Rugby League players who could have/could make the switch

[half]

Personally, I think what Fifita did on abusing those Jr refs is way worse than the armband fiasco. He knew a bloke who was (rightfully) in prison and he was supporting him when he's down. Unless I missed context, that's fine.

Do we think people in prison will be rehabilitated if we leave them to rot with no outside support?

As far as should we sign him, well I wouldn't be mad if the Rebels snapped him up for a 1 year cheap contract on the basis he gets his shit together and adapts to the game well. That being said, I think if he was offered peanuts he'd go overseas (probably France, the Japanese wouldn't sign a player who's been naughty).

Agree it actually shows great moral strength to go against the crowd and retain relationships under pressure.

You don't advertise the support of a criminal ( king hit murderer ) on your wrist strapping in front of the sponsors, supporters etc for his own beliefs. I am sure the ARU would not cop it either. No Thanks

Not so sure it all comes down to what the F on the armband meant. Some say it meant Free, but if you listen to him talk it does not mean Free.

I heard the F stood for Forgive.

Free and Forgive have totally different meaning in the context of displaying it.

Further he did not openly say what it meant, nor seek to advertise it, the media asked him and then made a huge deal out if it.

I am not saying the way he carried on with the junior refs was in anyway good or he should not have been punished for it. But to hung out for writing Forgive on an armband, are we turning into the US.

My question is does he have the smarts to switch and at this level I would place him on a performance based contract.

But yes I would take the risk.

 

[Mustafa]

Agree it actually shows great moral strength to go against the crowd and retain relationships under pressure.





Not so sure it all comes down to what the F on the armband meant. Some say it meant Free, but if you listen to him talk it does not mean Free.

I heard the F stood for Forgive.

Free and Forgive have totally different meaning in the context of displaying it.

Further he did not openly say what it meant, nor seek to advertise it, the media asked him and then made a huge deal out if it.

I am not saying the way he carried on with the junior refs was in anyway good or he should not have been punished for it. But to hung out for writing Forgive on an armband, are we turning into the US.

My question is does he have the smarts to switch and at this level I would place him on a performance based contract.

But yes I would take the risk.

I wouldn't want to see any support for that cretin Loveridge at all. That beautiful family lost not just one boy as a direct result of the hit, but another boy as well. I could not imagine the ARU allowing any player to have any wording associated with a criminal displayed in public, on TV, in front of sponsors etc. Fifita hasn't got the brains, stamina or temperament to be a successful rugby player. He is a trouble maker. The NRL have had a gutful of him and it's not a good look for us and families wanting their kids to play

 

[Sauron]

I wouldn't want to see any support for that cretin Loveridge at all. That beautiful family lost not just one boy as a direct result of the hit, but another boy as well. I could not imagine the ARU allowing any player to have any wording associated with a criminal displayed in public, on TV, in front of sponsors etc. Fifita hasn't got the brains, stamina or temperament to be a successful rugby player. He is a trouble maker. The NRL have had a gutful of him and it's not a good look for us and families wanting their kids to play

It's a sad situation, but Fifita and Loveridge have a long history of friendship, and Fifita could play a positive role in the rehabilitation of the criminal in question.

I think it's completely unreasonable to expect him to abandon a childhood friend. Whilst there is no doubt that the family of the kid that got killed have suffered enormously, Loveridge still needs to be integrated back into society at some point. If Fifita could help with that process, then more power to him.

All we know is that he chatted with his imprisoned friend, and wrote a message of forgiveness/support on his wrist tape. He shouldn't be hung out to dry for that. Let's not forget that Wycliff Palu served time as a young man- for a violent assault that he's lucky didn't end with more tragic consequences. Fifita has never been involved in any violent crime to my knowledge, so I find the moral grandstanding going on a bit much.

 

[papabear]

Not sure fifita is the right fit for union.

