8 February 2012

Driving very fast without a licence? Allegedly the Raiders' Josh Dugan

8 February 2012 | johnboy

The Herald Sun brings news that Canberra’s young star Josh Dugan will face the magistrate for speeding despite already having a suspended licence:

Dugan will appear in ACT Magistrates Court next week to face charges of high-range speeding and driving while suspended.

The Daily Telegraph understands police will allege he was travelling at more than 105km/h in a 60km/h zone.

The NRL All Stars fullback pleaded not guilty to both charges from August last year that the Canberra Raiders chose to keep under wraps – not even informing the NRL as most clubs do out of courtesy when police charges are laid against their players.

They also organised his legal representation for the hearing on Thursday next week.

Josh’s management say he wasn’t aware of the suspension at the time in question.

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dph3:20 pm 09 Feb 12

chewy14 said :

You still don’t get it.
I didn’t say “dregs of society”, I said the general population of young males.

If Rugby League players (or any other footballers) aren’t worse than their peers, it’s not Rugby League that has the problem, it’s society.

Whether you believe your average 18-35 male thinks this type of behaviour is ok, is irrelevant.
When Rugby League is trying to attract sponsors, as well as promote a healthy, family friendly image, than it becomes a Rugby League problem.

Alderney3:14 pm 09 Feb 12

I think the word you are looking for with regards evidence dph is empirical.

Not to say chewy14 doesn’t have a point though.

I think that what these guys (all codes, not singling anyone out here) got to get through their thick skulls is that any misbehaviour is going to be jumped on and used to criticise the code as a whole. That goes for the rest of the players, the clubs, the sponsers and the fans. We are all tarred with the same brush.

I too would be surprised if the level of indiscretion shown by some sports people is not on par with their age group peers.

Just remember that for every oaf sportperson out there, there are half a dozen more giving to sick children and the like, and that’s where your emprirical evidence, dph, shows its flaws. Because that stuff just doesn’t hit the papers with any regularity.

(I’d like to declare my bias as I played A-Grade Rugby League from 1986 – 2003)

chewy1412:46 pm 09 Feb 12

dph said :

I never said anything about Rugby League players being worse than the dregs of society? All I’ve said is that RL has some cultral issues & a poor off field reputation.

I base my opinion on factual stories, as well as personal experiance.

You still don’t get it.
I didn’t say “dregs of society”, I said the general population of young males.

If Rugby League players (or any other footballers) aren’t worse than their peers, it’s not Rugby League that has the problem, it’s society.

dph11:51 am 09 Feb 12

chewy14 said :

dph said :

chewy14 said :

Got any evidence that the level of crime or bad behaviour by RL players is higher than other sports mentioned or the general population of young males?

Or do you base your opinions on who gets the most coverage on the back page of the Terrorgraph?

I think you’ll find that a lot of the off field behaviour isn’t disclosed by the media. Fairfax & News.ltd, do as good a job protecting players, as they do covering the gutter stories.

Whether you love the game or you hate it, I think you have to be a bit naive to believe that Rugby League doesn’t have some significant cultural issues & a poor reputation with off field behaviour.

I asked for evidence and that’s the best you can come up with? A media conspiracy?

I’m not saying that there aren’t complete Fwits playing professional football (all codes) but I’d actually be surprised if the level was much higher than in the young male population as a whole. For every Josh Dugan, there’s a Charnwood bogan hooning in a white Commodore.

The main difference that might make a difference is the time and money the footy players have but I think you’d be quite silly to base your overall opinion of footy players on media coverage.

I never said anything about Rugby League players being worse than the dregs of society? All I’ve said is that RL has some cultral issues & a poor off field reputation.

I base my opinion on factual stories, as well as personal experiance.

NoImRight10:19 am 09 Feb 12

Apart form media issues about what is or isnt reported possibly it appears more common in the football codes because there seems to be more of a team mentality and peer pressure (both good and bad) than you find in other sports.

Not this case specifically but more generally I think its a little hypocritical to make squillions because you are “famous” for whatever reason but then complain about media coverage when you go wrong. Live by the sword etc.

chewy149:21 am 09 Feb 12

The main difference that might make a difference?

I really shouldn’t write comments on my phone.

chewy148:08 am 09 Feb 12

dph said :

chewy14 said :

Got any evidence that the level of crime or bad behaviour by RL players is higher than other sports mentioned or the general population of young males?

Or do you base your opinions on who gets the most coverage on the back page of the Terrorgraph?

