Tim Lafai ... St George issued AVO

[Woodsie]

In all honesty, don't you think at the start of the year you could get the Big League and mark down which players were going to make a goose of themselves. Each club has at least 2-3 of them. The way they are managed sorts out the good coaches from the duds. Will be interesting to see how Des manages Fainu, although I think Suli and Walker are lucky Des is at the club.

Wasn't Des at the club when Fainu alledgedly stabbed someone? .. and when Walker was arrested for domestic violence .... and when Watmough assaulted a sponser at a season launch ... and when Brett was accused of sexual assault ... and a whole host of other player dramas at Manly and especially the Bulldogs ... ?

Des is good, real good, but he is not God .... and dumb players will be dumb players regardless of who the coach is ..

I will say that where Des does excel is in the handling of the players and incidents after the fact ...

 

[Tragic Eagle]

I don't believe that the NRL is capable of increasing the intelligence and or common sense of players in their private lives. Nor should it be responsible for the stupid things that they do when they are affect by alcohol or drugs when they are not involved in the game.Some treat these incidents like it's a blight on the game and this to me infers that NRL are somehow responsible for the behavior of players in their private lives. We all bear personal responsibility for our behavior and compliance or non compliance with the law. I am frequently very critical of the management of the game but they can't be blamed for this stuff.