Kurtley Beale in Trouble

[TRF_heineken]

Actually several key players have approached McKenzie seeking to have his ban reserved including the full Wallaby leadership team; Hooper, AAC and Slipper. This is well documented and you can read about it on Rugby Heaven (smh.com.au/rugby).

Reserve his ban. Approach Mckenzie. Those remarks just shows that they wanted Beale to play for the team, it doesn't necessarily mean that the Management did a lot wrong. The Management has a protocol they have to follow, which seems they did. The Wallaby leadership could've gone above their heads and also to the media, if they felt that the Management went it the completely wrong way. Instead, they went to their coach and asked him to reserve his ban on the player.

I'm still not convinced that the management are at fault here.

 

[nzlizard]

This is just straight up b#ll**** mate... it's Rugby in this place - it's just run by f###ing morons at the top level. Go and look at Rugby League and there are plenty of examples of strong coaching figures who had a no nonsense approach that commanded the respect of players. Just have a look at a guy like Wayne Bennett - he's virtually Australia's version of Robbie Deans; 7 premierships, incredibly taciturn, leads by example and commands respect.

It's the same in AFL - plenty of coaches who have managed to tell their players to pull their f###ing heads in and get on with the job. No revolt against authority there either.

No, it's got nothing to do with "aussie culture", it's about sh#t management at the Wallabies.

Agree, league is run well, you have your monkeys in league also but the environment is very clear about expected behavior and what happens when you break it.

The standards are high in other aussies sports so they are run very well and have strong and clear leadership.

 

[Helmy]

The problem is that we have a player who's got into a verbal showdown with a member of management in a public area, as well as sending out offensive txts about her, and we have people trying to point the finger elsewhere. If players don't have any accountability, how can they be held responsible for their actions? I know what people are saying in that it's the ARU who needs to hold them accountable, but with sport stars given Godlike status in today's society, what power does the ARU have when the public is telling players it's okay because they're good at throwing an egg shaped ball around?

To say that the All Blacks haven't had their own issues is laughable, they're just better at covering it up than others. Savea struck his partner and is still in the All Blacks fold, how is what Beale did worse than that? Yet Beale is looking to face a severer punishment. I've heard murmurs that Savea is known for 'playing up' as well, so if that's to be believed, it wasn't a one off. Similarly, with Cruden, Hansen said that it was an exception, but then on talk back someone txt in to say that the only exception was that he hadn't been caught sooner. Again, he's another player I've heard rumours about his being an absolute asshole while out on the town (as well as a cheat, but alas). Let's not even get into the stories I've heard about Dan Carter, because who knows what's fact or fiction, other than to say there's no smoke without fire.

So, why are we giving McKenzie stick for doing what all the other teams do in covering things up until it can't be covered up any more? Why are we acting shocked when an NFL player can knock his fiancee out cold and only face retribution when a video is leaked showing just how awful it truly was? When an athlete can murder his partner and get away with it? What Beale did is nothing in comparison, I agree, but still, to say this culture doesn't exist in other sports, or other teams is laughable. This isn't an issue just in the ARU, this is an issue in most sporting codes, and if we want to shift the blame from Beale, perhaps we should look at ourselves instead and ask what we are doing to breed into this culture.

 

[dasNdanger]

Ewen McKenzie knew about text months ago, says Kurtley Beale's manager

October 11, 2014

Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie was aware of an incident involving Kurtley Beale and a team official four months ago, according to the player's manager.

McKenzie emphatically denied knowing about an offensive message denigrating business manager Di Patston that Beale allegedly sent to a group of players and that is now the subject of an independent code of conduct hearing.

At a press conference on Friday, McKenzie said he learnt about the exchange last week in the fallout from Beale's inflight argument with Patston between South Africa and Argentina.

​

"I became aware of them in Buenos Aires," he said. "I became aware of the existence of the text message; the content, I still haven't seen the content ... I know the content of the text, I haven't seen the photos.

"When I became aware of it I forwarded the information on. Then she [Patston] obviously left because of stress and the way she felt about the environment and then it was left to the integrity unit as we advised."

Beale's manager, Isaac Moses, said McKenzie had a conversation with hisplaymaker addressing the incident in June.

"I can't go into detail [in light of the upcoming hearing], but information I have suggests a conversation did take place between Ewen and Kurtley with regard to the text message issue," Moses said on Friday.

On Friday night, a spokesperson for the Wallabies said McKenzie stood by his comments at Friday's squad announcement.

