Lote Tuqiri banned from returning to NRL unless he comes clean
By Paul Kent
August 26, 2009
The NRL has worked too hard and suffered too many bruises to allow Lote Tuqiri to play rugby league.
Unless he comes clean.
NRL boss David Gallop on Tuesday night closed the door on Tuqiri returning to the NRL unless he is willing to reveal what it was that got him sacked by the Australian Rugby Union.
Unless that happens, Tuqiri's only option is to play overseas.
Gallop is absolutely correct.
"We owe it to our stakeholders, particularly our players, who we hold accountable for their behaviour, to understand the reasons for his contract being terminated before we would consider registering him to play in our competition," Gallop said.
Gallop was careful but specific in his language. The door is shut and only Tuqiri can produce the key.
There are some who might think this is rich coming from the NRL, which has seen enormous damage to its game, most of it self-inflicted.
But through all the damage the NRL has acted with the greatest integrity to its fans. It has left them in no doubt as to its stance on what constitutes acceptable behaviour.
When Sydney Roosters prop Nate Myles mistook the hallway at Terrigal's Crowne Plaza for Schlossy's shoe in July, the NRL released the details itself. It said: "This is what he did and this is his punishment."
In doing so it reinforced the contract between the game and its fans about acceptable behaviour.
How can the NRL and its clubs suspend Myles, stand down Brett Stewart, Jake Friend and Greg Inglis, drop Willie Mason, ban Reni Maitua, sack Brett Seymour, deregister Greg Bird, and allow Lote to play?
What he did might be worse than all of them. Or it might not.
For that reason, the ARU can't be so proud.
From the start, John O'Neill and his merry men said they would not release details of Tuqiri's offence - but invited Tuqiri to, if he so wished.
Tuqiri remained silent. Yet in taking that stance the ARU broke the bonds of trust between itself and its fans.
It said to every rugby fan "trust us, we know what's good for you".
But do they? And should it be the ARU's decision?
That they were aware of this break in trust, and still carried on with it regardless, reflects their concern for what happened.
Yet it achieved nothing.
It simply left the whole mess open to rumour and innuendo, with little of it favourable for Tuqiri or the ARU.
Most of all, it treated long-suffering rugby fans as mugs.
The ARU board is there for the game. The game is not there for them.
It can be confirmed, 100 per cent, that Tuqiri's roommate while in Canberra with the Wallabies, Richard Brown, was interviewed by the ARU.
Yet Brown will not reveal even to teammates what it was about.
The only public statement came from the Rugby Union Players Association, denouncing the ARU for its handling of the issue .
Yet RUPA waited almost a week to voice itself - and then only hours before court papers were lodged that muzzled further comment because of legal restrictions.
You think they didn't know that was coming?
What it all means is that Lote Tuqiri is lost to Australian football. There is no way the NRL can in good faith register him now.
Unless he tells what happened.
