault on his girlfriend.
The club initially stood him down indefinitely - but after just one week he is back. What message does this send to you? We're not the only code with a problem - but we do have a problem, and it must be fixed.

He's got a point. Nice to see him throw in the part about the AFL player beating on his girlfriend.

 

[butchmcdick]

As Daddy Cool says, Cronulla stood down Bird. Who says Manly have to honour whatever Cronulla decide is their standard?

Way to miss the point

 

[Didgi]

FFS, can't he be left alone? Is anyone else getting sick of the umpteen Stewart -slaying threads? And I hate the bloke.

 

[Alex28]

greg bird should have been playing in our finals games last year.
he should still be with the club, but the way he was treated we have no hope of ever seeing him in our colours again.
we have paid dearly for our clubs managements misguided judgement of a player we soorly needed and still do.

No he should not have played in the finals, but in the same context Stewart should still be out of the game. Massive double standard, but that does not mean that Bird was hard done by. It means that Stewart is getting away with his actions and Manly and the NRL are letting it happen.

 

[Garts]

Totally agree...pretty pathetic watching Manly fans cheer for a player who has had so much negative publicity.

Why is it pathetic to cheer on your own player. Yes he has had bad publicity but he is pleading not guilty so I guess we just carry on as normal until a verdict comes. tbh the cheering when Brett scored his tries was pretty normal anyway, he always receives cheers at Brookie as he has been a crowd favourite for a while.

 

[Cloud9]

I'm backing Manly fans on this. That's what loyal fans do, Brett Stewart is presumed innocent until found guilty. If he is to be found guilty, they'll all have eggs on their faces.

 

[Loudstrat]

Way to miss the point

NMo ot's not. Stuart reckons it'a double standard - but by whom? Indonesia has a death penalty for drug smuggling. Australia doesn't. Double standard? No way. Different standards from different entities.

Why should Manly adhere like glue to Cronulla's policies?

 

[gong_eagle]

Maybe Ricky Stuart should stick to doing what he does best instead of writing this crap for the papers

what is it he does best again ?

 

[Charlie124]

You might not like ricky stuart and for the record I hated stuart as a player and now can't stand him as a coach. That said I can't fault what he says in the article.

Both players were charged by police. Both players are awaiting trial. Both crimes involve violence against women and alcohol. Yet one player is running around getting cheered of the field and being treated like a hero while the other is in France in exile. You tell me what the points of difference are other than stewart is a pin up boy while bird has a repuatation (in my opinion a deserved one) as a grub.

1. Bird lied to the police, Stewart did not.

2. Bird refused to talk to his club, Stewart did not (this is a sackable offence in itself in my opinion)

3. Bird tried to pin it on his mate, Stewart did not.

4. The Sharks chose to stand Bird down (presumably because he refused to talk to them about his side of the story), The Sea Eagles chose to stand by their player.

 

[Dutchy]

:lol::lol: hit a nerve did he, you know it cause its true, manly are a joke and so to is the NRL

what sticky is saying is the truth that the NRL wont admit to, its gone beyond a joke, either stewart shouldnt be playing or greg bird should still be with us..

A joke because they are standing by their player? A player who didn't lie to his club, didn't try to pin it on his mate and a player who didn't lie to the police.

And it was Sharks who stood Bird down, for lying. The situations are totally different.

 

[Frailty]

These situations over the last few months quite clearly demonstrate a problem with leaving disciplinary matters to clubs. We see Cronulla and Canberra take harsher action, whilst clubs like the Roosters and Manly take the soft line. We need to have a governing body make decisions on these issues and not leave them to the clubs.

If I were to create a standard - indefinately suspend without pay any player involved in any criminal charge until the matter is resolved. If found guilty, an immediate termination of contract should occur, and if found innocent payments made for the lost time and return to the game.

It may seem harsh, but it needs to be done. These thick footballers, and many here are so far from the societal values it is absolutely scary. Especially when the same posters here will not wait for a guilty verdict of a suspected murderer, fraudster, paedophile, other rapist, before they label them as so. The game needs to fix up its image now, or face issues when other codes clean themselves up before we do.

 

[CanadianEagle]

The fanfare after the manly game was almost treating stewart like the victim..pathetic.

I was there, cheering Stewy at the end for a great 3 try game he just played had nothing to do with any off field stuff.

 

[butchmcdick]

NMo ot's not. Stuart reckons it'a double standard - but by whom? Indonesia has a death penalty for drug smuggling. Australia doesn't. Double standard? No way. Different standards from different entities.

Why should Manly adhere like glue to Cronulla's policies?

Perhaps because they both play in the same competition under the same organisation. If this sitution isn't the catalysist for an independant disicplinary commitee then I don't know what it will take.

To use your analogy, instead of looking at both clubs are their own nation try looking at them as states of the same country.

 

[manly40gimps0]

Ricky is just all upset because Stewart has managed to score more tries in 2 games than Sharks have all season.

 

[redvscotty]

Sticky is right. Stewart and Bird should both be in France assaulting each other.

 

[aussie_q_factor]

I agree with Sticky for a change.

 

[dragonfire]

i totally agree with the article, its digusting to see Stewart getting all this praise yet the guy has shown he is a complete grub. you dont get charged with sexual assault for no reason, the nrl will look like complete fks if he gets proven guilty and they are all about women in league. right.