Pocock won't captain Wallabies: Martin

[The InnFORCEr]

Ed Jackson
March 24, 2015, 8:34 am


David Pocock's principled stand against homophobia on the rugby field will cost him any chance of captaining Australia again, says former Wallaby Greg Martin.

Pocock's on-field complaints to the referee led to NSW Waratahs forward Jacques Potgieter being fined $20,000 for using homophobic slurs during his side's Super Rugby win over the Brumbies on Sunday.

Respected rugby commentator Martin says Pocock did the right thing in speaking out but his action will split opinion in the game.

"He'll pay for it. It will mean that he will never captain the Wallabies again," Martin told Brisbane's Triple M radio on Tuesday.

"What he's done, he hasn't fractured the game down a Waratahs-Brumbies line .. it won't be fractured down that, but it will be fractured upon clear-thinking, modern-thinking footballers who will support David Pocock and the more old school, hard heads who will say that was a disgrace he shouldn't have done that.

"There are schools of thought both ways, but that will break it down the line."

It's the second time in six months Pocock has taken a public stance on an issue, after he was arrested in November for chaining himself to a digger in a protest against the opening of a coal mine inside a NSW state forest.

Pocock captained the Wallabies under former coach Robbie Deans in 2012, before consecutive serious knee injuries blighted his career.

But Martin believed the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) would no longer be comfortable with having him as national team captain.

"They (ARU) have a role to play in appointing the Australian captain because he is the voice box," Martin said.

"They'll get worried that he will get up on his soapbox about all sorts of issues.

"Do you want that when they are not your principles?

"He's getting his own principles out there and they are strong principles but maybe the ARU won't want that and they will go 'hold on, loose cannon. Maybe he can play and be a (team) member but he can't be our leader and our voice piece'."

Meanwhile Australia's first gay rugby union team, the Sydney Convicts, have invited the apologetic Potgieter to train with them and watch some of their matches in the wake of his homophobic slurs toward Brumbies players.

"We often find that people using this kind of language don't fully understand the harmful effects it can have on those around them, particularly those struggling to accept their own sexuality," Convicts president Robert McPherson said.

"We would welcome Jacques to come down to meet the boys and hear their stories, which is why we will invite him to join us for a few of our training sessions and to watch a few games.

"He would quickly recognise that being gay has no impact on a person's ability to play rugby or their passion for the game."

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sp...labies-martin/

[Herbasimplex]

How many super rugby games has pocock played in 2 years? Yet people still talk about him being in the frame for captaining the wallabies. Bizzare. He's crocked. Permanently. Whether he's a crybaby or not is immaterial.

[GIGS20]

How many super rugby games has pocock played in 2 years? Yet people still talk about him being in the frame for captaining the wallabies. Bizzare. He's crocked. Permanently. Whether he's a crybaby or not is immaterial.

Beat me to it, but it's a safe opinion for Martin to hold isn't it. Pocock is too fragile for the ARU to take a chance on naming captain and the entire planet knows that so Greg Martin can look right and also attempt to look like a modern-thinking sensitive man-about-town by writing that article.

Actually any modern-thinking human would be avoiding talk of Pocock being captain in relation to this issue since all it does is muddy the water and bring up a view that says many in the rugby community oppose what Pocock did. By suggesting that his actions are in any way important enough for him to be denied the captaincy as a result Martin has suggested that the greater rugby population think he shouldn't have done it.

Maybe it would have been better for him to write a piece either directly supporting or directly condemning Pocock's or Potgeiter's actions and stand or fall on an actual opinion rather than limp-brained speculation.

[valzc]

So Pocock shouldn't even be considered for captaincy because of his stand, but its ok for Beale and Pots to do what they like? WTF? and..."Respected rugby commentator"....? - don't make me laugh.

[The Man]

The full interview and comment

http://www.triplem.com.au/adelaide/s...-david-pocock/

[Alison]

Wonder if Martin would have a different view if Pocock was a Reds player?

[Alison]

So Pocock shouldn't even be considered for captaincy because of his stand, but its ok for Beale and Pots to do what they like? WTF? and..."Respected rugby commentator"....? - don't make me laugh.

Well said Val!!

[Alison]

Don't think Pocock expected that his words to the ref would be picked up on the mic and broadcast across the planet. Or am I being naive??

[.X.]

Don't think Pocock expected that his words to the ref would be picked up on the mic and broadcast across the planet. Or am I being naive??

With Respect Alison - that is naive - or Dave is. But I think when it comes to politics/social commentary Dave Pocock is IMO highly calculating and knows exactly what he is doing.

