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The manager of teenage star Jamal Idris has launched a scathing attack on the system that led to the Bulldogs centre being stood down from playing by the club after he was involved in a physical altercation with a teammate during a night out.
The Bulldogs yesterday announced Idris, who on Tuesday was named in first grade for the game against Cronulla at ANZ Stadium on Sunday, was being stood down from that match. That followed a meeting involving Idris, his manager - Sam Ayoub - and the club's disciplinary committee on Tuesday.
The other players who were out with Idris on Saturday night, Ben Barba and Lee Ta Maari, had not been selected in first grade and have been stood down from lower-grade football - Barba for one week and Te Maari, who had been guilty of previous breaches of the club's code of conduct, for two weeks.
Idris is understood to have retaliated and left Barba with a bleeding nose after Barba shoved him. The incident apparently began with Barba shoving Te Maari, and Idris trying to separate them, and came at a time when there had been a series of tough reactions by clubs and the NRL to players being involved in alcohol-related incidents.
Bulldogs chief executive Todd Greenberg said the club wanted to make clear what it expected from the players in terms of behaviour, adding: "I hope this punishment will serve as a warning to them on what they stand to lose if they continue down the wrong path."
But Ayoub was adamant the punishment far outweighed the crime. "Three boys went out for a drink together, someone said something that someone else took offence to and there was a bit of push and shove," Ayoub said yesterday. "There's no issue between them now, so what's the big deal?
"The reason it's become an issue is because we're living in this crazy world where everybody wants to dramatise and exaggerate and make mountains out of molehills, because people believe we have to be seen to be reacting this way.
"We've got 18-year-olds having to try to act like 35-year-olds and being told they are role models even though they have been given no training or explanation of what that means. It's too ridiculous for words.
"I'm not being critical of the club, because they are only reacting to the pressure they are under, but this sort of response will create distrust between the players and their clubs. The clubs used to discipline the players and it would only be a slap on the wrist if what happened wasn't that big a deal - and this wasn't.
"I sat in that meeting and Jamal was told it isn't a good look to be seen in public like that, but that it wasn't a hanging offence. But he has been hung out to dry. It didn't warrant him being dropped when they named the team before the meeting, so how does the same incident warrant him being dropped now?
"Jamal understands that the club has to act and that the club has to be seen to be dishing out punishment, but he isn't happy about it. You can't tell me you haven't had run-ins like that a hundred times with your mates, the same as I have with mine.
"I've got no problem with the club. They always act promptly and fairly, but I believe that what they dished out in this case was a result of them feeling undue pressure in the current climate."
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs yesterday forwarded their submission to the NRL in reaction to the penalty of the loss of two competition points for temporarily fielding a 14th man against Penrith last Saturday week. The Bulldogs won the game with a late try, but had the extra player on the field at the time. The submission will be considered today.
