Club Statement: Spencer Leniu - Leniu enters Guilty Plea

[Jacks Fur Coat]

Wayne Bennett could really be our saviour here. He came out with some commonsense that I really never expected from him.
He aimed directly at Trell and basically told him to pull his head in, people in glass houses sort of stuff.
‘He says it has been blown way out of proportion. People say things the don’t mean.

“The game doesn’t have to take a strong stand on this. The game has always taken a stand on racism. It’s bulls*** to think otherwise.
“All the drama queens should stay out of the argument
“The NRL may have to come up with a penalty, but if he is found guilty, I don’t believe it should be an overkill penalty.
“We have all been in a situation where we have said something we regret, including the very people now calling for blood.

Really good article and may save Spencer a few weeks

How goods that? Some raw common sense from one of the great Coaches of our game. It just takes a little courage sometimes to say the right thing.

[HunchoRooster]

The club needs to support him. I truly believe there is not a soul alive that thinks he's genuinely racist for making a comment like that. It's dumb, but not racist.

Everyone knows this, including Mam, including Fatrell, everyone... witch hunt of the highest order.

He's admitted it. Great. I think the club sat down and tried to map the easiest way out of the situation. They couldve gone the lack of evidence route which wouldve likely caused an even greater furore. Doing this should shut the idiots up, give him 4 weeks and we move on.

I never give wraps to Penriff, especially not Ivan Cleary but one thing he does an amazing job of is protecting his players from scrutiny and media. We MUST do the same. We failed Spencer already by letting him do an interview straight after the game, now we must defend him and get him firing for us when he returns.

[milanja]

How goods that? Some raw common sense from one of the great Coaches of our game. It just takes a little courage sometimes to say the right thing.

It does,

I was listening to the 2gb talkback yesterday and they had Gallen on, when asked about the issue, he said “I don’t want to say the wrong thing, as some of my best mates are indigenous, JT,GI, so please leave me out of this discussion”

[Andrew Walker]

Silence is golden Jaxx. Your 13000 posts are evidence you should try it.

LOL This is simply the best Mind you I shouldn’t throw stones from my glass house

[Lockie]

Wayne Bennett could really be our saviour here. He came out with some commonsense that I really never expected from him.
He aimed directly at Trell and basically told him to pull his head in, people in glass houses sort of stuff.
‘He says it has been blown way out of proportion. People say things the don’t mean.

“The game doesn’t have to take a strong stand on this. The game has always taken a stand on racism. It’s bulls*** to think otherwise.
“All the drama queens should stay out of the argument
“The NRL may have to come up with a penalty, but if he is found guilty, I don’t believe it should be an overkill penalty.
“We have all been in a situation where we have said something we regret, including the very people now calling for blood.

Really good article and may save Spencer a few weeks

Finally some sense from someone who’s opinion is respected among the powers that be . As far as I’m concerned, now Spencer has admitted he said it and apologised to Ezra then he should be only getting Two to Three weeks at the most . If the NRL wants to send a message to society that they won’t tolerate racism in the game then do it through community service via the clubs and schools . The NRL has now got some time to think about the punishment , let’s hope they don’t waste the opportunity to use it wisely .

[Batemans Bay Rooster]

Finally some sense from someone who’s opinion is respected among the powers that be . As far as I’m concerned, now Spencer has admitted he said it and apologised to Ezra then he should be only getting Two to Three weeks at the most . If the NRL wants to send a message to society that they won’t tolerate racism in the game then do it through community service via the clubs and schools . The NRL has now got some time to think about the punishment , let’s hope they don’t waste the opportunity to use it wisely .

absolutely agree. The fact that he's owned up to it when there may well have been not enough evidence to find him guilty makes it even better. It's not like he's pleading guilty because there's no other option. The NRL could send a message here about being honest and owning your mistakes.

[Bates]

Unfortunately they'll make an example of him.

8 to 12 weeks Imo.

[Bates]

NRL needs to act like Roosters have and announce the suspension term asap. Then we can all move on and focus on the footy.

Tuesday the 12th.

[Carlos Parra]

Great first impression for his new club and supporters and confirms the fears some of us had about his discipline and potential to do dumb shit that hurts the team.

Watch everyone label the team as a bunch of racists.

I can see the headlines now: WORLD'S FIRST: Black man pleads guilty to racism towards another black man.

[Jacks Fur Coat]

Finally some sense from someone who’s opinion is respected among the powers that be . As far as I’m concerned, now Spencer has admitted he said it and apologised to Ezra then he should be only getting Two to Three weeks at the most . If the NRL wants to send a message to society that they won’t tolerate racism in the game then do it through community service via the clubs and schools . The NRL has now got some time to think about the punishment , let’s hope they don’t waste the opportunity to use it wisely .

Well said. Also the fact that he chose not to play out what he was retaliating to, saves the skin of others, and a lot of negative back and forth. That should be factored in to his favour. Took the classier route.

[Carlos Parra]

Assume the club will bring out that list to try and guide the fine/suspension, with some community work/visits etc

Perhaps at Taronga Zoo.

[Random Rooster]

Best thing to do was to own it, cop the suspension and we move on.

We have a precedent in Montoya serving a 4 week suspension and a 20k fine- i can't see why Spencer would cop more than that.

In the end the guy made a mistake....most humans do! He didn't kill anyone, nor did it lead to any player being seriously injured and missing games as a result. 4 weeks is a strong deterrent.

Im fine with other players supporting Ezra but its not on when they start putting pressure on the NRL judiciary to hand out a sentence to their liking- and the NRL should at minimum warn those players for doing so

[Bates]

Wayne Bennett could really be our saviour here. He came out with some commonsense that I really never expected from him.
He aimed directly at Trell and basically told him to pull his head in, people in glass houses sort of stuff.
‘He says it has been blown way out of proportion. People say things the don’t mean.

“The game doesn’t have to take a strong stand on this. The game has always taken a stand on racism. It’s bulls*** to think otherwise.
“All the drama queens should stay out of the argument
“The NRL may have to come up with a penalty, but if he is found guilty, I don’t believe it should be an overkill penalty.
“We have all been in a situation where we have said something we regret, including the very people now calling for blood.

Really good article and may save Spencer a few weeks

Latrell Mitchell > Farking drama queen with a huge chip on his shoulder. He wouldn't say Boo if it were any other club.

Fark I hate Souffs!!!!!

[King Salvo]

Spencer Leniu will still face the judiciary, even though he pleaded guilty. His lawyer will try to argue for a lesser suspension vs the NRL lawyer, who will be arguing for the maximum suspension. I am not sure what his judiciary record is like or what character references his lawyer may provide the judiciary.

Maybe Nick gets on the phone with his Bronco counterparts to ask Mam to drop the case and donate money to a charity of Mam's choice instead?

[Random Rooster]

I've seen some low rent acts from the Roosters in my time but I think this takes the prize as the biggest bastard act I've ever seen a major club do to one of its players.

"Welcome to the Roosters, Spencer. Unlike your old club, we're going to lead you to the gallows."

Baby piss weak from the club.

Spencer Leniu - The Judas goat.

Great frigging start.

What did you expect the club to do? Spencer and the club would have challenged all this if he wasn't guilty- but he is.

It's not as if the club threw Spencer in the deep end, he put himself there!