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Cherro is on the mend and in line for top NRL community honour
Cherrington's reformation a Roosters team effort August 7, 2010
The club believes its decision to stand by a youngster in trouble has been vindicated, writes Brad Walter.
Less than two years after serving 180 hours community service for assaulting his model girlfriend, Anthony Cherrington has been nominated for the NRL's prestigious Ken Stephen Medal, awarded each season to the player considered to have made the most outstanding contribution to the community.
It has been, to say the least, a dramatic transformation for Cherrington, who would join the likes of Hazem El Masri, Preston Campbell, Nathan Hindmarsh, David Peachey, Jason Stevens, Wayne Pearce and Andrew Ettingshausen if he was to win the award.
The Roosters view Cherrington as an example of why they should stick by wayward players such as Todd Carney and Jake Friend, and on Monday will submit a letter to the NRL nominating Cherrington for his work off the field since completing his court-imposed penalty that included sweeping floors, painting fences and doing maintenance work at a church in Kings Cross.
''Doing my community service gave me a lot of time for self-reflection,'' said Cherrington, who has been sidelined by a knee injury sustained in the pre-season but is close to a return. ''I realised I had done something wrong and if you do the crime you've got to do the time, so I accepted that.
''I'd never been arrested before, I'd never been in a court before and it's something I never want to do again. To stand up in front of a judge and have your life for the next couple of months or years in his hands is pretty scary.
''But doing the community service opened a few doors for me and it gave me the opportunity to see that there are a lot of people who are a lot less fortunate than me. Football is a sport in which you can be quite selfish and I realised that.''
Cherrington has since been far from selfish as he done charity work for Mission Australia and the club's major sponsor, Steggles, and its Charity Nest partners, Sydney Children's Hospital and Royal Brisbane Children's Hospital.
The 22-year-old back-rower has also taught yoga and other sports-related activities to primary schoolchildren and conducted coaching clinics.
''It's just good to see people smile, whether they are kids or homeless people, and I just found that doing that sort of stuff made me feel good about myself,'' Cherrington said. ''I was so embarrassed about what happened. I felt people were looking at me saying he is that footy player who bashed his girlfriend, and in terms of self-esteem mine was pretty low. But I know who I am and I want to portray the right image out to the public.''
Club boss Steve Noyce said that Cherrington's reformation off the field vindicated the decision to stand by him last year after he was charged and found guilty of assaulting his then girlfriend as she was trying to leave him.
''It was a serious matter, no one would deny that,'' Noyce said. ''But knowing the kid and seeing the way he reacted, it was out of character. Having spent time in court and spoken to Anthony about it, I could tell he was sincere in his remorse. He told the police exactly what had happened. There was no beating around the bush, he put his hand up straight away and accepted what he had done …
''I'm sure a lot of people will be surprised by Anthony's nomination [for the Ken Stephen award] but I think when they understand the reasons behind it they will see we are doing things to make a difference.''
Cherrington said that without the support of the Roosters he would probably be working as labourer now. ''I owe a lot of loyalty to the Roosters for standing by me and helping me out so hopefully I can stay here for the rest of my life,'' he said.
The club believes its decision to stand by a youngster in trouble has been vindicated, writes Brad Walter.
Less than two years after serving 180 hours community service for assaulting his model girlfriend, Anthony Cherrington has been nominated for the NRL's prestigious Ken Stephen Medal, awarded each season to the player considered to have made the most outstanding contribution to the community.
It has been, to say the least, a dramatic transformation for Cherrington, who would join the likes of Hazem El Masri, Preston Campbell, Nathan Hindmarsh, David Peachey, Jason Stevens, Wayne Pearce and Andrew Ettingshausen if he was to win the award.
The Roosters view Cherrington as an example of why they should stick by wayward players such as Todd Carney and Jake Friend, and on Monday will submit a letter to the NRL nominating Cherrington for his work off the field since completing his court-imposed penalty that included sweeping floors, painting fences and doing maintenance work at a church in Kings Cross.
''Doing my community service gave me a lot of time for self-reflection,'' said Cherrington, who has been sidelined by a knee injury sustained in the pre-season but is close to a return. ''I realised I had done something wrong and if you do the crime you've got to do the time, so I accepted that.
''I'd never been arrested before, I'd never been in a court before and it's something I never want to do again. To stand up in front of a judge and have your life for the next couple of months or years in his hands is pretty scary.
''But doing the community service opened a few doors for me and it gave me the opportunity to see that there are a lot of people who are a lot less fortunate than me. Football is a sport in which you can be quite selfish and I realised that.''
Cherrington has since been far from selfish as he done charity work for Mission Australia and the club's major sponsor, Steggles, and its Charity Nest partners, Sydney Children's Hospital and Royal Brisbane Children's Hospital.
The 22-year-old back-rower has also taught yoga and other sports-related activities to primary schoolchildren and conducted coaching clinics.
''It's just good to see people smile, whether they are kids or homeless people, and I just found that doing that sort of stuff made me feel good about myself,'' Cherrington said. ''I was so embarrassed about what happened. I felt people were looking at me saying he is that footy player who bashed his girlfriend, and in terms of self-esteem mine was pretty low. But I know who I am and I want to portray the right image out to the public.''
Club boss Steve Noyce said that Cherrington's reformation off the field vindicated the decision to stand by him last year after he was charged and found guilty of assaulting his then girlfriend as she was trying to leave him.
''It was a serious matter, no one would deny that,'' Noyce said. ''But knowing the kid and seeing the way he reacted, it was out of character. Having spent time in court and spoken to Anthony about it, I could tell he was sincere in his remorse. He told the police exactly what had happened. There was no beating around the bush, he put his hand up straight away and accepted what he had done …
''I'm sure a lot of people will be surprised by Anthony's nomination [for the Ken Stephen award] but I think when they understand the reasons behind it they will see we are doing things to make a difference.''
Cherrington said that without the support of the Roosters he would probably be working as labourer now. ''I owe a lot of loyalty to the Roosters for standing by me and helping me out so hopefully I can stay here for the rest of my life,'' he said.
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