The recent sacking of high-profile winger and serial mug in Josh Addo-Carr by the Canterbury Bulldogs, and his subsequent signing by the Parramatta Eels is the latest example of a player being found guilty of a sackable offence by one club who then has his poor behaviour both ignored and rewarded by another club.
Essentially, the Bulldogs’ loss becomes the Eels’ gain, while the NRL’s reputation gets another punch in the nose. Justice is seen to be done so long as the guilty player’s club moves the offender on, even if they just continue their careers somewhere else.
Rugby league has come ahead in leaps and bounds in recent years in nearly every aspect of the game and is knocking virtually every key performance indicator out of the park, but the game’s image is still well below where it should be, with barely a month going by without another player-induced controversy plastered all over the media.
If the NRL is serious about improving the game’s image in what is an image-conscious world, perhaps it could start by ensuring that players found guilty of a serious offence are excluded from the game at all levels, both domestic and overseas, either for an appropriate period of time or preferably permanently where crimes have been committed, and the guilty shouldn’t be given the opportunity to continue their careers at either another NRL club or in the English competition.
The game has nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking a much harder stance.
Perhaps then, players, their managers, minders and other hangers-on will begin to get the message that serious breaches of either the law or the game’s standards wont be tolerated and will result in both a significant loss of income and time out of the game rather than just a few embarrassing headlines and a change of jersey.
(Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)
To illustrate the NRL’s history of suffering reputational damage by re-birthing write-offs, here’s a small selection of players who were either sacked or sanctioned for serious breaches of conduct at one club, only to somehow continue in the game elsewhere.
John Hopoate
There’s not enough space here to properly document Hopoate’s history of poor discipline, violence and criminal behaviour both on and off the field but I’m sure everyone is familiar with his infamous activities in the Tigers’ 2001 clash against North Queensland, following which the NRL Judiciary found him guilty of “disgusting, violent and offensive behaviour”.
Let’s face it, if he stuck his fingers up the bums of three people while off the field, he’d probably be looking at time in either prison or a psychiatric facility.
In what proved to be a very poor piece of judgement by the NRL he received just a 12-week suspension rather than being permanently removed from the game, and although sacked by the Tigers for his actions, he was back playing the game before the season was out, and he continued to be a blight on the game’s reputation.
Kirisome Auva’a
In 2014 the Souths player pleaded guilty to assault charges which included throwing his ex-girlfriend against a wall. What a hero.
He was suspended for just nine months by the NRL but, incredibly, was retained by the Rabbitohs, and was even rewarded with selection for Samoa two years later. Souths eventually punted him in 2016 for a second breach of the NRL’s Testing Policy for illicit substances, only for him to continue his career with Parramatta.
Addin Fonua-Blake
The then-Dragons lower grade player was sacked by the club in June 2015 after pleading guilty to assault charges, admitting to pushing and kicking his girlfriend. What a tough guy.
The NRL slapped him with a wet lettuce in the form of a $1000 fine, and he was back playing lower grades for Manly just five months later. He’s since gone on to play over 180 NRL games, is now regrettably the captain of the Tongan side, and will pick up $4 million over the next four years to play with Cronulla.
It seems that domestic violence does have its rewards.
Robert Lui
At the end of the 2011 season Lui was released from his contract with the Wests Tigers after he was charged with assaulting his partner. He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was placed on a two-year good behaviour bond and fined $2000.
It didn’t slow his rugby league career down much though, as he went on to play another 192 games both here and in England.
Kenny Edwards
After being cut by both Manly and St George Illawarra for disciplinary reasons, Edwards joined the Eels where he quickly assembled his own shame file involving domestic violence, substituting a drug testing urine sample, and some unsavoury on-field incidents.
The Eels eventually cut him loose after a serious traffic offence in 2018, but despite his poor record both on and off the field, he was allowed to continue in the game, spending the next six years playing in the Super League, where his atrocious behaviour continued.
Zane Tetevano
In May 2015 Tetevano was punted by Newcastle after accusations of domestic violence against his girlfriend came to light. Despite the accusations he was then signed by Manly, only for the club to cancel his contract almost immediately when he pleaded guilty to the charges in court.
Instead of serving time in the slammer he went on to spend eight seasons playing for the Roosters, Panthers, Leeds Rhinos and the Bulldogs, as well as representing both New Zealand and the Cook Islands. Another quality individual.
Of course, this is by no means an exhaustive list of players who should have been permanently excluded from the game, but rather the tip of a very large and murky iceberg.
There have been far too many players guilty of serious breaches in recent years which have brought the game into disrepute who were allowed to remain in the game, including the likes of Russell Packer, Paul Vaughan, Tyrone May, Todd Carney, Dylan Napa, Michael Jennings, Matt Lodge, and Jayden Okunbor, and the list goes on.
There should be no place in rugby league for either criminals or players who disrespect the game that pays them a very good living.
It’s time for the NRL to clean up its image and get rid of them rather allow them to just shuffle along to another club. Let’s face it, wouldn’t the great game of rugby league be better off without them?