The issue is likely to form the crux of next week's hearing, which is being chaired by District Court judge Mark Williams. If McKenzie knew about the exchange, as Beale's camp alleges, it raises the question why he did not refer the matter to the Australian Rugby Union's integrity unit in June, when the incident occurred.

It would also raise questions about the fairness of the ARU's process, including why the issue was again being used against Beale more than four months later if he and Patston had reconciled after the player's apology and McKenzie was satisfied with the way it had been handled.

Beale has been stood down, pending the outcome of the hearing, which looks set to determine his future in Australian rugby.

Announcing the code of conduct hearing on Thursday, ARU chief executive Bill Pulver said he did not want to "prejudge" Beale.

"I really don't want to prejudge that right now," he said. "Sufficient to say, this is deeply offensive material involved. Now we need to run a process where Kurtley has his opportunity to present his case."

Pulver also declined to detail the content of the photos or messages, one of which was understood to be a photo of a woman and an accompanying message referring to Patston.

"They're deeply offensive, I think that's probably sufficient to say," Pulver said.

"My understanding is they were shared with members of the team environment ... [I'm] not clear who, but it was inadvertently sent to the employee concerned."

Beale helped steer the Waratahs to a Super Rugby title this year before becoming a regular fixture on the bench behind NSW teammate Bernard Foley and inside centre Matt Toomua for the Wallabies.

His contract finished at the end of this year, with a move overseas or to the NRL his only likely alternatives should his career end with the Wallabies and Waratahs.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/a...es-manager-20141010-114jo9.html#ixzz3FrbS7CXA

Curiouser and curiouser...


das

 

[ratsapprentice]

Blatantly a photoshop of Link showing Patston a good time.

 

[dasNdanger]

Blatantly a photoshop of Link showing Patston a good time.

\

Here's what I don't quite understand...

Whatever the photo was, if it was fake why let it get to you? If the 'gossip' wasn't true why let it get to you? You're part of a sport driven by excessive testosterone so why get so upset? Any woman who's been around any group of men for any amount of time knows that rude and bawdy jokes - right or wrong - are part of the culture.

I come up with three possibilities:

1. There's some truth in the joke.

2. Someone needs a thicker skin.

3. This joke is the back-breaking straw for someone out of their league and unable to earn respect.

I can't believe this is just about getting upset by one player. There's got to be a lot more to it.


das

 

[Peat]

The problem is that we have a player who's got into a verbal showdown with a member of management in a public area, as well as sending out offensive txts about her, and we have people trying to point the finger elsewhere. If players don't have any accountability, how can they be held responsible for their actions? I know what people are saying in that it's the ARU who needs to hold them accountable, but with sport stars given Godlike status in today's society, what power does the ARU have when the public is telling players it's okay because they're good at throwing an egg shaped ball around?

Sports stars have always been given godlike status. Managing sports team has always been as much about keeping the egos, disagreements and frailties of a large number of young, intensely competitive men to as minimum a level of disruption as possible as it has been about actually telling them how to play better. Keeping players in the frame of mind where they don't do things like this is part of the job.

Beale should bear full responsibility for his actions. But that doesn't mean the ARU/McKenzie/whoever it is aren't responsible for their management of Beale and others like him.

 

[Helmy]

Sports stars have always been given godlike status. Managing sports team has always been as much about keeping the egos, disagreements and frailties of a large number of young, intensely competitive men to as minimum a level of disruption as possible as it has been about actually telling them how to play better. Keeping players in the frame of mind where they don't do things like this is part of the job.

Beale should bear full responsibility for his actions. But that doesn't mean the ARU/McKenzie/whoever it is aren't responsible for their management of Beale and others like him.

Point taken. But, then some players are just unmanageable, as we see in all codes. How much responsibility can management be asked to take before they say **** it, the lad's just unmanageable?

People are saying that it falls at the feet of the ARU etc., I'm saying the issue runs much deeper than that and is a day to day matter that we're just as responsible for. If we want to uproot the weeds, we need to look at ourselves and how an attitude like this is bred in a player from the grassroots level, not just because they're playing for their country.

 

[Guilty]

Sports stars have always been given godlike status. Managing sports team has always been as much about keeping the egos, disagreements and frailties of a large number of young, intensely competitive men to as minimum a level of disruption as possible as it has been about actually telling them how to play better. Keeping players in the frame of mind where they don't do things like this is part of the job.

Beale should bear full responsibility for his actions. But that doesn't mean the ARU/McKenzie/whoever it is aren't responsible for their management of Beale and others like him.

Exactly right. Well said.

Surprised to see people disagreeing with this line of thought...

