New ARLC and CEO failing already

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New ARLC and CEO failing already

Post by Xman »

Mal Meninga has called for an open discussion of the facts around NRL player doping. Picture: Darren England Source: The Courier-Mail

DAVID Smith has been employed by the ARLC, as CEO, to lead rugby league.

Our game, my game.

It is difficult to imagine a tougher initiation to a new job than the one David faced coming in to join the Australian Rugby League, with the drugs-in-sport scandal breaking a couple of days before he had put his feet under his new desk.

However, this is the hand he has been dealt.

Right now the game he was employed to protect is under constant attack.

There is no better time for him to stand up and defend it.

The situation that played out around the Cronulla Sharks on Thursday and Friday was shocking and devastating for anyone who loves rugby league.

Sharks could lose star players in wake of drugs scandal


Sharks could lose star players in wake of drugs scandalDaily Telegraph Sports Editor-At-Large Phil Rothfield believes the Sharks could lose a number of star players in the wake of the club's sca...(1:09 / 5.2MB)
For Cronulla and their fans, it would have been unbelievably painful, with the initial speculation 14 of their players were going to be stood down because of drugs suspicion, then the target moving on to the coaching staff, with some losing their jobs.
For NRL fans as a whole, the decision to go public with this "investigation'' only hours before kick-off in the opening game of the year deserves to be met with suspicion.

Sharks: Players injected with horse drugs

Where is the credibility in that?

More worrying was looking for leadership through it all from the game.

Where were our leaders, taking charge and defending the reputation and image of the game?


ARLC Ceo David Smith. Picture: Brett Costello

Why have the AFL, who kicked off this whole thing with the situation at Essendon, been allowed to quietly hide in the shadows and sneak out the back door, while rugby league is left standing in front of the firing squad?

I read about how the AFL had been negotiating with the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority to deal with the issue while protecting their players and their game.

Why?

Why has the NRL not been afforded the same courtesy?

Why have our game's leaders only found out on the grapevine what the AFL were doing?

And us mere mortals only get to read about it in the media after the fact!

This again highlights the main area where our game has been let down, and lagged behind other sports, particularly AFL, in the past few years: Leadership, direction, protecting the integrity of the game.

Watching this whole situation play out and wounding our game is like watching lambs to the slaughter or perhaps, more correctly, scapegoats to the slaughter.

Enough is enough.

The Government made a decision that they were going to make this a public issue, for whatever reason. Coupled with that was a directive that no one else could comment on it.

The Government has a lot to answer for on this questioning and eroding the integrity of sport when they have their own battles with honesty.

Secret deal: AFL sought special protection

The people who have been placed under suspicion directly or indirectly, and rightly or wrongly are being denied the opportunity to defend themselves. Where is the natural justice in it all?

We need to start fighting back, protecting our game and being proactive with this situation so everyone knows.

The leaders of our game need to get on the front foot, stop listening to the people behind the scenes and play this out in the open.

The Government and ASADA have made this a public issue, so let's deal with it in the public and let everyone have their say.

The game's integrity can no longer afford for our leaders to follow the direction of those hiding behind cloaks of secrecy.

They are looking after their own interests, not rugby league's. That is the responsibility of our leaders.

We need the ARL Commission and the game's leaders to stand in front of the league fraternity and tell us what is happening, and what they are doing about it.

There are so many rumours flying around. Leadership and transparency would help make things right.

As fans, we need an organisation we can trust. This is our game. We need to know what is going on, not just sitting around nervously waiting for the next Cronulla situation to unfold.

Cronulla was left high and dry on this. Their season has been destroyed, and the only justification given for it is that the administrators should have known.

The NRL left it for Cronulla to sort out on its own. It's not good enough.

The clubs are genuine franchiees of the national game. They deserve to be protected and directed as such.

I know David Smith has not been in the game very long, but he is not going to get a better opportunity to stand up and show us that he is the leader we all hoped he would be when he took the job on.

His trivial mistakes in forgetting players' names would be forgotten if he stood up and took control here and told rugby league fans "this is what has happened, this is what we are doing about it, and this is where we are going''.

And it is not just David, it is about all the leaders in our game.


If they are passionate and have a love for the game, they can no longer stand by and watch it being attacked.

Stand up and lead.

Now is the time for them to draw a line in the sand.

What's done is done.

If what is being talked about is true, with the substances involved not banned at the time of the alleged use, stand up and say: "This was a problem. We have addressed it. This is a warning to everyone: If it happens again, there will be zero tolerance. If you do things to bring the game into disrepute from now on, you will be gone for good.''

Let's draw a line and move forward.

Let's be transparent.

It was a harsh lesson, but it has been learnt.

If you stuff up again, you're out.

Let's protect our game, and the people in it with integrity.

If there are people without it, get rid of them.

That line has to drawn now.

Enough is enough.

It's time to put up or shut up.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl ... 6593992265

The NRLs handling of this situation so far has been disgraceful, amateur hour, laughable. They could learn a lot from a professional, well managed unit like the AFL.
King-Eliagh: ...I believe [RL] is popular in all the other states and territories, bar tasmania.
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Re: New ARLC and CEO failing already

Post by cos789 »

One way to reduce the number of rl clubs in Sydney.
Nice try Cos.
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