Jarrod Mullen’s Newcastle captaincy chances in doubt following alcohol related incident

JARROD Mullen’s chance of captaining the Knights may be in jeopardy after an alcohol related incident shortly before Christmas.

Playmaker Jarrod Mullen in action for the Newcastle Knights at training at Newcastle University. Picture by Peter Lorimer.

A DRINKING session with teammates before Christmas has landed Newcastle playmaker Jarrod Mullen in hot water with new coach Nathan Brown and left his captaincy aspirations at the club in jeopardy.

Mullen will not go to Auckland for next month’s Nines tournament and has been stood down from the Knights’ only trial against Canberra prior to the NRL season kicking off after drinking while injured at the club’s Christmas party on December 22.

Instead of travelling to Orange for the top grade trial against the Raiders on February 20, he will be on a bus to Sydney on the same weekend to play in a reserve grade trial, robbing him of a final opportunity to work on his combination with new halfback recruit Trent Hodkinson.

Mullen’s punishment, for what many might perceive was a minor misdemeanour on the eve of the club’s Christmas break, has sent a clear message to the playing group about Brown’s hard line stance on discipline.

“It was a minor issue that’s been addressed in-house and everyone knows where they stand,”Brown said.

“He wasn’t going to the Nines anyway but he’ll miss the trial against the Raiders and play reserve grade instead.

“The good thing for me is Mullo has handled it really well and moved on, as has everyone else.”

Mullen says he was guilty of an error of judgment.

“I’ve got to cop it on the chin and wear the penalty,” Mullen said.

“I strained my calf at training during our final session before Christmas and had a bit of a drink with the team at our Christmas party,”he said.

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“I thought it was all right because we had 14 days off but it wasn’t the right thing to be doing in front of the younger fellas.

“I haven’t been fined or anything like that but I’m going to be playing reserve grade for the final trial.

“I probably didn’t think I was doing too much wrong at the time but I’m a senior player and I’ve got to lead by example.

Mullen missed much of last season through injury.

“I’ve got to cop it on the chin and wear the penalty.”

Mullen said he welcomed Brown setting a strong disciplinary standard.

“He’s putting his foot down with a few things which is good. Probably something the team needed,” Mullen said.

Asked whether he believed he has cruelled his captaincy chances following the departure of Kurt Gidley, Mullen said:

“It’s still up for grabs. Browny’s set a bit of a precedent about how to behave but I’m hoping my thing won’t hinder my chances.

“But to be honest, I just want to get back to playing footy. I missed most of the season last year with my toe injury so it won’t worry me at all if I miss out.

“I’ve played most of my career without being captain.”

Brown is considering naming more than one skipper and claimed Mullen has not been ruled out of the leadership group.

Originally published as Jarrod Mullen’s Newcastle captaincy chances in doubt following alcohol related incident