Although the reason given was his alleged drunken behaviour, as a ‘face of the game’, not the other business.The NRL's mistake with Snake was that they basically branded him as guilty before he was proven innocent in court. The unfortunate side effect is that most non-Manly fans still refer to him as a rapist even though he was proved to be completely innocent.
As @lsz said, strangely its a mistake the NRL learned from.
Snake was never the same after the media destroyed his reputation. The smiling happy kid with the world at his feet was completely gone. He appeared to become wary, even surly at times with the weight of the world on his shoulders. The psychological weight of the accusations would have led to him being susceptible to injuries which is just what happened.
Even after being cleared as innocent the media continued to bring him down - the chicken dance try celebration in honour of Beaver Menzies was pounced on by some in the media as 'rapist' behaviour - apparently he was so upset he had to have a week off.
Then linked to match fixing.
Snake still managed to be one of Manly's greatest ever fullbacks but the man himself had been changed dramatically.
I hope the NRL has learnt from the Snake crucifixion that everybody is innocent until a court of law proves otherwise.
However, it doesn't stop the media from swaying people's opinions. The vast majority of people who read that someone has been changed will jump to a conclusion of guilt because, hey, the police never make mistakes, do they?
Look what's happened to the reputation of Geoffrey Rush and Craig McLachlin. Trashed via media reports. Yet neither have been proved guilty.
The real trouble with the #metoo campaign is a female can say anything and is instantly believed.
Now don’t get me wrong here many of them have every reason to say something but as we have found with Rush & McLachlan not every time are they right!
Team | P | W | D | L | PD | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bulldogs | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 74 | 14 |
2 | Storm | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 78 | 12 |
3 | Raiders | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 58 | 12 |
4 | Warriors | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | -4 | 12 |
5 | Broncos | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 78 | 10 |
6 | Cowboys | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | -10 | 10 |
7 | Sharks | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 39 | 8 |
8 | Sea Eagles | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 36 | 8 |
9 | Tigers | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 8 |
10 | Dragons | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | -8 | 8 |
11 | Rabbitohs | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | -44 | 8 |
12 | Dolphins | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 6 |
13 | Roosters | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | -52 | 6 |
14 | Titans | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | -68 | 6 |
15 | Knights | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | -74 | 6 |
16 | Eels | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | -107 | 6 |
17 | Panthers | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | -26 | 4 |