Matthew Johns stood down over sex scandal

[Cowboy]

No one is being burnt.

Pity. After watching it, if it was my daughter I'd be building the bonfire myself.

[laura]

7 years is a long time to not make a report and in some cases details get forgotten but for something so traumatic to happen, I don't think she would have forgetten a thing! We aren't going to find out why she waited so long to come and say something but some reports say she's been in counselling so maybe she's only just capable of talking about and dealing with it. But that's just what the media have reported and its only a guess as to why its taken so long.

This wouldn't be the first time Johns has fallen from grace, but I'm not going to completely right him off just yet. Its also not the first time rugby league players have been involved in a sexual assault incident either. Have any of the other players been punished or stood-down yet or is Johns the only one to be identified and punished?

With so many allegations going around lately, its become difficult to determine which claims are genuine and which claims aren't. Obviously rape is a bloody serious allegation and anyone victim of something like that deserves to be taken seriously but people have made up and exaggerated things much worse than this before. In saying that I'm not saying the girl made it up either, I'm undecided what to believe but I agree with the article that the way they treat women is unacceptable. Regardless of whether the incidents are true/not for so many people to believe them implies that we think the players are capable of it and that in itself is something that we should not expect of people who are regarded as role models.

Who knows what actually happened except for those in the room. We don't know and probably never will, so the topic is pretty much just assumptions and opinions that could end up in a cat fight.

It is refreshing to see blokes comment on the topic and be so empathetic though.

[Jehna]

I have to agree with Coach, that whether you think it is right or wrong, or whether Matt participated in 'gang rape' or it was consensual and therefore acceptable, the fact still remains we hold our public figures to a higher standard. Matt's actions have been deemed inappropriate by this standard and simply because the mere report of a possibility of sex scandal brings the sport into disrepute. So the price Matt pays is losing that public position.

It may seem unfair that the standards are so high. I for one am not a huge fan of the reasoning behind this that they are role models for our children etc. Personally i think society is stupid for idolising athletes or movie stars or muscians because in the end they are human and susceptible to human error. If you're going to idolise them, it should be for their talent alone and not for their general persona. But we do. And they know it. There are plenty of athletes or famous people out there who have managed to successfully live their public life relatively privately. Even amongst our own, we can name players like giteau, mitchell, sharpie etc who are young, rich and famous but who have managed to avoid media blowouts of personal indiscretions.

So, as far as I'm concerned, whether or not it turns out that Matt did the wrong thing to this girl in terms of gang rape or not is irrelevant. He was doing the wrong thing the moment he stepped into that room with her, or even considered the possibility of it. He put himself in a position where the media could crucify him, and they did....so suck it up.

As for the 7 years it took to report it there are so many potential explanations for it, from psychological damage, to fear that no one would believe her, to simply "now would be a good time to get a book deal". We'll never know. But it is important to remember that incidents like these, the 'damage' may not manifest for a long time after the event and so I think we have to give her the benefit of the doubt, in the same way the law does

[Woody]

I live about 5 ks from the 'Racecourse Motel' and remember the incident well. Cronulla had just played at Jade Stadium (AMI, Lancaster, whatever, home of rugby in these parts).
There was a major stink about it at the time. New Zealand coppers went to Sydney to investigate but they came up against a silent brick wall and they didn't persue it.
At the end of the day it was a bit more than a drunken root by a footy player, this was effectively a pack rape on a stupid young girl with some outrageous suggestions by Johns to younger guys. At the time there were a lot of locals who "knew someone" who was there. The word was that this was about as degrading and disgusting as it can get.
Ok he gets to pay ahefty price but he wasn't violated and when you're in the public arena it goes with the teritorty.
If it had been me (or you) some of the younger members would have high fived me, but rest assured I would have got 6-9 years in prison for it.
Some things are just wrong, this is very different to kicking a rodent.

[Cookie]

Thinking back now it was stupid of me to comment on this after just hearing johns side of the story and not really knowing the real facts,I missed the girls side on 4 corners,which must have been really hard for her to do and I respect her bravery for coming out in public about it.

And I hope some good comes out of it,meaning that I hope that high profile male players from all sports better be prepared for the consequences or even think twice about what they do when they are away from home on tour and let this also be a lesson to young girls to stay away from any group of males no matter how famous they are,when they are on tour.

The sad thing is there are girls out there that wouldnt have had a problem with this.
The other sad thing is that there are other innocent victims,Johns wife and kids.

[Swee_82]

Perhaps it's time for another screening of "Footy Girls"- proof positive that the stupidity runs both ways.

[Flamethrower]

I was surprised his wife wasn't wearing his 'nads as earrings.

I was disappointed he couldn't seem to grasp that his actions or lack of action had caused pain to another person and he only referred to her as "That Woman."

Where are the others who were involved in this, his "MATES"?????
They know who they are and seem happy to let Johns cop it for them?

[shasta]

I was disappointed he couldn't seem to grasp that his actions or lack of action had caused pain to another person and he only referred to her as "That Woman."

He did say some things about regretting her trauma, but it seemed an afterthought rather than deep remorse. But, in saying that, he looked to be in some state of shock himself.

People say that footballers should not have to be role models. But a 30yo player of his standing at the time is expected to be a leader and role model at least among the team. Where he led them that night is a horror story.

[mudskipper]

I wonder if channel 9 will do a Shane Warne with him and sack him now and re-hire him next season when all the media fuss has died down... I guess we'll see...

[welshrugbyfan]

What made me shake my head the most was the interviews with players who are on NRL spopnsored courses about such things - one comment along the lines of "It's OK to have group sex with a young girl - we just have to treat her nice afterwards"

Yep, that's right - rugby league players (role models, public figures) can get together in gangs of half a dozen and root drunk young girls [who consented somewhere along the line] silly as much as they like - just so long and they be nice send her home in a cab afterwards....

Yeah I saw this as well and had a bit of a head shake, I think the bloke who said "just so long and they be nice send her home in a cab afterwards" missed the point of the lesson.

Don't forget it is the media reporting this as well. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Tracey Grimshaw should also be stood down for her lack of interviewing skill. Mike Moore from frontline has more interviewing skills.

[travelling_gerry]

Grimshaw and John have the same Manager - you dont think this was staged?

[mudskipper]

Grimshaw and John have the same Manager - you dont think this was staged?

Fordham his manager also represents: John Mitchell, Cameron Shepherd, and a few other Force guys. Others there are many but just a few Joh Bailey, Ricky Stuart, Glen Boss...

[travelling_gerry]

Was waiting for that Mud.

But I didnt see John Mitchell getting interviewed last night did you?

[Darren]

Fordham his manager also represents: John Mitchell, Cameron Shepherd, and a few other Force guys. Others there are many but just a few Joh Bailey, Ricky Stuart, Glen Boss...

If you had read this thread - you would have seen Gerry already listed many other people represented by the Fordham company.

Other rugby folk listed include Les Kiss, Will Caldell, Matthew Burke and Bob Dwyer. None of this has anything to do with the case or point at hand You're slinging mud just for the sake of it...

[mudskipper]

Was waiting for that Mud.

But I didnt see John Mitchell getting interviewed last night did you?

No John Mitchell isn't silly enough to get mixed up in that nonsense...

However... haven't seen him interviewed about much this year... Fordham got mixed up in the Firepower rubbish with is clients also...