V’landys says Broncos players will get treated the same
Peter V’landys has ridiculed suggestions the Broncos will receive preferential treatment as the integrity unit struggles to find useful CCTV footage.
ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys has ridiculed suggestions the Broncos will receive preferential treatment as the integrity unit struggles to get their hands on CCTV footage that could clear or damn the players at the centre of the club’s latest crisis.
The integrity unit has interviewed as many as 10 players who attended the Everton Park Hotel on August 1, but the governing body may struggle to verify their accounts unless they can obtain video footage of the afternoon in question.
It is understood the NRL has been unable to do so thus far and other clubs are watching with interest as they look to ensure the integrity unit is consistent in their approach to punishing those who breach the biosecurity rules.
South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett was fined $20,000 and placed in a two-week COVID hold after taking his partner Dale Cage out to lunch at popular inner-west eatery Grappa. Dragons prop Paul Vaughan was fined $10,000 after he went to breakfast at a cafe in Wollongong.
There is a view that if Brisbane players went to the bar or the poker machine room at the hotel, that they should suffer the same fate, including a ban.
The NRL view is that the players have served their 14-day Covid period and therefore shouldn’t necessarily miss games, although a final call will be contingent on whether the integrity unit can obtain the CCTV footage from the hotel.
“First and foremost, they were allowed to go to a restaurant in Queensland,” V’landys said. “In NSW at that point in time cafes and restaurants were out because of what was happening at the Thai Rock Restaurant and the Crossroads Hotel.
“If they frequented the hotel other than the restaurant, then they are in breach.
“Until we get the CCTV footage and see what they did, we can’t do anything.
“The investigation is ongoing. We can’t make a decision until we get the evidence.”
V’landys pointed out that Brisbane forward Tevita Pangai Junior had been given an indefinite ban by the NRL for blatantly ignoring biosecurity protocols on multiple occasions, evidence he said that the Broncos were not given preferential treatment.
Pangai Jr is unlikely to play again this season and the Broncos are ready to tear up his contract, such is their fury with his part in the disintegration of the club.
“No one can say there are double standards,” V’landys said.
“You can’t belt anyone worse than that. The proof is in the pudding. Pangai Jr is the harshest punishment of the lot.
“When people make decisions they should first and foremost have facts to back them up rather than making rash statements.
“The harshest penalty so far has been handed to the Brisbane Broncos.”
Against the backdrop of an ongoing investigation and the absence of Pangai Jr, the Broncos must find a way past last year’s grand finalists Canberra in the nation’s capital.
They are long-priced outsiders against the Raiders at GIO Stadium, having endured a week of more tumult and further injury to prop Matthew Lodge and young speedster Xavier Coates.
Lodge is out for the remainder of the season while Coates is expected to miss at least the trip to Canberra.
The club is also enduring the absence of their coach Anthony Seibold, who is in a COVID hold of his own after staying in Sydney after the loss to the Rabbitohs to attend to a family matter.
At the same time, Seibold has kicked off the hunt to locate those responsible for an ugly social media attack that both he and the club believe is designed to erode his credibility and cause him personal pain.
Co-captain Patrick Carrigan, who has distracted himself with his university studies, on Friday concurred with the view of Shane Webcke after the club legend said the players could define themselves by how they get through the current malaise.
“It is pretty well publicised what is going on at the club at the moment,” Carrigan said.
“When you have ex-players or guys like Shane Webcke … it does hurt a bit but it makes you want to go out and make them proud.’’
Meanwhile, Brett Finch has been removed from the Warriors bubble while the NRL investigates a potential biosecurity breach involving former Sydney Roosters half.
Finch was brought into the bubble by Warriors coach Todd Payten last week, as much for his benefit as for the Warriors players. However, he was removed on Friday night after images emerged of him appearing to take part in a podcast on Thursday.
The images were taken down late on Friday night after reports emerged of the investigation into Finch’s potential breach. In one of the pictures, Finch is seen playfully planting a kiss on the cheek of another man.
Finch was then seen in the Warriors box at Friday night’s game, having apparently breached the strict protocols that governed the game’s return. The NRL on Friday night confirmed he had been removed from the bubble while the NRL establishes the facts and determines what action should be taken.
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