Member Statement from Raelene Castle

[FreshSoulL]

It has been a tough few days for the Bulldogs club – particularly our members and fans.

Fan Behaviour

We are all disappointed in the actions of a few fans and frustrated at the way they have cast all of us in a bad light. We are working with ANZ Stadium, the NSW Police and the NRL to review security plans for all future games and to identify those responsible for the anti-social behaviour on Friday. We will do everything in our powers to find these people and ensure they face the consequences of their actions. It may take us a few weeks to complete this investigation and in the meantime I would ask that our true fans show up on Sunday to support our boys against the Dragons and show how a loud and passionate Bulldogs crowd behaves. We are enjoying record levels of membership already this year - 18,000 people have confirmed their dedication to our Club. Much of this growth can be attributed to the safe and friendly atmosphere that we’ve all worked to create together so that coming to a Bulldogs game is a fun day out.

Let’s do our best to maintain these standards and remind ourselves of our Members Code of Conduct.

http://www.bulldogs.com.au/membership/code-of-conduct.html

Player Charges

We found ourselves in a very challenging position with 5 charges this week. We reviewed the charges from every angle and felt that the early guilty plea was the best action for them all.

Specifically, in relation to the James Graham Contrary Conduct charge, this was discussed at length with both Des and James and together we’ve agreed the best way forward is to accept the charge as laid. .

I understand that some are frustrated by the fact we didn’t defend our captain with the NRL. What I can say to you is that we stand behind James 100% as the Captain of the Bulldogs. We believe he will be a leader of this Club for many years and we have all learnt some valuable lessons from Friday afternoon. In this situation, we felt in was not about taking on the NRL judiciary, but ensuring we accept a level of responsibility and can move on, focused on the real battle of winning the NRL Premiership.

We have the best Coach to see us through the next few challenging weeks and I look forward to all your support as we show what it is to be #proudtobeabulldog

 

[rainman]

Poor James has the full support of the club ! Look out son

 

[ThePedigree]

Hmmmmm. I think Des has been making the right comments regarding all this saying that others have done the same in the past and it's not just Bulldogs fans. Also in regards to our players being suspended that there needs to be consistency.

I'm not hearing this from Rae Rae. Pisses me off but it's how it is these days. CEOs need to be PC in everything they do. It's a business. Gone are the days of CEOs like Bullfrog. RIP.

Thanks God we still have a coach who speaks his mind and tells it like it is.

 

[Indiandog]

what about poor standard of refereeing through out the game Raelene, which resulted in that frustration from our captain???

But did you raise the issue of in consistency of punishment in this matter?? would you be approaching NRL every time whenever a ref gets argued with in any NRL game in the future and a 4 week ban is not applied on a particular player/ captain? would you???

Fair enough you have accepted all the punishments where is the punishment for all the dodgy calls refs made in crucial stages of the game, against your own fcken club ?!!?

 

[Natboy]

I've sent her a long response and am looking forward to a reply.
I basically re-hashed the relevant and constructive thoughts we have all had since black friday and mentioned that I have blacked out the NRL logo from all of my merchandise. Thanks for the idea Assassin

 

[Indiandog]

George Burgess is fighting the charge, there you go Raelene and you couldnt even fight even one charge and stood up for your captain!

Absolute slap on the fans and the entire club if George successfully defends the charge and gets free to play next week.

Well done Raelene, great fcken job. Wish we had a CEO who had some balls.

 

[Natboy]

George Burgess is fighting the charge, there you go Raelene and you couldnt even fight even one charge and stood up for your captain!

Absolute slap on the fans and the entire club if George successfully defends the charge and gets free to play next week.

Well done Raelene, great fcken job. Wish we had a CEO who had some balls.

I am glad she doesn't have balls, that would be weird
Seriously though we were in a tough position but surely could've secured a downgrade!

 

[Chris Harding]

The best thing we can do is to show that we can take it in the chin. Can you imagine the fury and venom from the media if we said we would challenge the charges? It would blow up in our faces. We are better to demonstrate what we would expect from other clubs - then make damn sure that the same standards are applied.

If the NRL allows similar charge downs and verbally abusing referees to go unreported and unpunished, then we should be on every media front demanding answers.
The minute fans from other clubs have a go at our fans, we should be on the media complaining about double standards.

 

[Indiandog]

The best thing we can do is to show that we can take it in the chin. Can you imagine the fury and venom from the media if we said we would challenge the charges? It would blow up in our faces. We are better to demonstrate what we would expect from other clubs - then make damn sure that the same standards are applied.

If the NRL allows similar charge downs and verbally abusing referees to go unreported and unpunished, then we should be on every media front demanding answers.
The minute fans from other clubs have a go at our fans, we should be on the media complaining about double standards.

How much worse can it get from the media and for us??

