The tragic passing of Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin should put everything else into perspective
Yes, the NRL Integrity Unit is asleep at the wheel and the Titans’ throwing millions at Fifita is a mistake, but Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin’s tragedy reminds us all what’s important.
Opinion
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There’s a serious story in how the Cronulla Sharks salary cap is bent to fail while they continue to pay suspended NRL star Bronson Xerri’s $240,000 salary.
And how, eight months after the teenager first tested positive to a cocktail of banned substances, his case file jammed inside the top drawer of ASADA, is in danger of growing mould.
But if you’re his lawyer, so long as your client is getting paid, what’s the rush, right?
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There’s a column, too, in the silent alarm ringing inside NRL HQ, particularly on the second floor and down the hall of the NRL Integrity Unit.
Like a casino, there’s no clocks inside the unit. Time is irrelevant. Smoko just happened.
Happy hour is every hour and morning tea can be held this afternoon.
How else can rugby league’s very own judge and jury explain the time it’s taking for seven outstanding cases that remain unresolved, dating back to October last year?
There’s the ongoing appeal of deregistered agent Isaac Moses.
Remember when Josh Addo-Carr and Latrell Mitchell declared six weeks ago they were appealing their $50,000 fines ($30,000 suspended) for their involvement in a 12-person gathering on Mitchell’s property in April?
Well, there’s still no outcome.
Same too, for deregistered Bulldogs duo Jayden Okunbor and Corey Harawira-Naera, who declared they were going down the path of appeal to the NRL 13 weeks ago.
Both separate cases, we hear one or both are close to being resolved.
What chance does Xerri have — so too the Sharks — to learn his fate before Christmas?
Very little if you look at the case of James Segeyaro.
As backward as it sounds, it’s the unit — not anti-doping authority ASADA — that is in charge of metering out any anti-doping ban, as it is in the case of the similarly dragged out saga of Segeyaro.
The former Bronco was provisionally suspended by the NRL under the league’s anti-doping policy after testing positive to a banned substance nine months ago.
The Unit has had all the information they need to drop the hammer for more than a fortnight.
But nothing.
We can now understand why it took the NRL five days too long to clean up the Addin Fonua-Blake mess at Manly.
Instead of being open and shut within 24 hours, the NRL stands accused of reminding us all that perhaps the code isn’t as grown up as what we thought.
There’s another column, too, about the Gold Coast Titans and their $5 million play for Brisbane forward David Fifita and how management have learned nothing from the wasted millions spent in the past on fellow boom signings such as Jarryd Hayne, Dave Taylor, Jamal Idris and Nathan Peats.
But is that it?
Is that the column, when you pause to think about what happened to Alex “Chumpy” Pullin last Wednesday on the Gold Coast?
The 32-year-old two-time world champion and three-time Olympic snowboarder was spearfishing alone at Palm Beach when he suffered a blackout about 10.30am.
Paramedics performed CPR for 45 minutes but were unable to revive him.
So devastating was the news that within hours, world champions, Olympians and sporting greats from around the world began posting their shock, disbelief and deep condolences to Pullin’s loved ones.
The messages being uploaded by a shattered family member on Pullin’s Instagram page are still streaming in today.
They speak of a man who gave back to his sport at every opportunity, coaching and mentoring Australia’s best young snowboarders, both here and abroad.
“I’ve never seen someone work as hard as Chumpy,’’ three-times world surfing champion Mick Fanning wrote.
They speak of a man who chased a dream — and not million-dollar contracts.
“You inspired so many along the way,’’ Olympic kayak silver medallist Jessica Fox said.
They speak of a free spirit whose integrity would never be questioned by a unit. While major sports like the NRL will go on today, the impact of Pullin’s tragedy has sent the tight-knit snowboard community into free fall.
Australian sport is the poorer for his loss.
And then you read the handwritten letter from Ellidy Vlug, Pullin’s long-time girlfriend.
“This is a very difficult time for me and I ask that you respect my privacy during this period of grief,” read the note stuck to the couple’s front door.
“Know that Chumpy absolutely loved life and lived it to the full.
“He lived for us — his family, our puppy Rummi, our amazing friends and the home we made together.
“He was living his dream, our dream.
“I am eternally grateful that I have lived my life with him and I am deeply saddened that his life has been cut short — rest in peace my beautiful man.”
That’s it, that’s the column.
Originally published as The tragic passing of Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin should put everything else into perspective