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CANTERBURY'S major sponsor Gary Johnston has defended players accused of making sexist remarks towards a female television reporter during the side's Mad Monday celebrations but club bosses say those responsible will be forced to apologise.
The incident, aired on the Channel Nine news on Monday night, is being investigated by the Bulldogs and ARL Commission, with chairman John Grant yesterday describing the allegations as ''serious''.
Another leading official told the Herald last night: ''They are a disgrace and have set back our efforts on the code's attitudes towards women by 10 years''.
The fallout continues ... Canterbury chief executive Todd Greenberg last night. Photo: Mick Tsikas
But Johnston, whose company Jaycar Electronics is the Bulldogs jersey sponsor, said the celebrations were a private function and the media had been locked out.
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It was unclear who had made the comments as they were heard through a slightly opened window and Johnston said the Channel Nine reporter, Jayne Azzopardi, would have been 40 metres away.
''I do know that microphone was some considerable distance from the window and they would have had to use electronic augmentation to even pick up that,"Johnston told the Herald.
''If you listen you can tell it is from a long way away.''
The comments broadcast on Channel Nine included:
❏ ''There are some ladies here to stick their heads in your pants.''
❏ ''S--- me off you dumb dog.''
❏ ''I want to go and punch you in the face.''
Told that the players were obviously directing the comments at the female reporter, Johnston said: ''They might have noticed them out the window in the car park 40 metres away. The gates were locked and there was a guard on the gate. It was a private function, the media were not invited. The media invited themselves.
''I am 110 per cent behind the Canterbury club. There was an expectation of privacy and these kids had dropped their guard and they were goofing off. They are in their 20s and they may say things that in public they would not say … even in semi-public, sensible professionals like Alan Jones still make dreadful mistakes and these are only kids.''
Bulldogs chief executive Todd Greenberg said he had apologised to Azzopardi and was disappointed by the comments. He added the club had not been able to identify the person responsible.
''The audio is a little bit scratchy and we haven't been able to put names to the audio at the moment,'' he said. ''There was some players here, some staff, some friends of players, who got together to celebrate Mad Monday.
''There was a range of different people and to be fair to the players that camera and the crew and the audio was taken a fair distance from where they were standing inside the room. We are not looking to duck for cover, but to be fair to us, the club and the players, we actually chose Belmore yesterday because it was a private space.
''It was certainly out of the public's eye, it was away from a licensed premises where they would have been confronted by the public and it was an opportunity for the players to do their own thing for that one day of the year.''
Greenberg said he would submit a report to the ARLC and if any player was found to have made the comments he would be forced to apologise. Grant also indicated that those responsible were likely to face sanction.
''Based on what I've heard, there is no doubt this is potentially a serious issue,'' he told Triple M. ''The process that we'll now go through is for the club to determine what actually happened, for the club to prepare their own report with their own recommendation.''
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...intensifies-20121002-26xhz.html#ixzz289tZCNkl
The incident, aired on the Channel Nine news on Monday night, is being investigated by the Bulldogs and ARL Commission, with chairman John Grant yesterday describing the allegations as ''serious''.
Another leading official told the Herald last night: ''They are a disgrace and have set back our efforts on the code's attitudes towards women by 10 years''.
The fallout continues ... Canterbury chief executive Todd Greenberg last night. Photo: Mick Tsikas
But Johnston, whose company Jaycar Electronics is the Bulldogs jersey sponsor, said the celebrations were a private function and the media had been locked out.
Advertisement
It was unclear who had made the comments as they were heard through a slightly opened window and Johnston said the Channel Nine reporter, Jayne Azzopardi, would have been 40 metres away.
''I do know that microphone was some considerable distance from the window and they would have had to use electronic augmentation to even pick up that,"Johnston told the Herald.
''If you listen you can tell it is from a long way away.''
The comments broadcast on Channel Nine included:
❏ ''There are some ladies here to stick their heads in your pants.''
❏ ''S--- me off you dumb dog.''
❏ ''I want to go and punch you in the face.''
Told that the players were obviously directing the comments at the female reporter, Johnston said: ''They might have noticed them out the window in the car park 40 metres away. The gates were locked and there was a guard on the gate. It was a private function, the media were not invited. The media invited themselves.
''I am 110 per cent behind the Canterbury club. There was an expectation of privacy and these kids had dropped their guard and they were goofing off. They are in their 20s and they may say things that in public they would not say … even in semi-public, sensible professionals like Alan Jones still make dreadful mistakes and these are only kids.''
Bulldogs chief executive Todd Greenberg said he had apologised to Azzopardi and was disappointed by the comments. He added the club had not been able to identify the person responsible.
''The audio is a little bit scratchy and we haven't been able to put names to the audio at the moment,'' he said. ''There was some players here, some staff, some friends of players, who got together to celebrate Mad Monday.
''There was a range of different people and to be fair to the players that camera and the crew and the audio was taken a fair distance from where they were standing inside the room. We are not looking to duck for cover, but to be fair to us, the club and the players, we actually chose Belmore yesterday because it was a private space.
''It was certainly out of the public's eye, it was away from a licensed premises where they would have been confronted by the public and it was an opportunity for the players to do their own thing for that one day of the year.''
Greenberg said he would submit a report to the ARLC and if any player was found to have made the comments he would be forced to apologise. Grant also indicated that those responsible were likely to face sanction.
''Based on what I've heard, there is no doubt this is potentially a serious issue,'' he told Triple M. ''The process that we'll now go through is for the club to determine what actually happened, for the club to prepare their own report with their own recommendation.''
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...intensifies-20121002-26xhz.html#ixzz289tZCNkl
