What’s the Buzz: Wayne Pearce won’t meddle with Craig Gower award

As the NRL moves closer to making a call on the 17-year Dally M controversy involving Panthers great Craig Gower, Wayne Pearce will be a key voice.

Craig Gower. Picture: Brett Costello

League legend Wayne Pearce says he will not stand in the way of former Penrith Panthers halfback Craig Gower from collecting the Dally M medal he was robbed of in 2003.

The NRL is closer to making a call on the 17-year controversy from when players took industrial action and boycotted the ceremony, costing Gower the most prestigious award in the game.

A sports lawyer has completed an investigation into the medal count and will pass on his report to the independent commission for consideration later this month.

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Craig Gower missed out on winning the 2003 Dally M award due to a player boycott of the ceremony. Picture: Brett Costello

Pearce will be a key voice on the independent commission.

There has been a reluctance in some areas of the game for Gower to be given his medal due to the Penrith legend’s alcohol-fuelled misbehaviour at the Jack Newton golf classic in 2005 concerning a drunken encounter with Pearce’s daughter.

We spoke to Pearce about the situation on Friday and asked for his position as a commissioner.

“It’s all in the past for me,” Pearce said.

“I’m not going to be an obstacle to anything.

“It’s like still being dirty on the Super League war — you’ve just got to let it go.

“Digging up the past doesn’t get you anywhere. The game has moved forward. I’ve got no issue with it.”

Player misbehaviour has never held back players in the past for the game’s top awards, including the Immortals and the colourful behaviour of several of the inductees.

Judges were always under instruction to rate players for on-field ability only.

The RLPA is backing Gower to get the medal. While commission chairman Peter V’landys has kept an open mind on the controversy. Other more urgent issues in the game have been his priority.

However, he wants the commission to make a call in the near future, possibly at the next meeting.

Originally published as What’s the Buzz: Wayne Pearce won’t meddle with Craig Gower award