What worst can happen from challenging the charges? we have already lost our captain, the heart and sole of our team, and the rest of the players for 4 weeks. Another 1-2 weeks are not going to make matters any worse.

Is there any punishment for Nathan Peats for swearing at the ref over the weekend?? NO!

Hypocrisy and double standard continue on from NRL as we speak my friend.

As i said earlier in last 10 years our fans have proven to be the most well behaved fans in the entire comp, yet we get crucified for one incident like this.

 

[KimboSlice]

Its all PR guys, what benefit would it have done to fight the charges, possibly get a downgrade (possibly not..), but have the fiasco drawn out in the media longer..

the media is hating on us right now, the smart thing is to accept responsibility for the fact that our players didn't act in the best way (the refs weren't great, but how we responded wasn't ideal). By doing this, we aren't giving the media any ammunition to burn us any more at the stake..

Like it or not, a football club in the current climate is about more than football. The "up yours" part of me is dirty we didn't fight the charges and stick it to the clearly biased (possibly corrupt) NRL..

But the logical part of me sees the sense in what we did, by doing this we will win (or neutralise) more hostile neutrals than if we fight it.. and the more neutrals who are neutral, the less news agencies will prolong this ordeal..

But yeah.. up yours NRL!

 

[Chris Harding]

How much worse can it get from the media and for us??

What worst can happen from challenging the charges? we have already lost our captain, the heart and sole of our team, and the rest of the players for 4 weeks. Another 1-2 weeks are not going to make matters any worse.

Is there any punishment for Nathan Peats for swearing at the ref over the weekend?? NO!

Hypocrisy and double standard continue on from NRL as we speak my friend.

As i said earlier in last 10 years our fans have proven to be the most well behaved fans in the entire comp, yet we get crucified for one incident like this.

It can get a lot worse. By taking the heat out of the situation we are taking ammunition away from certain journalists running a crusade to have us wiped out of the game. We have accepted the charges just as they demanded we should. If they are still lining up to abuse us, they lose the high ground and set a standard for reporting all other incidents for every other club. If they now excuse the same behavior from the rest of the clubs we have grounds to saturate their sites with demands for balanced standards of reporting.

 

[The Greatest]

I've sent her a long response and am looking forward to a reply.
I basically re-hashed the relevant and constructive thoughts we have all had since black friday and mentioned that I have blacked out the NRL logo from all of my merchandise. Thanks for the idea Assassin

Well done mate... Did the same as well... I even related some of the "more constructive" comments from here to the players and staff.

 

[Natboy]

Well done mate... Did the same as well... I even related some of the "more constructive" comments from here to the players and staff.

Great stuff mate. Hopefully we get a reply

 

[Dogna88]

Hmmmmm. I think Des has been making the right comments regarding all this saying that others have done the same in the past and it's not just Bulldogs fans. Also in regards to our players being suspended that there needs to be consistency.

I'm not hearing this from Rae Rae. Pisses me off but it's how it is these days. CEOs need to be PC in everything they do. It's a business. Gone are the days of CEOs like Bullfrog. RIP.

Thanks God we still have a coach who speaks his mind and tells it like it is.

There has to be good cop, bad cop... I know she doesn't agree with what happened, but her job is to smooth out the repercussions.... She is doing that very very well with the assistance of Des (bad cop)

 

[ThePedigree]

There has to be good cop, bad cop... I know she doesn't agree with what happened, but her job is to smooth out the repercussions.... She is doing that very very well with the assistance of Des (bad cop)

Exactly my point.

 

[Dogna88]

Exactly my point.

Lol she is like batman.... She is what the bulldogs need her to be.... In this case, the villain

 

[Hacky McAxe]

Poor James has the full support of the club ! Look out son

This actually made me laugh out loud. He will be missed.

 

[Qld-Dog]

George Burgess is fighting the charge, there you go Raelene and you couldnt even fight even one charge and stood up for your captain!

Absolute slap on the fans and the entire club if George successfully defends the charge and gets free to play next week.

Well done Raelene, great fcken job. Wish we had a CEO who had some balls.

Hey Dude, why don't you just go home and have cold shower and take it easy.

 

[Indiandog]

Hey Dude, why don't you just go home and have cold shower and take it easy.

I have been home since Friday mate and had plenty of cold showers.

not watching any TV nor listening to radio.

cant help it, I am just too passionate about the club and players and my blood boils when our club management cops it up the back side from NRL and other clubs have the guts to defend themselves.

 

[cntrbry bnkstwn]

Worse...when members of this site preach NRL appeasement as a PR exercise.

NRL, 9RL same thing really. what's really pissing me off more than the NRL at the moment is souths, and more particularly madge.

the hysteria that he created immediately after the game concerning their halfback being out for 5 months, and now we hear it's 2 or 3 weeks. Poor form from a club that we helped in difficult times