Over the last ten years there have been many scandals in the sporting world. It seems that as the profile of our players expand and with the transformation of sportspeople into Marketing opportunities, there has been a noticeable increase in the bad behaviour of players. The list extends to some extremely talented players. Superstars such as Nate Miles, Ben Cousins, Arana Taumata, Andrew Johns and Brenden Fevola. The list goes on and on.
There has been a lot of talk in the past week in regards to Todd Carney and his recent charge of low range drink driving. As a person that resides in Canberra I can definitely say that there is a great deal of animosity between the people of our nations capital and Todd.
During his time with the Canberra Raiders he had numerous opportunities to develop his career into one that someone could write a movie about. However he has chosen to repeatedly tarnish the reputation of himself and the clubs that he has played at simply because he can't stay on the right path.
The Roosters have already stated that they will not be sacking Todd and really, can anyone blame them? If they were to do the right thing and sack him you could guarantee that another club would offer him a new contract on the spot.
I believe that the NRL needs to step in on these matters and not only fine players but suspend them regardless of the actions of the club. As clear cut as his new indiscretion was Todd needs a swift backhand in the form of a suspension from club or representative football.
Maybe once a player commits an offence they would get a warning if they keep offending they need a flat out year on the sidelines. Play up again and it's two years and so on and so forth. Or perhaps what will happen is that if players wish to play NRL they cannot drink at all.
Maybe that's a little too soft or harsh depending on what side of the fence your on. However one thing is for sure, each indiscretion needs to be reviewed on a case by case basis.The NRL also needs to step in when cases are as clear cut as this one.
Is money the cause? What makes someone who has all the ability in the world constantly screw up? I remember when I was younger dad told me a story about a young guy that he served with in the army. The young man had a photographic memory and didn't have to study near as much as everyone else. He was destined to be signed by a big oil company for an engineering position but instead missed the final exam because he was drunk, playing a game of poker. He ended up being posted to Vietnam as a regular soldier. I never found out what did happen to him maybe the story ended well, but I think the lesson is the same. That young man never got a second chance he had to learn the hard way and so should Todd.
Tell us what you think. Do our stars get too many chances? What's the answer?
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