Josh Reynolds’ joke poke sparks moral outrage as NRL again loses perspective

SO Josh Reynolds gave Aidan Sezer a friendly probe. Cue the outrage. There is so much white noise, no one knows what is acceptable anymore, writes PAUL KENT.

SO we are outraged again. It must be time for a snooze.

Josh Reynolds leans across at a scrum and gives Aidan Sezer a tickle that can be administered under only the friendliest of terms and suddenly the executioners are out in force.

This shoot first policy is the sign of our times. Everyone with a Twitter account believes their opinion is valid.

Josh Reynolds tries to surprise his mate Adian Sezer.

That Reynolds was forced to defend himself on social media is the surest sign we have lost the plot. The tin-pot sheriffs win another.

As a collective, the only certainty is we are all dumber for it. You want proof?

An online poll asked readers a question: Should the NRL judiciary crack down on Josh Reynolds over the incident?

They could agree and say “Yes, disgusting behaviour from a senior player” or they could see the madness and vote “No, there are worse things in the game”.

By late Tuesday the voting was heavily in favour, about two to one, that Reynolds should be cited. Collectively, our intelligence is diminishing.

Some called it assault.

Just want to clear up the incident with Aiden Sezer last night. We're good mates and it was just a bit of a joke. I hope no harm done

— josh reynolds (@joshreynolds9) April 4, 2016

@Todd_Greenberg Is the NRL going to do anything about Josh Reynolds or is that type of behaviour acceptable by your standards?

— Laura & Ross Walker (@leh1083) April 5, 2016

#sportsnight # Josh Reynolds can't help himself. No brains and such a grub act

— Doreen Russell (@samistewart1981) April 4, 2016

Some said it was unacceptable behaviour in a workplace.

Some even described it as sexual harassment. Not true unless he also asks for a date.

Social media is the literary equivalent of giving machine guns to monkeys.

Reynolds and Sezer are Canterbury juniors who grew up playing together and against each other. Sezer had no problem with what Reynolds was doing. He knows the man.

Given all the absurd outrage around the game at the moment it is little wonder the game is struggling to find the line over what is acceptable and unacceptable in our game.

On Tuesday the Country Rugby League released its “Respect” initiative. Captains and coaches around the CRL will be asked to sign a “respect” pledge to uphold the game’s core values: excellence, inclusiveness, courage, teamwork and respect.

This comes a month after a 16-year-old junior turned on the referee, fists blazing, twice. When his captain tried to calm him down he then turned on his captain. The boy was warned under the Young Offenders Act.

There is so much distracting noise around the game nowadays nobody is quite sure what is acceptable anymore and what is not.

If Reynolds faces a crime it is that he is part of a growing posse of players who, emboldened by the NRL’s no punching edict, continually bait opponents with niggles and verbal taunts because they know there is no retribution.

Maybe that is why there was such backlash after Monday’s game.

One of the better recent examples happened two rounds ago when the Roosters young guns, Jackson Hastings and Latrell Mitchell, spent much of the Manly game sledging Jamie Lyon.

Lyon has done it all and deserves respect. After a Manly mistake Jackson rushed to pat him on the head and Lyon, aware of its condescending tones, pushed him away. It was so small It is hardly worth a column on its own. Maybe not now.

Bulldog Josh Reynolds runs out during NRL match against the Canberra Raiders. Picture: Phil Hillyard

In the old days, an older player would bide his time and square up at the appropriate time. It was his way of reclaiming respect. It was often the way younger players learned to acknowledge it.

When this option was available the sledgers had to factor it in whenever they thought they might get a little mouthy.

Now, the no punching edict has removed that natural cause of justice without removing the spark that causes it. But if the NRL applied the broken windows theory then it might stop here. They might dim the distracting noise around the game.

The theory, admittedly controversial, basically states that by preventing small crimes such as vandalism, such as broken windows, a feeling of lawfulness prevails and offenders won’t go on to bigger crimes.

The NFL cleaned up its game significantly when it introduced 15-yard penalties for “taunting”.

We see a lot of taunting in our game, with no real repercussions. Let’s figure out what sort of game we want and then go and create it.

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Originally published as Josh Reynolds’ joke poke sparks moral outrage as NRL again loses perspective