GAME ON COLUMN
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The sledgehammer came in back-to-back press conferences involving NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg, directly addressed game's stance on a smorgasbord of off-field issues
This is where rugby league ends up, mired in its own muck.
This could be a column about the Charity Shield and South Sydney. Remember them? They knocked the Dragons out of the NRL finals last year after not one, but three field goals from Adam Reynolds.
It could be a column about Gareth Widdop - who missed the Rabbitohs semi-final with a shoulder injury - heading home to England at the end of this campaign, hoping to take a premiership ring with him.
About Paul McGregor gaining a contract extension or the outstanding coup to bring the trans-Tasman double-header to Wollongong at the end of the season.
Choose your own adventure.
Instead, the sledgehammer came in back-to-back press conferences involving NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg, directly addressed game's stance on a smorgasbord of off-field issues rugby league has endured in the worst off-season in history.
Sharks and Tigers salary cap penalties. Scott Bolton's five-game ban. Dylan Napa fined.
The ARL Commission did the right thing by bringing in a policy framework to stand down players facing serious criminal charges.
It was drawn out,.The commission flagged the policy change, Greenberg met with de Belin to offer him the chance to stand down. He declined. But the NRL - so often slammed for lack of conviction - has shown leadership.
Where the line should be drawn under the new "no-fault" policy, the base level of serious allegations before the courts, will be up for endless debate.
As with the Jack de Belin case, the NRL has shown leadership in standing down Dylan Walker and previously de-registering Ben Barba.
And the Dragons have every reason to support de Belin while facing rape charges, but credit should be given to new ARL Commissioner Mark Coyne, a Dragons and Queensland State of Origin great, for backing the policy changes.
Coyne is wedged here.
Had it all panned out differently last year, Coyne could well have replaced Peter Doust as chief executive, after overseeing the Dragons 'football committee', formed at the end of 2016.
Instead, he's now on the independent body protecting the game, its image and from itself. Coyne had previously taken the Dragons' stance about de Belin, but has now fallen into line with the commission.
“I obviously did speak about that two weeks ago,” Coyne said on Thursday.
“I’ve had a fair bit of consultation with people throughout the game and the commissioners. I’ve changed my view around that, realising the risk the game has at the moment in terms of its future.”