He is all upperbody, so he needs to wind up a bit. You don't get much space to wind up in union. Also the forwards role is more competing for possession then making / breaking a tackle. Either way if you are looking for a hard running impact type I would more go for the paulo (who has union experience), boyd, tuamalolo type, who has massive leg drive power too.

Although, I dont see them making the switch any time soon.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

No people don't realise Fifita has rugby union pedigree having playing rugby as a kid, playing 8 and inside centre and also represented NSW Country. He was offered a Brumbies Development Contract but chose West Tigers and rest is history.

Very good footballer who on the on the field would be good acquisition for Australian Rugby if judged on that alone but of course you don't just judge on that but also off field attributes, and hence terrible acquisition for his off field behaviour. The latter I find hard to condone re: the junior referee incident, plus his support for KL is hard to stomach but willing to give some benefit of doubt as to what transpired and was behind it. As he has also shown to not be the brightest tool in the tool shed for judgement calls so maybe the KL thing is he was an old mate and was struggling with own demons to forgive him and thought writing that on a wrist band was a personal thing....dumb thing as playing in glare of media but hey he ain't no rocket scientist.

For money fifita on and him publicly declaring only will change if money is right can't see this having any legs as just can't see ARU providing top up money with his off field image. Just won't happen.

 

[papabear]

It's a sad situation, but Fifita and Loveridge have a long history of friendship, and Fifita could play a positive role in the rehabilitation of the criminal in question.

I think it's completely unreasonable to expect him to abandon a childhood friend. Whilst there is no doubt that the family of the kid that got killed have suffered enormously, Loveridge still needs to be integrated back into society at some point. If Fifita could help with that process, then more power to him.

All we know is that he chatted with his imprisoned friend, and wrote a message of forgiveness/support on his wrist tape. He shouldn't be hung out to dry for that. Let's not forget that Wycliff Palu served time as a young man- for a violent assault that he's lucky didn't end with more tragic consequences. Fifita has never been involved in any violent crime to my knowledge, so I find the moral grandstanding going on a bit much.

I think it is more the form he has.

Same as carney, bird etc if you are on big money you should know better. This is rugby league not afl your shit isnt going to be hid under the bed.

 

[Braveheart81]

I think it's completely unreasonable to expect him to abandon a childhood friend. Whilst there is no doubt that the family of the kid that got killed have suffered enormously, Loveridge still needs to be integrated back into society at some point. If Fifita could help with that process, then more power to him.

I don't think anyone expects him to abandon his childhood friend.

It is clearly poor judgement to be supporting him in a public way in terms of his own career though. He is not just paid to play rugby league and only earns what he does because he accepts that he is a public figure. With that there comes a responsibility to his club, sponsors and fans etc.

I strongly believe that the rehabilitation of convicted criminals is incredibly important for society and for that to happen, inmates need external support. I am not sure how a public display in terms of the writing on the wrist etc. contributes to that.

The Cliff Palu reference is a red herring and the situation where his assault conviction transpired was entirely different. Loveridge assaulted five random people on the street in an evening of senseless violence. One of them died.

 

[Sauron]

I don't think anyone expects him to abandon his childhood friend.

It is clearly poor judgement to be supporting him in a public way in terms of his own career though. He is not just paid to play rugby league and only earns what he does because he accepts that he is a public figure. With that there comes a responsibility to his club, sponsors and fans etc.

I strongly believe that the rehabilitation of convicted criminals is incredibly important for society and for that to happen, inmates need external support. I am not sure how a public display in terms of the writing on the wrist etc. contributes to that.

The Cliff Palu reference is a red herring and the situation where his assault conviction transpired was entirely different. Loveridge assaulted five random people on the street in an evening of senseless violence. One of them died.

To be honest, (if the message was of forgiveness rather than exoneration) I don't see much difference between writing that message on his tape -in the form of a acronym, so he at least tried to make it somewhat cryptic- and the often absurdly large messages of explicit religious devotion we often see. Before it was 'revealed' by the Telegraph, it was clearly written in such a way that it was not meant to be understood by the general public.

