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Thursday, December 17, 2015 - 8:55 PM
Source: SportsFan
Author: Bradley Dawson
Chris Sandow thought he knew better than his coach, which didn't endear him to anyone.
Photo Source: AAP
On-field in 2015 we still saw the usual amount of gutless late and high hits, moronic lifting tackles, grub acts, dummy spits, brain-fades and the like which fill out your typical NRL season in between all the great football. And of course players found other ways off-field to make gooses of themselves courtesy of the contract reneging clause, general sooking about their spot in the team, alcohol and white powders. You know the drill.
Here are the six worst examples from the NRL world in 2015 of people who failed when it counted or didn't spend enough time thinking or acting like grown-ups.
Chris Sandow (Parramatta Eels)
Not for the first time during his roller-coaster stint at the Eels, Chris Sandow was dropped from first-grade in May, as the Parramatta coaching staff became fed-up with the No.7's low-percentage efforts after a game where he missed no less than 11 tackles against Melbourne and gave away a penalty with a shoulder charge. Sandow was recalled soon after and tried at fullback where he had a shocker. A few games later, with the Eels languishing on the bottom of the ladder with only four wins, Sandow thought he would hand out some advice to coach Brad Arthur: 'I think if he lets me play how I want to play, we'll win more games.' It didn't go down too well. In the final year of his $550,000-a-year deal, the 26-year-old was told he was free to leave the club any time he liked.
A bit of toing and froing went on for the next month about payouts, with the club saying they couldn't let Sandow go and couldn't drop him to the lower grades due to their current salary cap mess before Sandow had a monumental dummy-spit on his facebook page: 'I'm sick of these big mouth c**** down here they think I'm one on my own should we run a muck [sic] or what I'm over the bullshit.' The halfback had the day before put in a completely listless, insipid effort in the team's round-19 loss to the Bulldogs in which he appeared not to try and again got himself suspended for another shoulder charge. And that was that. The Eels had had enough and finally released Sandow from the last few months of his contract, to cap off a complete waste of a year and talent. Sandow bolted to England and signed with the Warrington Wolves.
Greg Bird (Gold Coast Titans)
Even though the Titans back-rower was acquitted of charges for illicit drug use, he still had what can only be described as a shocker of year, marred by late hits, undisciplined acts and injury – oh, and there was that charge of urinating near a police car following his wedding in Byron Bay.
But to the on-field stuff. Bird was extremely lucky not to be suspended after he hit Knights halfback Jarrod Mullen late in a cowardly effort in round three. It was a sign of things to come. The Titan then copped an eight-game ban in May after being found guilty of a dangerous throw on New Zealand's Jason Nightingale during the Kangaroos' loss in the Anzac Test, with the grade-two offence meaning Bird missed the whole State of Origin series. This was the fourth time he had been banned for a dangerous throw in the last three seasons, and made him the fourth-most suspended player since the NRL came into existence in 1998. To cap off a wretched year, Bird injured himself in bizarre fashion in the Titans' round 24 game against the Raiders as he took the opening kick-off, tearing his quad and ending his woeful year prematurely.
James Graham (Canterbury Bulldogs)
Bulldogs skipper James Graham made an absolute goose of himself during the Bulldogs' one-point loss to Souths on Easter Friday this season, throwing a tantrum and yelling right in the face of referee Gerard Sutton in an embarrassing display. The official had correctly penalised Graham for making contact with Souths halfback Adam Reynolds in a charge-down of Reynolds' long-range field-goal attempt, but the Englishman set a pathetic example in confronting Sutton. It could be argued that Graham's antics actually helped inflame the tempers of Dogs fans, with some gutless idiots resorting to throwing bottles as the officials walked off the field. Not only did Graham badly injure Reynolds, he also couldn't bring himself to man-up and apologise afterwards for carrying on like a pork chop when he didn't know the rules. It wasn't exactly a captain's effort. It's a pity Graham couldn't show the common sense and leadership qualities at the time of his coach Des Hasler, whose strongly worded post-game apology regarding the crowd was just what was required. 'I've been to see the refereeing official who was I think struck by a projectile. He's okay but that is not us, that is not what this club is about and it's not what sport in this country is about,' he said in the post-match presser, with Graham sitting beside him.
Ben Hunt (Brisbane Broncos)
The Broncos No.7 had an outstanding year as he took a massive step-up to be one of his team's better players all year and be a huge part of why the Broncos made the grand final. There is also no doubt that Ben Hunt would have been in the running for the Clive Churchill medal with five minutes remaining in the decider but then, cruelly, it all went south at a rate of knots. He was placed on report for a nasty spear-tackle on Kane Linnett, which ultimately gave the Cowboys the momentum to score the match-levelling try, and then he fumbled THAT kick-off to start golden point extra time and hand the premiership to the Cowboys. Calling Hunt a goat might seem a little unfair, but it is how players deal with the big moments that counts, and Hunt blew it, big time.
