Phil Rothfield says there should be an investigation into NRL’s integrity unit after Rabbitohs incident

BUZZ: The NRL should actually be investigating why there was no integrity unit investigation into the Rabbitohs Arizona scandal in the first place.

SO the NRL is reopening an investigation into to the South Sydney Rabbitohs Arizona scandal and the arrest of their premiership winning captain John Sutton and Luke Burgess.

It should actually be an investigation into why there was no integrity unit investigation in the first place. That’s right. The integrity unit sat back and did nothing.

Not even one phone call to the Phoenix Police department. Nothing.

Same as they did nothing when Rabbitohs centre Kirisome Auva’a pleaded guilty to domestic violence last year, viciously assaulting his former girlfriend.

John Sutton and Luke Burgess sit handcuffed.

The bouncer assaulted has a noticeable bruise on his head.

He played in the grand final and today proudly wears a premiership ring.

The appalling inconsistency of the integrity unit is as big a story as the South Sydney cover-up and lies.

Last year Mitchell Pearce got drunk in King Cross and was accused of groping a girl.

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Kirisome Auva'a, Dylan Walker, Greg Inglis and teammates sing the team song.

He was cleared by police. No charges were laid yet the integrity unit was all over it.

He was fined $20,000 and suspended for a week.

Later last year a Hunter Valley hotel room used by Darius Boyd was trashed, causing thousands of dollars of damage. This time the integrity unit did nothing.

The disciplining of players has become a toss of the coin.

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Darius Boyd spoke about depression in his life for Beyond Blue.

The integrity unit could easily have found out from Arizona police, like the media has in recent days, that this was far more serious than Souths had reported.

There were very serious allegations of spitting in a bar and assault.

The new appointment Souths CEO Shane Richardson as NRL Head of Strategy on more than $500,000-a-year has now got to be in doubt.

I like Richardson. I like his vision for the game and the fact he’s old school.

But he has handled this issue disgracefully.

John Sutton and Luke Burgess’ mugshots.

When I put it to him on December 23 that there had to be more to Sutton sacking as captain, he declared: “Not to my knowledge”. A blatant lie.

When we spoke again on Monday morning he insisted there was no violence involved in the players’ drunken night out. Again, that’s not true.

Surely the NRL has to set some standards here. Last week the head of marketing Paul Kind was dismissed over a conflict of interest.

The pressure is now on Dave Smith to terminate Richardson’s deal.

It’s a shame because he’s such a good operator but the image and integrity of the game must always come first.

Luke Burgess in the back of a police car.