Matabele
Journey Man
There are several implications in the Matt Johns knee-capping for Manly I believe.
Firstly there's the girl Choc referred to as a slut. I think quite a few people can see her for what she is - someone cashing in on brief notoriety to get some photo shoots in some tawdry magazines.Â
However, Choc's indiscretion was paraded in front of 1 million Australians on Monday and they heard Gallop's opinion he should apologise. Sanity would suggest he should swallow his pride and for strategic reasons offer an apology, for the sake of the club and because it is fairly clear the situation antagonises Gallop which will not stand us in good stead if/when there is a further indiscretion.
More worrying is that if the Stewart case goes before court (not certain I believe) then it will be the first post Matthew Johns airing of a sexual assault allegation. Even if there is no guilty verdict it is possible Bullet could be hung in the court of public opinion. There will be a lot of scrutiny on the case and pressure for the NRL to act if the public demand it. Best case scenario is for the charges to be withdrawn (unlikely as the police will not want the loss of face). Bullet's lawyers will need to be on their game, not only to win the case but to also ensure the incident does not get a one-sided hearing.
There is also the possibility of the girl in question going to Four Corners post-case to do what Claire and friends did. I rather suspect in the meantime we'll hear about the Coffs Harbour episode and the Broncos toilet episode and each time there is a hearing such as these the impact will be lessened.
The prospect of the Coffs Harbour girl coming forward must surely have a few of the games current superstars quaking in their coloured boots.Â
Firstly there's the girl Choc referred to as a slut. I think quite a few people can see her for what she is - someone cashing in on brief notoriety to get some photo shoots in some tawdry magazines.Â
However, Choc's indiscretion was paraded in front of 1 million Australians on Monday and they heard Gallop's opinion he should apologise. Sanity would suggest he should swallow his pride and for strategic reasons offer an apology, for the sake of the club and because it is fairly clear the situation antagonises Gallop which will not stand us in good stead if/when there is a further indiscretion.
More worrying is that if the Stewart case goes before court (not certain I believe) then it will be the first post Matthew Johns airing of a sexual assault allegation. Even if there is no guilty verdict it is possible Bullet could be hung in the court of public opinion. There will be a lot of scrutiny on the case and pressure for the NRL to act if the public demand it. Best case scenario is for the charges to be withdrawn (unlikely as the police will not want the loss of face). Bullet's lawyers will need to be on their game, not only to win the case but to also ensure the incident does not get a one-sided hearing.
There is also the possibility of the girl in question going to Four Corners post-case to do what Claire and friends did. I rather suspect in the meantime we'll hear about the Coffs Harbour episode and the Broncos toilet episode and each time there is a hearing such as these the impact will be lessened.
The prospect of the Coffs Harbour girl coming forward must surely have a few of the games current superstars quaking in their coloured boots.Â