 

[Helmy]

Opinions are the basis of most online forums. ^_^

 

[goodNumber10]

So..................

http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/k...bys-rugby-career/story-e6frf4pu-1227087653405

 

[Peat]

Point taken. But, then some players are just unmanageable, as we see in all codes. How much responsibility can management be asked to take before they say **** it, the lad's just unmanageable?

People are saying that it falls at the feet of the ARU etc., I'm saying the issue runs much deeper than that and is a day to day matter that we're just as responsible for. If we want to uproot the weeds, we need to look at ourselves and how an attitude like this is bred in a player from the grassroots level, not just because they're playing for their country.

I'd agree that society is enabling this and if you really want to stop it, society has to change. But until society changes - and it probably never will - it's their job to manage the issue. There are plenty of people out there whose job it is to manage the behaviour of those warped by society, often warped in far worse ways, doing the job for far less money and recognition. Nobody excuses them because of that. It's still their responsibility and it's still the ARU's responsibility.

I don't have a measuring stick for saying just how responsible they are, I don't think anyone does. Sometimes their responsibility is saying "Drop him, he can't be dealt with". But if the guy is no trouble at all in another sporting environment, you wonder why they're saying it, and what they're doing different that is less effective. When that pattern is repeated over several players over several years, alarm bells start to ring.

 

[Helmy]

I'd agree that society is enabling this and if you really want to stop it, society has to change. But until society changes - and it probably never will - it's their job to manage the issue. There are plenty of people out there whose job it is to manage the behaviour of those warped by society, often warped in far worse ways, doing the job for far less money and recognition. Nobody excuses them because of that. It's still their responsibility and it's still the ARU's responsibility.

I think we're agreeing on the finer points, just have differing opinions on who or what is more at 'fault'. What I take from that is that all three are contributing factors, i.e. management at ARU, Beale and society. All I'd say is that these patterns aren't just repeating in Australian rugby, they are a reoccurring theme in all major sports.

 

[Gavin]

Talking about player management, it appears the ARU aren't really helping themselves with AAC's 100th cap

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/.../Ashley-Cooper-ton-creates-more-Wallaby-drama

Ashley-Cooper will play his 100th test nine years and two days after famously debuting against South Africa in Perth in 2005 without a number on his jumper after being ushered from the stands after ordering a beer and meat pie.
Only Smith has reached the magnificent milestone in quicker time - eight years, eight months and three weeks - yet Ashley-Cooper's rare accomplishment is set to pass with little more than a congratulatory handshake from ARU boss Bill Pulver and the presentation of a cap to the popular stalwart.
While the 30-year-old is too classy and professional to make a fuss of the lack of fanfare, Ashley-Cooper's family are privately extremely disappointed.
To celebrate the special occasion, Ashley-Cooper's family have - at their own expense - organised an informal gathering of friends and supporters following Australia's final Bledisloe Cup showdown of the year in Brisbane.
Ashley-Cooper's relative and former Wallaby Graeme Bond will be among those toasting the only player who played 560 minutes at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
While there are no official functions planned to mark the milestone, Ashley-Cooper's former teammates including Sharpe, Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell are already celebrating the looming feat with references on Twitter.
Also trending among Wallabies players - past and present - is , with Ashley-Cooper supporting Mitchell's tweet last Thursday in hoping for ''some good news'' for troubled star Kurtley Beale.
Ashley-Cooper took Beale under his wing on the recent tour of Argentina following revelations of the playmaker's in-flight spat with Di Patston, who on Friday resigned from the ARU as pressure mounts on coach Ewen McKenzie to unify the team

Pretty poor really

 

[ratsapprentice]

http://www.espn.co.uk/scrum/rugby/story/243977.html

Goooooooooone.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Also haven't really been reading this till now, but i'm pretty confused.

 

[Patchey]

What an utter mess.

 

[Gavin]

Seems there is a lot more than what was originally published. Maybe the slating of Beale will cease for now

 

[Draggs]

Well, Beale hasn't done himself any favours in the past with his behaviour. You can't have a track record like his and expect to get the benefit of the doubt.
In this case, indeed, there are many variables.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Also haven't really been reading this till now, but i'm pretty confused.

TL -DR:

Link probably having an affair with a staff member (who is subsequently promoted to a position/s that she isn't qualified for)
Team universally unhappy about it
Beale accidentally sends a text to said staff member as well as everyone else taking the **** out of her
Link and managment attempt to deflect attention away from them by making Beale a scapegoat after Beale/staff member have a confrontation on the plane
The complete breakdown between the coach and players means Link is going to be sacked and replaced by Cheika