From Over Re-Action to NO Action

Andrew Johns and Gordon Tallis have proven the NRL handles incidents poorly this week which has consequently discredited CEO David Gallop and the administration.

Joey should not swear at a referee or a touch judge. Plain and simple it is not on. The events that followed and the way the incident was handle was very poor.

A refusal to apologise to the official by Joey is his first idiotic mistake. To then, however find him initially guilty and give him a four week suspension is ridiculous.

Joey is the NRL. He is the best player of this generation and the punishment was arrogant and exaggerated. The reduced two week sentence is still a very harsh penalty but this should have been simply resolved between player and the officials.

If Joey had formally said sorry to the officials then this should have been left at that. I am not encouraging players to swear at referees, far from it. Joey is a role model for the game and kids look to him.

He made a mistake, the referee should have simply ‘sin-binned’ him for 10 minutes, not force the bloke to miss two vital weeks of rugby league which will do considerable damage to the game.

In contrast former NRL hard man and Queensland State of Origin captain Gordon Tallis is allowed to throw a glass at a barman in a Brisbane pub and remain as an NRL director, facing no criminal prosecution.

Tallis should be marched out of the game now and do the honorable thing by the position he holds for News Limited and resign. Tallis does not and should not have to comply with the NRL Code of Conduct because he is a board member.

With the position come certain expectations. Is this man, someone we wish to have as a director of a national sporting competition?

Tallis is an idiot. With ‘under-the-table’ deals assuring he is not prosecuted and the charges dropped. Ridiculous!

The NRL wants to change it’s image and the negative publicity they have received over numerous incidents this century, well look at yourselves as administrators because you do nothing to improve the situation, only create an environment for controversy and drama.

Two extremes this week in the NRL, over re-action to the games greatest player and no action to a former player and now deadbeat director.