MadMarcus
Toovey for NRL CEO
WESTIE said:Ralphie..what part of CC footage and witnesses dont you understand ?? If the CC footage shows exactly what is suggested , that is, a sexual assualt , then yes , i am extenduing that to assume he is guilty.
From memory there were no witnesses to the B Sewart debacle.
As mentioned above in my post - " Wouldn't the cops view CC footage from the venue before arresting him , instead of relying on a " he said - she said " scenario ?? Am i to take it you are suggesting the cops arrested him without viewing the footage available to them ??
Unless Ferguson admits guilt he should not be sanctioned at this stage. It is not the role of the NRL to consider the sufficiency of evidence. That's the role of a Court.
For all we know the allegations against Ferguson are as frivolous as the allegations against Snake, but by suspending Ferguson, the NRL is giving validity to the allegations and people will forever think he is guilty, regardless of the ultimate finding of a Court.
To this day the majority of the public think Snake was guilty but got away with it. The main reason for that is that the NRL suspended him, which validated the claims against him in the eyes of many and fanned the media circus against him. Snake has to live with that for the rest of his life.
If Ferguson's suspension has nothing to do with the allegations as claimed then why isn't Dugan also suspended - it must be because of his good record right?
Ironically I think if Gallop was in charge he wouldn't have had a knee-jerk reaction this time. Although he denied making a mistake with Snake, I believe he knows he made one and he learnt from it. He showed that with how he dealt with the Marshall and Carney incidents.
What Smith is doing now is a mistake. If Ferguson is guilty it won't matter, but if he is innocent (like Snake) I'm sure Smith won't make the same mistake again.