Did not even bother watching the game last night, instead watched the AFL very entertaining. Did catch some highlights though later in the evening and watched as the Cowboys imploded. .
No surprise that it was allowed to slide though because St Jonathan is allowed to say whatever he likes and it seems the officials are just too darned scared ( or in awe) to punish him for it. Heaven forbid our next immortal gets into trouble for something others get fined , suspended or sent to the sin bin for. Can't have any black marks on his spotless record. It's not like he doesn't have form for verbal abuse or a couple of other misdemeanours either.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/dont-swear-by-refs-decision/story-e6frext9-1225875231814
SO let's get this straight.
Johnathan Thurston rips into referee Jason Robinson, drops the magic F-word eight times, calls him the "man of the match" and essentially acts like a whingeing brat who's been told he's not allowed to have a chocolate Paddle Pop ... but he's not bringing the game into disrepute.
Well, that's just fabulous.
So the next time a captain disagrees with a call, he now has the green light to get in the ref's face and unload without fear of retribution.
That is the dangerous precedent the NRL judiciary has set in clearing Thurston of a grade-one "detrimental" conduct charge.
The issue isn't Thurston's liberal use of the F-word. It's not the fact his rant was broadcast on ABC Radio or inadvertently given air-time on the NRL's website, as regrettable as it might be.
The issue here is the 1000-watt roasting Thurston has given Robinson, who had (correctly) ruled that a pass had been thrown forward as the Cowboys shifted the ball wide in the dying stages of their loss to Manly on Saturday night.
Yes, it came in the heat of battle. Yes, footballers swear. Yes, it's a tough, gladiatorial sport and the heat of battle is intense.
But there's a line and Thurston didn't so much cross it as snap it in half. In failing to suspend him, the NRL judiciary is saying that it is acceptable to abuse referees.
Thurston finally released a statement last night explaining his actions but it was an eternity away from being an apology.
"I am not happy with what I saw when I looked back at the tape of me addressing the referee," he said. "It was an emotional situation, though, that got a little out of hand and if I had my chance again of course I would have handled things differently.
"I certainly don't want people to think that I am encouraging anyone to blow up at the referee. The refs deserve respect in any game and I respect the job they are trying to do."
It is safe to assume that Thurston only released this statement after the NRL pressured the Cowboys into making him do so.
He should have apologised after the game, or at the judiciary hearing on Wednesday night.
Thurston is the luckiest man in the game today. Andrew Johns infamously said "f--- you c---" to touch judge Matt Cecchin during a match in 2006 and was rubbed out for two matches.
Ricky Stuart called referee Ashley Klein a "f---ing cheat" and lost the Australian job.
Towards the end of Wednesday night's marathon hearing, as lawyer Colin White comically and bizarrely argued that it's okay to abuse a ref because they swear in Underbelly, Thurston could be seen smirking on the video hook-up like the cat that got the cream.
Is this what we want from the world's best player? Can you imagine Darren Lockyer sitting there with a grin on his face as he argues he hasn't brought the game into disrepute?
The problem with Thurston is that he believes he has done nothing wrong and, perversely, the NRL judiciary agrees with him.
The panel of former players Brad Clyde, Mal Cochrane and Michael Buettner might have felt it was Robinson's job in the first place to reprimand Thurston, and in many respects they are right.
But it is still their role to have the gonads to rub out a player who has crossed the line.
The NRL has hardly showered itself in glory either.
It squeezed out a press release an hour after Thurston was cleared on Wednesday night, with chief operating officer Graham Annesley claiming: "There is nothing from tonight's decision that would suggest it is acceptable to swear at or be abusive to a referee no matter how much one may disagree with a decision."
Except the small fact that Thurston has been cleared.
Annesley again: "What does seem clear from tonight's decision is the primary responsibility for enforcing issues related to dissent rests with the referees."
Of course. This is all Jason Robinson's fault - and not Johnathan Thurston's. Someone give him a Paddle Pop.
http://www.theroar.com.au/2012/04/23/slater-and-thurston-need-to-pull-their-heads-in/
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...-whitecollar-crime-threat-20100927-15tdt.html
Most of their indiscretions involved alcohol.
North Queensland star Jonathan Thurston was locked up and charged with a public nuisance offence after being asked to leave Brisbane's Treasury Casino.
But the party with most right to feel aggrieved was probably the club paying wages to a captain out on the town while on crutches recovering from injury.