I brought up Palu because he was actually involved in a violent crime (and a later serious driving offence...), and nobody holds it against him. Sure, he was provoked, but Fifita has done nothing more than show bad judgement in terms of showing public support for a widely-reviled figure. I don't see how people can say that he doesn't belong in rugby, when I don't recall nearly so much fuss about a player that did something arguably much worse.

This is all leaving aside his abuse of junior officials, which I consider far worse than his support for Loveridge.

 

[amirite]

I actually like signing embattled players because you can usually get them cheap and on good contract terms (i.e. DON'T FUCK UP!).

Blokes deserve 2nd, 3rd, and 4th chances unless what they've done is illegal.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Fifita isn't really embattled too much though, he still has two years on his Cronulla contract to play out. And he just won a premiership there.

He's just throwing his toys out after not getting selected for the Kangaroos.

So unless you could match what he's currently on, he's probably going to be staying exactly where he is.

 

[I like to watch]

I actually like signing embattled players because you can usually get them cheap and on good contract terms (i.e. DON'T FUCK UP!).

Blokes deserve 2nd, 3rd, and 4th chances unless what they've done is illegal.

I prefer the no Dickhead philosophy.
The tantrum he threw about not being selected in the national side reflects poorly on him

 

[amirite]

Fifita isn't really embattled too much though, he still has two years on his Cronulla contract to play out. And he just won a premiership there.

He's just throwing his toys out after not getting selected for the Kangaroos.

So unless you could match what he's currently on, he's probably going to be staying exactly where he is.

Depends on if someone with pen and paper gets there while the dummy is still being spat.

I prefer the no Dickhead philosophy.

The tantrum he threw about not being selected in the national side reflects poorly on him

True, but it's a short career and he did nothing illegal. His actions were stupid but fell into a grey area even morally. I'd be PO'd myself.

I guess I think the much touted 'no dickheads' policy is a vague policy.

 

[wamberal]

I prefer the no Dickhead philosophy.
The tantrum he threw about not being selected in the national side reflects poorly on him

Good publicity.

 

[Marcelo]

I prefer this guy over Fifita:

 

[wamberal]

I prefer this guy over Fifita:

I'll get him. A million a year should do it?

 

[Mustafa]

I'll get him. A million a year should do it?

Just keep him away from eggs

 

[TOCC]

Players like Fifita are a ticking time bomb for bad publicity...
he does dickhead acts on the field constantly, and if he can't foresee that having the initials of a convicted killer on strapping wasn't going to cause issues off field, then he is an idiot..

 

[wamberal]

Players like Fifita are a ticking time bomb for bad publicity.
he does dickhead acts on the field constantly, and if he can't foresee that having the initials of a convicted killer on strapping wasn't going to cause issues off field, then he is an idiot..

There's no such thing as bad publicity, as David Gallop so memorably explained. He said something to the effect that, when something horrible happens, the ratings go up.


That is the world we live in, as sad as it might be.

 

[TOCC]

There's no such thing as bad publicity,.

Tell that to the sponsors paying $millions to have their brand name associated with clubs and sporting identities..

Rugby Union isn't like the NRL, NRL can afford to have clubs fall as it only strengthens their rival NRL clubs and the overall code.. when Paramatta were caught cheating their cross-town rivals revelled in the downfall, there's 5 clubs in Sydney which drives tribalism and parochialism that rugby doesn't have.

Australian Rugby has so few clubs, and so much of the value of the code is instrinsinctly linked to the Wallabies through premium sponsorship and corporate support that it can't afford to alienate sponsors through bad publicity.

 

[I like to watch]

Gallup was quoted extensively as dreading phone calls telling him of the latest disgrace.
Even though he knew "it was good for business"
Go figure.

I don't think he recommends it as a business strategy for any code,somehow.......