League Immortal Bob Fulton is building a halfway house at the Manly Sea Eagles to give troubled footy players a second chance.
Part of his major rebuild on the northern peninsula involves restoring the lives of five young recruits either dumped from other clubs or banned by the integrity unit for off-field incidents.
Addin Fonua-Blake 20, Willis Meehan 20, Liam Knight 21, Dylan Walker, 22 and Apisai Koroisau, 23 have all been involved in serious cases in the last 12 months.
“My view is that players deserve one or two chances,” Fulton said, “Maybe three strikes and you’re out. You’ve got draw the line somewhere.
“Why them out of the game for a mistake rather than put an arm around them and offer some professional help.”
Rugby league has a number of success stories from rehabilitation.
Parramatta’s Manu Ma’u spent two years in jail for assault and gang related crimes. His team mate Danny Wicks did time for drugs supply. St George Illawarra’s Russell Packer spent 12 months in prison for stomping on a man’s head
Josh Dugan, Jake Friend and Blake Ferguson have all had their contracts torn up. But they eventually came good.
“It’s a society thing, not just rugby league players,” Fulton said, “The expectations on them are very high. These kids come straight out of school and into the spotlight.
“Once they sign an autograph they become a role model. We just hope our players can come through like what’s happened at other clubs.
“Willis has been to court and he’s now doing the counselling. We’re hopeful like we are with the rest of the boys.”
Despite his run ins with the NRL integrity unit, Fulton says they have been most supportive.
“Nick Weeks likes what we’re doing and the great stuff other clubs like Penrith and Gus Gould have been doing,” he said.
“Our CEO Joe Kelly is also passionate about helping the players rather than kicking them when they are down.”
Fulton has always been a firm believer in forgiveness.
You only have to look at the effort he out into getting John Hopoate cleared to coach the club’s junior SG Ball representative team earlier this season.
“Of course Hoppa has made mistakes,” Fulton said, “but the bottom line is he’s learnt from them and now wants to contribute to the game.
“There is nothing to achieve by throwing him out of the game.”
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp... dailytelegraphnrlndm (Daily Telegraph | NRL)
Part of his major rebuild on the northern peninsula involves restoring the lives of five young recruits either dumped from other clubs or banned by the integrity unit for off-field incidents.
Addin Fonua-Blake 20, Willis Meehan 20, Liam Knight 21, Dylan Walker, 22 and Apisai Koroisau, 23 have all been involved in serious cases in the last 12 months.
“My view is that players deserve one or two chances,” Fulton said, “Maybe three strikes and you’re out. You’ve got draw the line somewhere.
“Why them out of the game for a mistake rather than put an arm around them and offer some professional help.”
Rugby league has a number of success stories from rehabilitation.
Parramatta’s Manu Ma’u spent two years in jail for assault and gang related crimes. His team mate Danny Wicks did time for drugs supply. St George Illawarra’s Russell Packer spent 12 months in prison for stomping on a man’s head
Josh Dugan, Jake Friend and Blake Ferguson have all had their contracts torn up. But they eventually came good.
“It’s a society thing, not just rugby league players,” Fulton said, “The expectations on them are very high. These kids come straight out of school and into the spotlight.
“Once they sign an autograph they become a role model. We just hope our players can come through like what’s happened at other clubs.
“Willis has been to court and he’s now doing the counselling. We’re hopeful like we are with the rest of the boys.”
Despite his run ins with the NRL integrity unit, Fulton says they have been most supportive.
“Nick Weeks likes what we’re doing and the great stuff other clubs like Penrith and Gus Gould have been doing,” he said.
“Our CEO Joe Kelly is also passionate about helping the players rather than kicking them when they are down.”
Fulton has always been a firm believer in forgiveness.
You only have to look at the effort he out into getting John Hopoate cleared to coach the club’s junior SG Ball representative team earlier this season.
“Of course Hoppa has made mistakes,” Fulton said, “but the bottom line is he’s learnt from them and now wants to contribute to the game.
“There is nothing to achieve by throwing him out of the game.”
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp... dailytelegraphnrlndm (Daily Telegraph | NRL)
