The disgrace of a nation. Australia’s shame.
A dark time for sport in this country.
It’s been a rough week for our national obsession.
We’ve seen three men hailed as heroes brought to their knees by their own stupidity and arrogance.
It’s shocking, really.
Steve Smith, Dave Warner and Cameron Bancroft are flying back to their homeland today to pay the price of a dumb decision, a morally bankrupt call, a low act.
We can’t remember the last time we all felt so let down by our sporting heroes.
It certainly wasn’t when Greg Bird – then a star player for the National Rugby League’s Cronulla Sharks – was found guilty of smashing a glass into his girlfriend’s face.
It wasn’t when Nick Stevens – a former vice-captain of Carlton AFL club – admitted to repeatedly beating his partner Laima McKenna, including threatening to kill her and kicking her while she lay cowering on the floor.
It wasn’t that time the Sydney’s Roosters’ Blake Ferguson was convicted of indecently assaulting a woman in a nightclub or when South Sydney’s Kirisome Auva’a pleaded guilty to drunkenly assaulting his ex-girlfriend.
And it wasn’t when North Melbourne and Adelaide “legend” Wayne Carey broke a glass in his girlfriend’s face and was then convicted of kicking a responding policewoman in the mouth.
No, none of those incidents were a national disgrace.
LISTEN: Can we choose what we are outraged about when it comes to sport? The Mamamia Out Loud team discuss.
As the new football season begins, the NRL boasts four players who have been charged with domestic violence.
And that number doesn’t even include Matthew Lodge, the Brisbane Broncos player who is expected to be a star for the Queensland team this season despite an ongoing dispute over $1.6 million in damages he owes an American couple for beating and terrorising them – and their nine-year-old son – during a home invasion in 2015.
Top Comments
This article shows a very interesting perspective. It is atrocious what goes on in the NRL and AFL. I agree with the majority of the article. However, as a Broncos supporter myself, I must say that in my opinion Matt Lodge has had to pay for this actions. He committed those terrible crimes in 2015 and since then has had to pay over 1.6 million dollars in punitive damage and was sentenced to community service and councilling. He had conciling for over 12 months and received alcohol abuse and anger treatment. While I am not defending what he did in The US, I do believe that he has paid his debts and used the conciling to better himself.
Wow - just wow...I can’t believe we these meatheads get away with this stuff just because they can catch/kick/throw a ball...shame Australia shame - we should be holding these so called ‘heroes’ to a higher standard, not just looking the other way so they can continue to play. At least the cricketers are taking responsibility for their mistake. The NRL and AFL have a way to go obviously,