Josh Reynolds (Canterbury Bulldogs)
Josh Reynolds just couldn't keep his legs to himself in 2015. 'Grub' was at his undisciplined worst during City's 34-22 loss to Country back in May, throwing out his boot just after half-time in a low act as he attempted trip Country’s Tariq Sims who had waltzed past him, with Reynolds' ugly effort not dissimilar to the trip he had pulled on Ben Barba the previous year. The Bulldog wasn't done for the match though; he capped off his earlier effort with another gutless jumping tackle on David Mead. Then in Canterbury's mid-season win over the Eels, Reynolds was at his dirtiest once again – and in the usual circumstances: he threw a leg out at ball carrier who had just outplayed him with superior evasive skills. This time it was Parramatta No.7 Chris Sandow, who, luckily, like previous victims of Reynolds' legwork, avoided injury.
Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly Sea Eagles)
The mercenary nature of NRL's player contract dealings really makes it tough to be a loyal fan these days. As do the money-chasing antics of some players and their managers. How were Manly fans, plus Daly Cherry-Evans' coach and teammates, supposed to treat the halfback for the rest of 2015 when he announced after their round one hammering that he had signed a four-year deal with the Titans believed to be worth almost $5 million and would leave Brookvale at the end of the year?
As the season progressed, the Manly half couldn't restrain himself from making cryptic, disrespectful, sly allusions to the possibility of his back-flipping on his contract with the Titans. Cherry-Evans' insistence he had 'done nothing wrong' suggested he simply didn't care, what other people, specifically fans, teammates and club administrators, felt about such old-fashioned concepts as loyalty, keeping your word and honour. When the inevitable happened and Cherry-Evans finally announced his back-flip, he commented that his behaviour 'probably doesn't look very honourable'. It was the most accurate thing he had said for months. Incredibly, he then had the gall to come out and talk about how happy he was at the prospect of being a one-club player for the remainder of his career. The whole thing stunk.
Do you agree with our NRL goats of the year? Are there any we missed for our top six? Have your say in the comments section below.
Follow SportsFan on Twitter: @sportsfan_live
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of SportsFan.
Source: SportsFan
Author: Bradley Dawson
Chris Sandow thought he knew better than his coach, which didn't endear him to anyone.
Photo Source: AAP
On-field in 2015 we still saw the usual amount of gutless late and high hits, moronic lifting tackles, grub acts, dummy spits, brain-fades and the like which fill out your typical NRL season in between all the great football. And of course players found other ways off-field to make gooses of themselves courtesy of the contract reneging clause, general sooking about their spot in the team, alcohol and white powders. You know the drill.
Here are the six worst examples from the NRL world in 2015 of people who failed when it counted or didn't spend enough time thinking or acting like grown-ups.
Chris Sandow (Parramatta Eels)
Not for the first time during his roller-coaster stint at the Eels, Chris Sandow was dropped from first-grade in May, as the Parramatta coaching staff became fed-up with the No.7's low-percentage efforts after a game where he missed no less than 11 tackles against Melbourne and gave away a penalty with a shoulder charge. Sandow was recalled soon after and tried at fullback where he had a shocker. A few games later, with the Eels languishing on the bottom of the ladder with only four wins, Sandow thought he would hand out some advice to coach Brad Arthur: 'I think if he lets me play how I want to play, we'll win more games.' It didn't go down too well. In the final year of his $550,000-a-year deal, the 26-year-old was told he was free to leave the club any time he liked.
A bit of toing and froing went on for the next month about payouts, with the club saying they couldn't let Sandow go and couldn't drop him to the lower grades due to their current salary cap mess before Sandow had a monumental dummy-spit on his facebook page: 'I'm sick of these big mouth c**** down here they think I'm one on my own should we run a muck [sic] or what I'm over the bullshit.' The halfback had the day before put in a completely listless, insipid effort in the team's round-19 loss to the Bulldogs in which he appeared not to try and again got himself suspended for another shoulder charge. And that was that. The Eels had had enough and finally released Sandow from the last few months of his contract, to cap off a complete waste of a year and talent. Sandow bolted to England and signed with the Warrington Wolves.
Greg Bird (Gold Coast Titans)
Even though the Titans back-rower was acquitted of charges for illicit drug use, he still had what can only be described as a shocker of year, marred by late hits, undisciplined acts and injury – oh, and there was that charge of urinating near a police car following his wedding in Byron Bay.
