Raiders have duty to Carney: Raiders
Chris Wilson
Canberra Raiders chairman John McIntyre referred to the club yesterday as a "correctional facility" and said the Raiders had a responsibility to help wayward young star Todd Carney.
Carney will appear in the ACT Magistrates Court on Monday on charges of failing to stop when directed by police, negligent driving and driving while disqualified.
The Raiders have suspended the 20-year-old halfback and teammate Steve Irwin after they were allegedly involved in a police pursuit through the suburb of Bruce on Friday night. Police did not charge Irwin, who was allegedly a passenger in his own vehicle. The Canberra Times understands Carney will meet Raiders coach Neil Henry today, when Henry returns from State of Origin duties in Queensland. The Raiders board, management and Henry will also meet at the Mawson Club tomorrow morning.
Mr McIntyre said the extraordinary board meeting was called not to sack Carney, but to explore a detailed rehabilitation plan. Mr McIntyre said sacking Carney would be like rejecting a family member.
"As another [Raiders] director said to me, 'If one of your family gets in trouble you do your utmost for the family to get together and trade your way out of it'," Mr McIntyre said. "This gentleman said, 'Toddy is one of our family'."
Carney has two previous drink-driving convictions, the latest from December last year. He is still serving a two-year good-behaviour bond in NSW. Mr McIntyre said the Raiders had demonstrated an ability to reform players, referring to the club as a "correctional facility".
He added he said it tongue-in-cheek.
The Raiders have recruited three players in the past two seasons who have either been sacked by their previous NRL clubs or deregistered by the NRL. Former Cronulla Sharks prop Jason Williams served a jail sentence for assaulting a teammate, former Newcastle prop Dane Tilse served a 12-month NRL ban for a pre-season incident at a Bathurst University in 2005, and the Brisbane Broncos sacked Neville Costigan last year for a string of alcohol-related incidents.
Mr McIntyre, who chairs the Raiders' board of nine, said most members were supportive of helping Carney.
"I see the major issue [of tomorrow's meeting] is the organisation itself addressing the issue of full-time professionalism for our players and how we manage that."
Mr McIntyre said he would even seek a meeting with Sydney Swans management when the AFL club came to Canberra this weekend to play the Western Bulldogs.
Mr McIntyre said behavioral issues occured across all codes and it could be beneficial to form an alliance. "Certainly I'll make my best endeavours to have a chat and set up some sort of an exchange of idea arrangement with the management of the Swans. I think what we've got to do is address the issue of how we manage the off-field situation of our players. The Swans have got an exemplary record. We've been pretty good too in that history of full-time professionalism. This is probably the most difficult one we've had to deal with."
Mr McIntyre suggested part of Carney's rehabilitation plan might include extra charity work, "concentrating his free time".
Should the Raiders retain Carney, who is contracted until the end of 2008, Mr McIntyre denied it would be a sign of weakness. "There's no suggestion of letting him off. Any disciplinary action is not an issue at this point in time, after all there is still the presumption of innocence until the court matter takes place."
Mr McIntyre said Carney's future was particularly important to the club because he was a Goulburn junior and the Raiders had invested a lot of resources in his development. "We'd be letting down all those people that have been involved in developing the Todd Carneys, the Laurie Daleys, the Bradley Clydes and the Ricky Stuarts and so on. I don't know there's another NRL club that comes within a bulls roar of what we spend on junior development."
The NRL has the power to de-register Carney. Raiders general manager Don Furner would not speculate on whether Carney would play again this season.
"I'll tell you one thing, there definitely won't be a decision on his future out of [tomorrow's board] meeting," Mr Furner said.
Source: The Canberra Times
http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/de...lass=general&story_id=588175&category=General
All I can say is well done Canberra! Great to see that the Raiders are at the forefront of looking after their players.
