Andrew Webster of the SMH - Souths PR campaign to save Burgess

[Spirit of 66]

I don't know about you lot, but I read that article as pretty defamatory towards our fans.

"Within seconds of the full-time siren sounding in that match, Roosters members and fans started lobbying their all-powerful chairman, Nick Politis, to put pressure on NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg to stand down the Souths player."

"In a bizarre twist, the woman involved in the sexting scandal has identified herself as a Roosters fan who hails from Sydney’s eastern suburbs. There is no suggestion she is trying to sabotage Souths’ run at the premiership."

If there is no suggestion this woman is trying to sabotage, why even mention unsubstantiated rumours of who this woman supports?

That's what sets this apart as a piece of PR spin rather than as "another side of the story" as suggested by johnnysekret's response (and others) to this post. Woven into the text is innuendo designed not to inform but to plant the seeds of uncertainty and doubt - and possibly to rev up their team.

[Jacks Fur Coat]

Fk it...lets just put the assholes out of their misery...be even sweeter if Bargearse is there to feel a bit more pain.

Go Easts.

[RoosterFanNZ]

hope radley snaps him in half, hurts him then says a great sledge about the last week

[dice]

Nothing like a bit of victim shaming from the media before all facts are brought out just to cover one of their favourite sons.

The NRL can't tell who is in those photos but it appears Sammy's wife can as can his brothers.

She clearly deserved it. Queue the bikini-clad beer commercials, and as always, bet responsibly.

[The Thracian]

Lets not forget highly talented BJ Leilua being sacked by u, deregistered by the NRL for supposedly showing nude photos of his ex girlfriend, he was hung drawn and quatered, when it went to court it was thrown out as she admitted she sent these photos to try and get him back after he told her to stop, the person he showed was in fcat her brother after he confronted BJ in an Arncliffe pub thinking BJ was the instigator not her. Brother after seeing the proof told her he would not get involved, thus her admission and not even turning up to court.

Wasnt MOnaghan sacked and run out the country for his doggy act?

SKD another great example and found completely innocent, but stood down by club and NRL

What makes this even worse is lol@souffs knew about this months ago and said nothing to no on, just thought it would go away, There is no suggestion that this woman was or is looking for a payout, she in fact complained straight away, she also repeatedly asked them to stop and they kept calling, that is grade a sexual harrassment.

Even Bargearses own brother admitted his brother has made a mistake, are we all expected to believe he would just put his brother in the shit if in fact it wasn't true?

HIs missus has flown the coup another great indication that Bargearse is in the poo house.

I would prefer him to play, he can be damaging but you are guaranteed 3 or 4 penalties and half a dozen errors and brain snaps from him every match.

Fark Webster, The NRL and lol@Souffs

[Lydon]

Sam has hired 2 high profile lawyers to cover his backside,what a joke!

[stringaz]

What business was Todd Carney peeing in his own mouth to anyone bar his own?

What business was a couple of Bulldogs players getting naked to anyone bar the people who were present at the private function?

What business was Pearce acting like a drunken tool to anyone bar those present?

There is no legal minefield here, these players sign very strict code of conduct contracts when they start out. The NRL is well within its powers to stand players down for breaches of that code of conduct and I bet my bottom dollar there's something about behaviour on social media in that contract.

Time for someone to stand up and take some accountability because Sam's family is the innocent party in all of this and they're the only ones who will lose if this drags on.

I wrote in another post there's a lot of money behind these players not just their contract money.

The last job I had getting paid 23 bucks an hour at a large establishment made me sign a code of conduct as big as the Bible.

The favouritism shown here by some outlets is pathetic.

[Bansai Pipeline]

I've heard he'll be stood down too.

[chopstiks]

To be fair I think Webster is just offering a different voice and some new facts on the incident to the very lopsided reporting elsewhere. If the player is saying he is innocent of the accusations being directed at him then he should be allowed to defend that stance until the evidence proves otherwise.

What we do seem to know from one of the Burgess boys admitting that his brother has made a big mistake in one of the English papers is that unfortunately it seems like a family man with kids has done this all behind his wifes back.

I think this is where Webster has missed the point, its not about whether its a legal, moral or other kind of issue. When it comes to these kinds of incidents the game punishes based on whether the game has been brought into disrepute and to what level.

The question that should be asked is has the player not already brought the game into disrepute regardless of whether the pictures were requested or not?

And that is where you can start to draw parallels to the Pearce incident, see Pearce wasn't punished for his actions but rather the perceived damage his actions, given his high profile did to the game.

His high profile in the game being key, the NRL was not setting a precedent for players who pretend to hump a dog just like they wouldnt be setting a precedent for players who cheat (assuming reports are true) but what they have done in the Pearce case is set a precedent on high profile players who bring the game into disrepute. This is the question that needs to be asked when assessing whether the player should have already been stood down.

You should email that to Webster. He's got some nerve after last weeks column.

[ccfc bondi]

They also have a piece quoting rubbish from the Kiwi Crow saying the SFS is in South Sydney territory, amongst the usual rubbish saying the Roosters are 'star-studded' (presumably against his team of no-names) designed to put the pressure on. FFS! Two major signings and suddenly we are Manchester United!

[Half time]

if 2 players exposed themselves to this girl, then shouldn't at least 2 players (if not more) be stood down?

[Lydon]

I find it hilarious the NRL don’t want to act as they can’t identify the players involved,yet it’s clear as day the identity of the players Facebook account which was used..

[Half time]

where is that catharine lumby lady who spoke out so harshly about pearce oz day behaviour?

[oldrooster]

Perhaps they just need to ask the perpetrators to own up under threat of increased penalties if they are found out in the investigation.

[Lydon]

It will say a lot about the men involved if they don’t show some decency and man up to their indescretions..

You would think if they made a error in judgement the manly thing to do would be to put your hand up and accept your punishment!