But to the on-field stuff. Bird was extremely lucky not to be suspended after he hit Knights halfback Jarrod Mullen late in a cowardly effort in round three. It was a sign of things to come. The Titan then copped an eight-game ban in May after being found guilty of a dangerous throw on New Zealand's Jason Nightingale during the Kangaroos' loss in the Anzac Test, with the grade-two offence meaning Bird missed the whole State of Origin series. This was the fourth time he had been banned for a dangerous throw in the last three seasons, and made him the fourth-most suspended player since the NRL came into existence in 1998. To cap off a wretched year, Bird injured himself in bizarre fashion in the Titans' round 24 game against the Raiders as he took the opening kick-off, tearing his quad and ending his woeful year prematurely.
James Graham (Canterbury Bulldogs)
Bulldogs skipper James Graham made an absolute goose of himself during the Bulldogs' one-point loss to Souths on Easter Friday this season, throwing a tantrum and yelling right in the face of referee Gerard Sutton in an embarrassing display. The official had correctly penalised Graham for making contact with Souths halfback Adam Reynolds in a charge-down of Reynolds' long-range field-goal attempt, but the Englishman set a pathetic example in confronting Sutton. It could be argued that Graham's antics actually helped inflame the tempers of Dogs fans, with some gutless idiots resorting to throwing bottles as the officials walked off the field. Not only did Graham badly injure Reynolds, he also couldn't bring himself to man-up and apologise afterwards for carrying on like a pork chop when he didn't know the rules. It wasn't exactly a captain's effort. It's a pity Graham couldn't show the common sense and leadership qualities at the time of his coach Des Hasler, whose strongly worded post-game apology regarding the crowd was just what was required. 'I've been to see the refereeing official who was I think struck by a projectile. He's okay but that is not us, that is not what this club is about and it's not what sport in this country is about,' he said in the post-match presser, with Graham sitting beside him.
Ben Hunt (Brisbane Broncos)
The Broncos No.7 had an outstanding year as he took a massive step-up to be one of his team's better players all year and be a huge part of why the Broncos made the grand final. There is also no doubt that Ben Hunt would have been in the running for the Clive Churchill medal with five minutes remaining in the decider but then, cruelly, it all went south at a rate of knots. He was placed on report for a nasty spear-tackle on Kane Linnett, which ultimately gave the Cowboys the momentum to score the match-levelling try, and then he fumbled THAT kick-off to start golden point extra time and hand the premiership to the Cowboys. Calling Hunt a goat might seem a little unfair, but it is how players deal with the big moments that counts, and Hunt blew it, big time.
Josh Reynolds (Canterbury Bulldogs)
Josh Reynolds just couldn't keep his legs to himself in 2015. 'Grub' was at his undisciplined worst during City's 34-22 loss to Country back in May, throwing out his boot just after half-time in a low act as he attempted trip Country’s Tariq Sims who had waltzed past him, with Reynolds' ugly effort not dissimilar to the trip he had pulled on Ben Barba the previous year. The Bulldog wasn't done for the match though; he capped off his earlier effort with another gutless jumping tackle on David Mead. Then in Canterbury's mid-season win over the Eels, Reynolds was at his dirtiest once again – and in the usual circumstances: he threw a leg out at ball carrier who had just outplayed him with superior evasive skills. This time it was Parramatta No.7 Chris Sandow, who, luckily, like previous victims of Reynolds' legwork, avoided injury.
Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly Sea Eagles)
The mercenary nature of NRL's player contract dealings really makes it tough to be a loyal fan these days. As do the money-chasing antics of some players and their managers. How were Manly fans, plus Daly Cherry-Evans' coach and teammates, supposed to treat the halfback for the rest of 2015 when he announced after their round one hammering that he had signed a four-year deal with the Titans believed to be worth almost $5 million and would leave Brookvale at the end of the year?
As the season progressed, the Manly half couldn't restrain himself from making cryptic, disrespectful, sly allusions to the possibility of his back-flipping on his contract with the Titans. Cherry-Evans' insistence he had 'done nothing wrong' suggested he simply didn't care, what other people, specifically fans, teammates and club administrators, felt about such old-fashioned concepts as loyalty, keeping your word and honour. When the inevitable happened and Cherry-Evans finally announced his back-flip, he commented that his behaviour 'probably doesn't look very honourable'. It was the most accurate thing he had said for months. Incredibly, he then had the gall to come out and talk about how happy he was at the prospect of being a one-club player for the remainder of his career. The whole thing stunk.
Do you agree with our NRL goats of the year? Are there any we missed for our top six? Have your say in the comments section below.
Follow SportsFan on Twitter: @sportsfan_live
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of SportsFan.
