Andrew Webster of the SMH - Souths PR campaign to save Burgess

[Spirit of 66]

I've had it confirmed, by a well known league journalist, that Webster is very good mates with Shane Richardson. It is pretty clear where he is getting his information from.

This is the narrative Souths are trying to push. They're trying to blame our club and our fans. They're only interested in damage control so they don't lose a star player for the finals. They will throw mud in any which direction to deflect from the poor conduct of their own.

They will never take responsibility.

Very interesting.

Disgraceful and dishonourable. Pride of the League? Pfft.

[Lydon]

For what its worth I want Sammy boy to play.
Pearce was clearly identified with his dog humping indiscretion where as there is no video evidence only hear say on the S Burgess indiscretion so far.
And the bit I dont like is that this women is a Roosters fan & lives in the Eastern Suburbs. If the shoe was on the foot & this was say JWH having this said about him by a women who followed Souths & lived in the South Sydney area I would be filthy. Its to mercy for me.
A 3 minute video showing Pearcy carrying on like he did is worse than sending a dick pick to some women IMO.

No evidence on the S.Burgess incident? REALLY?

His Facebook account was used and his own brother admitted Sam made an error,and that’s without all the other nude pics..

Sorry mate I strongly disagree..

[rented tracksuit]

To be fair I think Webster is just offering a different voice and some new facts on the incident to the very lopsided reporting elsewhere. If the player is saying he is innocent of the accusations being directed at him then he should be allowed to defend that stance until the evidence proves otherwise.

What we do seem to know from one of the Burgess boys admitting that his brother has made a big mistake in one of the English papers is that unfortunately it seems like a family man with kids has done this all behind his wifes back.

I think this is where Webster has missed the point, its not about whether its a legal, moral or other kind of issue. When it comes to these kinds of incidents the game punishes based on whether the game has been brought into disrepute and to what level.

The question that should be asked is has the player not already brought the game into disrepute regardless of whether the pictures were requested or not?

And that is where you can start to draw parallels to the Pearce incident, see Pearce wasn't punished for his actions but rather the perceived damage his actions, given his high profile did to the game.

His high profile in the game being key, the NRL was not setting a precedent for players who pretend to hump a dog just like they wouldnt be setting a precedent for players who cheat (assuming reports are true) but what they have done in the Pearce case is set a precedent on high profile players who bring the game into disrepute. This is the question that needs to be asked when assessing whether the player should have already been stood down.

Well said.

[rented tracksuit]

For what its worth I want Sammy boy to play.
Pearce was clearly identified with his dog humping indiscretion where as there is no video evidence only hear say on the S Burgess indiscretion so far.
And the bit I dont like is that this women is a Roosters fan & lives in the Eastern Suburbs. If the shoe was on the foot & this was say JWH having this said about him by a women who followed Souths & lived in the South Sydney area I would be filthy. Its to mercy for me.
A 3 minute video showing Pearcy carrying on like he did is worse than sending a dick pick to some women IMO.

Hope you’ve got your snot colored jersey ready for this weekend my toofless friend.

[johnnysekret]

And the club has mobilised their friends in the media as part of a PR campaign... which was the point of my post.

Don’t worry. Your hero will get off. He is an important part of your brand and your mythology and people will continue to label him and his steroid-enhanced siblings as role models, despite their propensity to wave their genitals about and vandalise parked cars.

IIf what you've said is correct and Souths have mobilised media friends then they've done a terrible job of it considering FOX and Kent and NEWS LTD have been on a massive campaign to have the man suspended and even stated they feel it's worse than the Pearce incident.

In regards to the Twins being on roids, you should follow this up and present your evidence to the NRL as they take drug abuse very seriously.

Thank you for your response.

[johnnysekret]

They are serial flasher. Didn’t George take selfies of his long John and send them viral?

No he didn't.

He took one selfie of him coming out of the shower and it was shared online, not by George.

[zac]

Either Sammy plays or he doesn't. I'm not too fussed. That's a matter for the NRL. Still pissed off with what they did to MP and us in 16, but it won't surprise me if they're not consistent in their approach to these kinds of matters.

