NRL has culture problem but so do other sports

MITCHELL Pearce’s video is the latest in a long line of scandals for the NRL. There’s a common X factor behind these incidents.

THE NRL’s gender adviser has weighed in on the Mitchell Pearce incident with a compassioned plea for all athletes, across all codes, to clean it up or “get off the paddock”.

Footage of an intoxicated Mitchell Pearce was aired by the Nine Network’s A Current Affair on Wednesday night that showed the Sydney Roosters and NSW Origin star forcing an unwanted kiss on a female, refusing to leave her apartment and simulating a sex act on her poodle-cross.

“I want to f*** your dog, I don’t even care anymore,” Pearce can be heard slurring.

Professor Catharine Lumby, a celebrated feminist and author who has mentored league players on a pro-bono basis for more than a decade, said she was “furious” and “disappointed” but not shocked.

She said the NRL and the Roosters had no choice but to stand Pearce down and she expected them to do just that.

“He is a role model. Some players don’t like being told they are a role model but that’s the reality,” she told news.com.au

Catharine Lumby, the NRL’s gender adviser, says enough is enough.

“It’s like any senior position; If you behave like this, you’d expect to be sacked. If we compare other cases of this kind, it’s very likely this is the end of his career.”

Prof Lumby began working with the NRL in the mid-2000s when she researched the cultural problems inherent in the sport. She helped shape education programs for new players at a sub-elite level, programs that have become mandatory for all league teams.

She said the league has come a long way in the time since she started working with players and clubs, but it still has a long way to go.

“Ten years ago, attitudes towards women needed to change. Now, there are no excuses. The NRL backs that up with severe penalties and players are well aware of what doing the right thing looks like.”

It’s not the first time Pearce has been caught up in a scandal off the field. In 2009 he was questioned by police over a brawl involving teammates Jake Friend and Sandor Earl. Friend and Earl were charged and Pearce was let go.

In 2012, he was arrested and fined after an altercation with a woman at a bar in Sydney’s Kings Cross. A woman in a yellow dress, later revealed to be Melissa Arroja, made a complaint to police about Pearce’s behaviour. He was suspended and fined $20,000 by the Roosters and dumped from the 2012 Blues squad.

Prof Lumby said it was inaccurate to describe the NRL as the only code where players act out. She rejected the idea NRL culture is inherently worse than that of any other sport’s culture.

It’s not the code or the players, she said, rather it’s the “male bonding” culture in all sports.

Prof Lumby said Pearce should be sacked. Picture: DiiMEX

“It’s not just rugby league. When you get sports journalists talking about cricket they say cricketers are the same. The AFL has had its share of problems, too. We know the Defence Force has its share of this. We’re looking at a male-dominated culture with a male bonding focus.

“Young men come in and get very out of touch with what’s expected and what their values are.”

She said there would never come a time when the NRL was free of scandal, but Pearce crossed a line that should never have been crossed.

She said she was particularly offended by the way he treated the woman in the video.

“The act with the dog was aimed at the woman. If you look at the whole incident it was complete disrespect to the woman and the act with the dog was a way of insulting her.”

She said there was only so much the NRL could do for players — education, mentoring and harsh penalties for indiscretions.

“I’d say stand him down. It’s completely unacceptable behaviour. The NRL has shown leadership in the past and they need to show leadership now.”

Twitter @ro_smith

Originally published as NRL has culture problem but so do other sports