The Ben Barba story is bad but the Jack de Belin story is even worse.
I hadn't really caught up with this until today but de Belin, a key forward for the Dragons, is up in court on rape charges of a 19 year-old woman. His mate is also facing similar charges.
The NRL and Dragons have allowed him to keep training and play in any games.
If the NRL's marketing strategy is "there is no such thing as bad publicity" then they're having a doozy this off-season.
So the Maori got smashed ... this is what happens when you don't have proper halves to lead your team about.
Those outside backs in the indigenous Side were pretty dam electric,
You wouldn’t see that much pace in one side too often .
First preseason game for Warriors. Win 12-6 against the Melbourne Storm.
Some key points:
@Sneakdefreak Bunty was the best prop in the comp for at least the first 8 rounds last year.
I think he is a potential super star forward.
@raznomore said in NRL 2019:
@Sneakdefreak Bunty was the best prop in the comp for at least the first 8 rounds last year.
I think he is a potential super star forward.
I love Bunty. Total fan favourite at Mt Smart
Well, it looks like Cronulla are fucked. In a huge shock, there are more salary cap issues than the self-reported ones. You know, the ones either side of the premiership year, but not on the premiership year.
Big fine and a cap hit, to go with the big fine for working with Flanagan while he was suspended.
Hello the Central Coast Sharks.
@mariner4life said in NRL 2019:
Well, it looks like Cronulla are fucked. In a huge shock, there are more salary cap issues than the self-reported ones. You know, the ones either side of the premiership year, but not on the premiership year.
Big fine and a cap hit, to go with the big fine for working with Flanagan while he was suspended.
Hello the Central Coast Sharks.
I hope Shaun Johnson can get his rental bond back
@mariner4life said in NRL 2019:
Well, it looks like Cronulla are fucked. In a huge shock, there are more salary cap issues than the self-reported ones. You know, the ones either side of the premiership year, but not on the premiership year.
Big fine and a cap hit, to go with the big fine for working with Flanagan while he was suspended.
Hello the Central Coast Sharks.
Take their premiership off them as well.
@antipodean said in NRL 2019:
@mariner4life said in NRL 2019:
Well, it looks like Cronulla are fucked. In a huge shock, there are more salary cap issues than the self-reported ones. You know, the ones either side of the premiership year, but not on the premiership year.
Big fine and a cap hit, to go with the big fine for working with Flanagan while he was suspended.
Hello the Central Coast Sharks.
Take their premiership off them as well.
If it works for Melbourne it should work for Cronulla. Of course you wonder why it doesn't work for the Roosters the year they rorted the cap and beat the Warriors in the final 
Taking away the title and not giving it to the losing finalist is bullshit. If the NRL won't give it then the punishment should be greater, for example strip title and have to play a year on a reduced cap. And have scrutineers on hand to make sure they adhere to it
My boss, the big boss, is a massive Cronulla fan. We even had Mat Rogers son working here at one stage and given his level of experience he got the job based on who he was. We area all rubbing it in about the apparent collapse of his club.
In unrelated news...We had Darren Lockyer in our office last week. Super nice guy and likes to talk about footy which is not what we all expected. My immediate superior has a tattoo of Locky's signature(and Sam Thaiday's) on his arm so that was a bit of an awkward talking point...But man that guy sounds like he's given multiple deep throat blow jobs to an elephant. Its much worse in person.
One thing we all took away is how tiny he is. That man got hammered in his career.
In Warriors news Kearny has been given a three year contract and the management seems to have decided that they will look for an experienced half now and they're chasing Wigan half George Williams ... you'd think they'd avoid non-Kiwi Wigan players.
Prepare for several NRL clubs (Brisbane, Souths, Sydney City) to panic-sell players in the next few weeks if Cronulla are dealt a heavy blow. There's a few teams which are probably dodging the cap and are afraid of getting caught now.
This falls into place perfectly for the Warriors who look like they've played the game right by freeing up so much cap space. I think a NRL club needs to be within 5 percent of the cap limit before the start of the season so they should pick up a decent player or two in the next fortnight.
In Warriors news Kearny has been given a three year contract and the management seems to have decided that they will look for an experienced half now and they're chasing Wigan half George Williams ... you'd think they'd avoid non-Kiwi Wigan players.
Most of the NH players blow dog. Best stay away
So the NRL has decided it is going to suspend anyone even facing charge for violence, especially against women.
So a bunch of guys are in the gun. Scott Bolton of the Cowboys was charged with assault, but didn't have a conviction recorded. He's getting 5 weeks to start the season apparently.
Jack de Ballin to be stood down until his court case is finalised. I assume Walker will be the same.
I think players will still be paid?
I'm not really sure where i stand on this. On one hand it's been a pretty bad off-season, and the NRL needs to be seen to be doing something. However it also seems to be the NRL are trumping innocent until proven guilty, or over-riding the finding of the courts.
@mariner4life interesting comments from the Warriors about providing salary cap relief too. So we'll ban you even though you aren't convicted yet, and we'll (yet to be confirmed) give you scope to recruit cover.
@mariner4life said in NRL 2019:
Jack de Ballin to be stood down until his court case is finalised. I assume Walker will be the same.
Yeah: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-01/nrl-stands-down-manlys-dylan-walker-under-new-powers/10861568
@Paekakboyz would say a few employers would take that stance if they knew wouldn't they?
Although I guess for plebs like us, it is unlikely our employer would find out until we told them or we were due for court?
@taniwharugby said in NRL 2019:
@Paekakboyz would say a few employers would take that stance if they knew wouldn't they?
Although I guess for plebs like us, it is unlikely our employer would find out until we told them or we were due for court?
To maintain my security clearance, as soon as you're charged you need to inform. Then depending on the perceived impact you can either be told to continue working, take leave or lose your clearance.