[Mickie Lane]

No evidence on the S.Burgess incident? REALLY?

His Facebook account was used and his own brother admitted Sam made an error,and that’s without all the other nude pics..

Sorry mate I strongly disagree..

Like I said no video or photos have been splashed all over every media outlet as far as I know.

[Mickie Lane]

Hope you’ve got your snot colored jersey ready for this weekend my toofless friend.

I'll meet you on Saturday arvo since you reckon you are going & we can discuss your comment.

[Lydon]

Like I said no video or photos have been splashed all over every media outlet as far as I know.

My apologies,I didn’t see the word video used when I responded..

[johnnysekret]

What business was Todd Carney peeing in his own mouth to anyone bar his own?

What business was a couple of Bulldogs players getting naked to anyone bar the people who were present at the private function?

What business was Pearce acting like a drunken tool to anyone bar those present?

There is no legal minefield here, these players sign very strict code of conduct contracts when they start out. The NRL is well within its powers to stand players down for breaches of that code of conduct and I bet my bottom dollar there's something about behaviour on social media in that contract.

Time for someone to stand up and take some accountability because Sam's family is the innocent party in all of this and they're the only ones who will lose if this drags on.

Carney was treated very unfairly and his career was ruined by vindictive alleged journalists. He did no harm to anyone and the NRL had no right to get involved.

The Bulldogs was none of anyone's business and their fine was ridiculous.

Pearce was captain of your club, easily identifiable on video, was asked to leave private premises and ignored the direction, and he was a serial offender. They had no option but to take action. However I feel the action they took with Pearce was overly severe.

There most certainly IS a legal mine field, potentially.

Not in any of the photos supplied so far has there been a head shot, and I mean a big head shot not the little head, in which anyone can even be remotely identified.

You simply cannot state in a newspaper that such and such an individual did something like this without something to present as evidence. It is actually illegal to do so and more than just crosses the lines of defamation and libel. If they state he has been accused of it, fine.

But the issue for Sam is that there have been articles published in which they clearly state he should be suspended for what he's done. This is exactly why he has hired two defamation lawyers.

As for the NRL, remember Brett Stewart? They will not be so eager to make early decisions after how stupid that made them look, particularly when there is not a single photo of Burgess doing anything wrong.

Thank you for your response.

[johnnysekret]

Welcome to the Roosters page mate, now jog on back to the burrow, theres a good lad.

Thank you for the welcome.

I am not aware of a forum by that name, and would not join if I were aware because I generally find members of the Burrow come across as inbred, slightly unhygienic and a little too closely related in a most uncomfortable way.

Thank you for your response.

[milanja]

Very interesting.

Disgraceful and dishonourable. Pride of the League? Pfft.

Given a vote, would most fans prefer Souths not be in the league?

[ROC181]

For what its worth I want Sammy boy to play.
Pearce was clearly identified with his dog humping indiscretion where as there is no video evidence only hear say on the S Burgess indiscretion so far.
And the bit I dont like is that this women is a Roosters fan & lives in the Eastern Suburbs. If the shoe was on the foot & this was say JWH having this said about him by a women who followed Souths & lived in the South Sydney area I would be filthy. Its to mercy for me.
A 3 minute video showing Pearcy carrying on like he did is worse than sending a dick pick to some women IMO.

His brother didn’t have a problem identifying him by saying he made a mistake. My problem is that he did it and the NRL who are portraying themselves as a champion of women in the game and sending naked pics is just not on these days. But like I said before it’s still early days and there will be more to come out. If he plays this week I’m sure his head will be all over the place.

[johnnysekret]

No evidence on the S.Burgess incident? REALLY?

His Facebook account was used and his own brother admitted Sam made an error,and that’s without all the other nude pics..

Sorry mate I strongly disagree..

Unfortunately your account being used for something does not provide proof a specific individual was involved in any of the alleged actions.
People leave phones lying around, friends steal them and do silly stuff on them as a joke, people hack accounts.

His brother said Sam made a mistake, with no further clarification.

He may well be meaning the "mistake" was accepting the request for contact from an unknown female when she first contacted him, or he could be meaning the fact he left his phone unattended etc.