0
Rebecca Wilson, writing in The Sunday Times
July 06, 2007 10:00pm
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/stor...005374,00.html
It was a truly seminal moment in sport - not a spectacular mark or a great try-saving tackle, or a champion holding a trophy aloft.
It was just a media conference. There, sitting in the glare of a dozen television cameras, was rugby union superstar Lote Tuqiri.
The man heralded as the bloke who would save his sport when he converted from rugby league several years ago was in deep trouble.
This, of course, is nothing new for many footballers of the modern era who have found it difficult to combine full-time professionalism with good behaviour.
Tuqiri has found himself in trouble before. He was fined by the Australian Rugby Union in recent seasons for staying out on the grog until 3.30am the night BEFORE a Test match. He was dropped from the Wallabies for being unfit and not fast enough to play Test rugby.
While sitting in the crowd at the Wales Test match, the cameras caught him laughing hysterically when the Wallabies were down 17-0 during the match.
Tuqiri topped all of this last weekend when he decided that a win against the Kiwis in Melbourne was a bloody good excuse to get on the drink. Fair enough, really. The Wallabies hadn't beaten the All Blacks for years.
But Saturday night, Sunday and Sunday night weren't enough for Lote (now also known as Cost a Lote since the New South Wales rugby union added several zeros to his contract).
Tuqiri failed to front for training on Monday morning. He says he didn't check his diary (yes, he really said that), so he didn't realise rugby practice was on.
Though this sounded a lot like an excuse for someone playing in the office touch footy competition, worse was to come.
Tuqiri was breath-tested by the ARU on Monday afternoon. He recorded 0.05. This was, by now, nearly 48 hours after full-time in the Test match. That is some celebration drink.
Then the seminal moment occurred.
Reinstated rugby boss John O'Neill continues to stress he is not the messiah. But he is very close to it at this point.
O'Neill made Tuqiri front a media conference on Tuesday afternoon. Wallabies coach John Connolly, O'Neill and Tuqiri all turned up. Tuqiri had to explain his actions in a formal environment in the full glare of the media.
He wasn't caught running to his late-model BMW, wearing sunglasses and speeding away. He wasn't refusing to comment as he ran from rugby headquarters. He wasn't ushered into an airport and secreted on to a plane to the latest and greatest rehab centre.
There was nowhere to hide for Tuqiri. He was made personally accountable for his actions.
This was indeed a monumental shift in attitude for any sporting body. No doubt, Tuqiri would have chosen to run or hide. But his boss told him he could sit there and face the music.
For Tuqiri, there was no manager to hide behind, no media to blame – just him, beads of sweat on his forehead, explaining why he had put himself and his habits above the Wallaby jersey.
The winger was given a $20,000 fine and told he would not play in the last two matches of the Tri-Nations series – the Test against South Africa last night and the Bledisloe decider against the Kiwis on July 21.
The headlines the following day suggested Tuqiri had cost Australia the Bledisloe Cup.
The AFL has been trying to cope with the fallout from the Ben Cousins affair since January. But Cousins has dictated the terms.
Even though he admitted he has a drug problem and checked himself into rehab, the West Coast star has never, ever, been forced to be publicly accountable and sorry for his actions in a formal media conference conducted alongside his bosses.
He has not been disciplined in a most fundamental and effective way.
Rugby league's Craig Gower says he is fleeing Australia for rugby union in France because the media has made his life so tough in recent years.
Gower has never been told to sit down next to league boss David Gallop at a media conference and explain why he is so appalling on the drink. That is why the shocking behaviour has become serial.
O'Neill has done us all a great service. There is nothing quite as dreadful as having to face a media conference when you have done the wrong thing. All the fines and suspensions in the world cannot replace the public humiliation these blokes need to feel before they decide enough is enough.
O'Neill says no player is worth more than the jersey, that no person should ever put themselves above it. It might sound old-fashioned, but it could just be time for all footy bosses to take note.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Flamethrower