[zimeric]

Are they just Pococks principles or is it not an ARU policy.. I hear that 'if you can play you can play' advert every day. Is it not meaningless to be a spokesman for something and then not do anything about it when it happens? I think he would be a great Captain. He's a natural leader and had the courage to speak out about things he believes in

[The InnFORCEr]

Richard Brown ‏@rickobrown · 8m8 minutes ago
Finally, it's taken a long time but @pocockdavid has pissed off more people than I do most Saturday nights. I'm very impressed bam bam

[jono]

Richard Brown ‏@rickobrown · 8m8 minutes ago
Finally, it's taken a long time but @pocockdavid has pissed off more people than I do most Saturday nights. I'm very impressed bam bam

Haha he's copping it from all angles on Twitter lately

[Rex Messup]

It's OK for Pocock to stand up for a team mate and to stand by his principles. I have no problem with that.

What isn't cool is to make a loud audible complaint on live television and deliver rugby union with another scandal and to drop Potgieter right in it.

Pocock's ego has become bigger than the game which is what dickhead Marto was trying to say. The poster boy of the ARU (Australian captain) needs to be a little more diplomatic about things that happen in the heat of battle. This lack of diplomacy is why Pocock should not ever captain the wallabies again.

What goes on tour stays on tour. The diplomatic way of handling this event would be to make a diplomatic complaint to the management of the Brumbies behind closed doors. They would approach the ARU without alerting media attention. The ARU would have a quiet word to Tah management. Potgieter is reprimanded behind closed doors and penalised a smaller fine for bringing the game into disrepute. because the game has been drawn into another scandal and the world's media vulchers are all over it like blowflies on shit, the ARU is pressured to take extreme action. This whole farking circus could have been kept in house and dealt with respectably.

Pocock has to get on his moral high horse from his ivory tower where he breathes rarefied air. The game is tarnished needlessly. The talking point isn't the cracking game we witnessed but some on field sledge in the heat of battle.

Pocock has seized the moral high ground to make a political point about one of his personal social crusades.

The game is bigger than Pocock.

It is reasonable that all people from every race, creed, colour and sexual preference can enjoy the game played in heaven but matters can be dealt with more diplomatically. This is my grievance with Pocock. Potgieter has now been disgraced. I'd say the bloke probably has no real issue with gay people but in his adrenaline charged state of big match chest puffing used a homophobic sledge as a general term of abuse rather than attaching any political comment to it. They also probably called each other c_nts all day. Should they all be fined for work place bullying and derogatory comments against women?

FFS!

Once again, Australia is a farking laughing stock

Keep this sh1t in house. Sure stamp out inequality etc etc but there is no need to name and shame publically. We all have done silly things in the heat of battle. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Pocock is just grand standing. His personal crusades shouldn't be bigger than the game. Players have to live with intense media scrutiny bordering on harrassment in this day and age. The players should stick by the old school rules. What goes on tour stays on tour. What happens on the field stays on the field. Go and talk to the offender quietly after the game. Ask them not to do it blah farking blah or pass it to management. No need to put it all over the front page of every tabloid in the civilised world.

Diplomacy.

Respect isn't necessarily earned by dropping fellow players in the furnace.

This marks the end of the first ever serious post by Rex Messup. Normal transmission will now continue.......

Pocock, you are a gimp!

[GIGS20]

This marks the end of the first ever serious post by Rex Messup. Normal transmission will now continue.......

Pocock, you are a gimp!

Thank god, because you were starting to make sense and that would have buggered my whole day.

However.

There's no evidence that Pocock hadn't spoken to Potgeiter and been rebuffed.
There's no evidence that he wanted the complaint overheard by the media
Stephen Moore was also there in the footage I saw, seemingly in agreement with Pocock, why isn't he being lambasted?

I don't necessarily agree with everything Pocock does (the mine sit in being one example) but making a stand to support an anti discrimination message is OK in my books. The media circus is really what's at fault.

Did anybody see Pocock comment about it on social media before the story broke? If not then this beat up is not of his making.

This marks (hopefully) the end of the first post where I generally agree with Rex....it's far more fun when we're trying to argue each other into knots.

[shasta]

My reasoning for the opening reply in the other thread was pretty much what Rex has written. Typically it brought some howls of derision from the high moral ground.

I don't know Potgeiter. But, like Rex wrote, he probably has no issue with gay players. Possibly this sort of sledge is still little more common is ZA Rugby and I don't know that either. What I do know is that it has been said many, many times in the past to put opposition players off their game. It's totally unacceptable today and needs to be stamped out. But change can take time and does not always come easily. There is absolutely no upside in the public humiliation of a probably otherwise fine man in the name of decent behavior. Diplomacy required.