I think you’ll find that a lot of the off field behaviour isn’t disclosed by the media. Fairfax & News.ltd, do as good a job protecting players, as they do covering the gutter stories.

Whether you love the game or you hate it, I think you have to be a bit naive to believe that Rugby League doesn’t have some significant cultural issues & a poor reputation with off field behaviour.

I asked for evidence and that’s the best you can come up with? A media conspiracy?

I’m not saying that there aren’t complete Fwits playing professional football (all codes) but I’d actually be surprised if the level was much higher than in the young male population as a whole. For every Josh Dugan, there’s a Charnwood bogan hooning in a white Commodore.

The main difference that might make a difference is the time and money the footy players have but I think you’d be quite silly to base your overall opinion of footy players on media coverage.

Jpo11:57 pm 08 Feb 12

2604 said :

dph said :

The difference is, Rugby League is entrenched with this type of culture. The ‘boys will be boys’ attitude, along with sweeping everything under the carpet, has led to a specific & often very accurate stereotype of the sport.

A “specific stereotype” huh? Pure genius.

Fact is, for every Josh Dugan or Todd Carney or Jarrod Hayne, there’s an Alan Tongue or Josh Miller or Nathan Hindmarsh – good sportsmen and good guys who are about as far as you can get from the “boys will be boys” mentality.

Agree with the general point you are making, but not sure why you are comparing Jarryd Hayne with Carney. Sure, Hayne was shot at in the Cross in 2008 and involved in a scuffle in the same location in 2011, but this is not quite in the smae league as Carney’s drinking driving charges and criminal convictions. Let’s hope Dugan’s driving charges aren’t an indication he is heading down the same path. At least All Bar Nun is now closed.

dph10:53 pm 08 Feb 12

chewy14 said :

Got any evidence that the level of crime or bad behaviour by RL players is higher than other sports mentioned or the general population of young males?

Or do you base your opinions on who gets the most coverage on the back page of the Terrorgraph?

I think you’ll find that a lot of the off field behaviour isn’t disclosed by the media. Fairfax & News.ltd, do as good a job protecting players, as they do covering the gutter stories.

Whether you love the game or you hate it, I think you have to be a bit naive to believe that Rugby League doesn’t have some significant cultural issues & a poor reputation with off field behaviour.

260410:29 pm 08 Feb 12

dph said :

The difference is, Rugby League is entrenched with this type of culture. The ‘boys will be boys’ attitude, along with sweeping everything under the carpet, has led to a specific & often very accurate stereotype of the sport.

A “specific stereotype” huh? Pure genius.

Fact is, for every Josh Dugan or Todd Carney or Jarrod Hayne, there’s an Alan Tongue or Josh Miller or Nathan Hindmarsh – good sportsmen and good guys who are about as far as you can get from the “boys will be boys” mentality.

chewy149:29 pm 08 Feb 12

OpenYourMind said :

chewy14 said :

dph said :

Tooks said :

SnapperJack said :

Oh, God. The footy season’s started and yet another year of NRL (Neanderthals Running Loose).

How come this sort of thing never happens with cricketers, basketballers or swimmers?

Nick D’Arcy, Michael Phelps, Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone just off the top of my head.

There are dickheads in every sport. Many of these elite athletes are told from a very young age how great they are, many of them don’t finish school, haven’t ever worked a real job etc. It’s not new and it’s not surprising.

The difference is, Rugby League is entrenched with this type of culture. The ‘boys will be boys’ attitude, along with sweeping everything under the carpet, has led to a specific & often very accurate stereotype of the sport.

Got any evidence that the level of crime or bad behaviour by RL players is higher than other sports mentioned or the general population of young males?

Or do you base your opinions on who gets the most coverage on the back page of the Terrorgraph?

I’m not sure about comprehensive evidence, but I think two words say it all: Monaghan & Dog.

Why do we put so much more money in male sport when such bad examples are so regularly displayed. Try naming a scandal with the Canberra Capitals???

How would you ever know? Most people wouldn’t know one player and it wouldn’t make the news anyway.
Also as mentioned previously money is a big factor which these minor sports don’t have to worry about.
I haven’t heard any scandals about my local Tiddlywinks team, but I can tell you we’re full of lowlifes.

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johnboy9:30 pm 08 Feb 12

Teams with bigger ad spends are also less likely to get adverse media reporting.

Sad, horrible, fact of life.

Having said that the League guys in my experience tend to be more honest and open than the media operatives from the other codes. Could be it works against them on this level (works really well for them on lots of other levels).

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