Luke O’Donnell story in SMH

[Spirit of 66]

Sad.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/we-...05-p51b36.html

[Thirteen]

Sad story. Nice to hear he seems to be doing better. I can’t undestand what the parents get out of speaking to the media about their son.

[RoosterChick]

Sad story. Nice to hear he seems to be doing better. I can’t undestand what the parents get out of speaking to the media about their son.

Money.

[The Skeez]

Money.

Not for an article like that.
More to help Luke learn he has much to do improve his life

[zac]

Tough times for Luke; tough times for his parents. Personally I'm not someone who would want to live their life in the papers, but maybe the mum wanted to make it clear that she regrets calling the cops and blames herself.

Luke says he's got nothing, but that's not true. He was a vital component in that 13 team and he has our eternal gratitude and good wishes.

[Frozen Chook]

Spirit of 66 would you mind pasting the text of the article

[RoosterChick]

Not for an article like that.
More to help Luke learn he has much to do improve his life

I don’t think Luke would feel happy about the article plastered in print for all the world to see when he finally seems to be making some headway in getting his life together. It’s personal stuff and should be kept private between his parents and himself.
The press are vultures always looking for a story. Don’t tell me there wasn’t a payment involved for that story.

[Salvatori Grubber]

Spirit of 66 would you mind pasting the text of the article

Here’s a free version:

https://outline.com/EekGBS

[Salvatori Grubber]

I don’t think Luke would feel happy about the article plastered in print for all the world to see when he finally seems to be making some headway in getting his life together. It’s personal stuff and should be kept private between his parents and himself.
The press are vultures always looking for a story. Don’t tell me there wasn’t a payment involved for that story.

The parents spend the article explaining that the cops blew it out of proportion, and as such it was a beat up.

Sounds like they want to help clear their son’s name to me.

[Salvatori Grubber]

Tough times for Luke; tough times for his parents. Personally I'm not someone who would want to live their life in the papers, but maybe the mum wanted to make it clear that she regrets calling the cops and blames herself.

Luke says he's got nothing, but that's not true. He was a vital component in that 13 team and he has our eternal gratitude and good wishes.

What’s the forex rate for AUD/ETERNALGRATITUDE these days?

[ism22]

Here’s a free version:

https://outline.com/EekGBS

Cheers

[ism22]

> He came on early in the second half of the grand final against Manly despite a hamstring injury. He got the forward pack going but then felt his hamstring go. He squeezed another five minutes out before Robinson replaced him, job done.

Didn't realise that one...

> O’Donnell started “flailing a knife” at Ross, threatening to “bash ya!”

> Ross recalls it this way: “He had the knife under his chin. He let that go. Then he was out the bedroom window, gripping into the joint of the brickwork. He was well outside the building, still holding onto the window. I was able to grab his hand and he came hurtling back in.”

> Desperately, Dianne phoned triple-zero.

I found this really rough reading because (other than the drinking) that's exactly what my ex did to me on a regular basis. Knife out... threatened me, assaulted me and then threatened to jump off the balcony. These moods kicked in due to underlying stress (with kids...etc) and untreated mental health conditions.

This isn't about me (sorry to hijack), but such circumstances are really rough IMO because they're not clear-cut 'assaults' where the police arresting somebody's gonna help everybody. However, in today's climate there's a very low bar for assault convictions and most minor charges (e.g. 'x yelled at y' or 'x grabbed y firmly on the shoulder then let go when they screamed') will get over the line.

> Ross believes the police inflamed a delicate situation. He says an apprehended violence order taken out on his behalf by the police was unnecessary and he subsequently had it removed.

While I don't hate police, IMO that's the biggest issue with them... they are black letter 'did a crime happen? Right [person] is the offender... [person] is the victim... I'm making the arrest and writing up the simplest charges possible so that we can get a successful conviction...' kinda people rather than holistic thinkers.

As a victim (like LOD's parents) I feel exactly the same. I'm feel guilty that she got arrested because it ended her teaching career, restricts her travel and has basically fukked up her life for good having a crim record (when they coulda offered her help with her mental health instead!!!) When an otherwise good, loving person's mental health turns like this then IMO police making arrests helps nobody.

> Indications are his life is improving. He’s settled into his job in construction. A former teammate says he saw him in the surf recently and he “looked like the old ‘OD’.”

This is the best part of the story and I hope he's on the right path. Surely he's at least paid off that apartment in Clovelly, stashed away super (~10% on $300k+ a year) and ended up salvaging some kind of a life. Wishing him all the best!

[RoosterChick]

The parents spend the article explaining that the cops blew it out of proportion, and as such it was a beat up.

Sounds like they want to help clear their son’s name to me.

Maybe. But I think he doesn’t need any more articles in the press. He needs a chance to rebuild his life without having the press involved. The parents do need to try to reconnect but not publicly. It’s private and it should remain private or it won’t ever heal the pain he feels.

[zac]

What’s the forex rate for AUD/ETERNALGRATITUDE these days?

We're real, have an insane commitment to the Roosters and are eternally grateful to players who do the jersey proud! Must mean something!

Sure, you can't eat eternal gratitude. It's not that it's without worth, more that it's priceless.

[ism22]

The parents spend the article explaining that the cops blew it out of proportion, and as such it was a beat up.

Sounds like they want to help clear their son’s name to me.

I think they just wanna tell the full story.

Most are quite sheltered from what it's like having a family member arrested following a mental health breakdown. There are literally zero mental health services that will come in, break up a no fault domestic and offer no fault access to mental health rehab services. IMO this is a significant issue that society ignores, but should be addressing...

Cops always need to cook up a good guy v bad guy story rather than a blurry 'eeerm guy tried to kill himself by jumping off a building then swore at the cops and got aggressive when the cops came and told him he was under arrest for making too much noise and scaring others in the process of attempting suicide'. When the 'victim' is not happy with the fact the 'bad guy' has been arrested and charged with pretty well nothing other than assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest, what good have the cops achieved?

It sounds like the parents just wanna let their son know they're proud of him and they're sorry it all came to this given he no longer talks to them.