I'm not a fan generally of the stance the NRL has taken for the general public, but being paid handsomely to play football does set you apart from the general public.
@taniwharugby that is a good question. I guess you go on gardening leave? Not sure where the line is in terms of what you are being charged for. But I guess the thing with NRL stuff is it's in the media immediately, so no chance for those guys to keep it secret squirrel. But that also comes with the nature of what they are accused of.... so....
@antipodean said in NRL 2019:
@mariner4life said in NRL 2019:
Well, it looks like Cronulla are fucked. In a huge shock, there are more salary cap issues than the self-reported ones. You know, the ones either side of the premiership year, but not on the premiership year.
Big fine and a cap hit, to go with the big fine for working with Flanagan while he was suspended.
Hello the Central Coast Sharks.
Take their premiership off them as well.
If it works for Melbourne it should work for Cronulla. Of course you wonder why it doesn't work for the Roosters the year they rorted the cap and beat the Warriors in the final
With Melbourne , at the time they were owned by news ltd , and news ltd also ran the comp ,
News LTd employed Brian Waldron as CEO of the storm and he orchestrated it all ,
They had to throw the book at them , to show there was no favouritism , because it was partly their own fault for employing the cheating CEO in the first place .
The full details of all the sanctions. Players will be docked pay as well. Cronulla and Tigers done for salary cap breaches too:
@Sneakdefreak said in NRL 2019:
The full details of all the sanctions. Players will be docked pay as well. Cronulla and Tigers done for salary cap breaches too:
that feels a lot like the Tigers got fucked, while the Sharks got off really lightly.
I also feel really fucking sorry for Napa. What exactly did he do to deserve a punishment?
@mariner4life Yeah it's kinda hidden in among all the players' fines and suspensions. However their coach has been deregistered and they have zero sponsors so anything harsh would be the equivalent of a death penalty.
@mariner4life said in NRL 2019:
I'm not really sure where i stand on this. On one hand it's been a pretty bad off-season, and the NRL needs to be seen to be doing something. However it also seems to be the NRL are trumping innocent until proven guilty, or over-riding the finding of the courts.
It sounds good on paper but putting yourself at the mercy of the court system doesn't seem like a terribly good idea. Are they really prepared to have guys sit out twelve months while a relatively basic case navigates various procedural delays throughout the court system.
@chchfanatic innocent till proven guilty?
That is harsh on Napa, how many players would have skeletons on the closet. Heaps I reckon. But given the current climate he may feel he got off lightly.
@Paekakboyz said in NRL 2019:
@chchfanatic innocent till proven guilty?
That is harsh on Napa, how many players would have skeletons on the closet. Heaps I reckon. But given the current climate he may feel he got off lightly.
I am not up with the whole story, but what did Napa actually do wrong? From the little I know, he shagged a chick (she consented), it was filmed by a friend and somebody, not Napa, posted the film online. If that's all there is to the story I would say Napa is a victim.
@chchfanatic said in NRL 2019:
@rotated don’t commit a crime then. Simple
That is simple enough, not sure how to avoid simply being accused of a crime though which is what you really need to do to avoid a stand down.
Take something as ridiculous as the Masoe/Umaga handbag incident. The NRL is really prepared to sit their players for one year plus over something like that? Get the right local police and a prosecutor looking to make a name for themselves by perusing charges... and goodbye on year of your career.
I think it really hurts their ability to fight false charges in court and it's not theoretical - it's exactly what happened in the Ben Stokes case. The prosecute perused trumped up charges because there was obvious pressure for him to plead guilty and move on with his career. He had to wait sometime for his day in court where he was rightful acquitted.
@Crazy-Horse if he was a woman someone else would be facing criminal charges
But he gets a whopping great fine
@chchfanatic said in NRL 2019:
@rotated don’t commit a crime then. Simple
Well done, that's remarkably retarded
An average professional sports league would just let the players play and the case go through the court system but the NRL has had nearly 20 years of bad behaviour by their players making it into the public arena.
The players have been warned over the past few years that anything which makes their club or the league look bad would see potential punishment handed down by the NRL.
The NRL is finally handing out those punishments.
@Crazy-Horse the stand down isn’t about Dylan Napa. He was fined for stupidity.
Dylan walker gave his mrs a clip cause she had a go at him about playing PlayStation
Jack de Belin put himself in a situation where he has been accused of rape.
If you they don’t commit these crime then they don’t get stood down.
@chchfanatic said in NRL 2019:
@Crazy-Horse the stand down isn’t about Dylan Napa. He was fined for stupidity.
Dylan walker gave his mrs a clip cause she had a go at him about playing PlayStation
Jack de Belin put himself in a situation where he has been accused of rape.
If you they don’t commit these crime then they don’t get stood down.
Alleged crimes.
@Sneakdefreak said in NRL 2019:
An average professional sports league would just let the players play and the case go through the court system but the NRL has had nearly 20 years of bad behaviour by their players making it into the public arena.
The players have been warned over the past few years that anything which makes their club or the league look bad would see potential punishment handed down by the NRL.
The NRL is finally handing out those punishments.
Thing is they are putting themselves into positions where alleged crimes can happpen.
Hanging out at bars or casinos at 4am a day or 2 before a rep game.
Spending time with non drug dealers or gang members. Spotted on a video where someone snorts coke in a video.
They just need to make smarter choices with their spare time. Do that and I’m sure 90% of the dramas wouldn’t take place
I found it interesting that the NFL club that Hayne went too had a rep for guys making poor decisions on extra-curricula activities and who they hung out with. Sounded like some pretty solid guys, who hadn't had any discipline issues, went there and went off the deep end. So that points to culture (team/club, but also area) as a big factor. But ultimately it's your decision as to who you call your mates, or who you hang out with.
