It's that time of year again.
Off-field incidents are again making headlines after a patron turned on league star Benji Marshall at a notorious watering hole.
But avoiding late nights out doesn't necessarily mean you'll avoid trouble.
A similar thing happened to me recently. I was having coffee with a friend at 10am one day when a woman circled me a couple of times. She eventually came over, pointed and said, "You're John Connolly".
She then yelled, "You hate Kiwis!" and started giving it to me. I just had to sit there and cop it. Maybe I would have been in less danger had I gone out to Kings Cross at night!
The Marshall issue begs the question: how should the football codes deal with players embroiled in late-night incidents?
ARU boss John O'Neill recently approached NRL counterpart David Gallop with an olive branch in one hand. While Gallop scoffed at the proposal to unite the codes, the pair agreed there could be some joint initiatives on issues such as sports betting and doping.
But perhaps another thing they could look at is a joint judiciary to deal with off-field indiscretions.
Former Melbourne AFL captain David Neitz floated this proposal a few months ago and I reckon it's a great suggestion.
Normally, the disciplining of players is left to individual clubs or the league, but a fair outcome is difficult to achieve because of the self-interest of these bodies. It would be better to have a panel set up to deal with off-field incidents in a just and consistent manner.
Rugby league coaches and Wallabies manager Phil Thompson constantly warn their players of the dangers of being out on the drink in public until the wee hours. But there needs to be a balance.
One particular example comes to mind. A mobile phone photo of Wallabies prop Benn Robinson was sent to Wallabies management by a member of the public. It was alleged Ben was out on the tiles until all hours and that this was photographic "proof".
But after we investigated the incident, it turned out the photo was taken at 7pm and Benn had no case to answer. But it shows how dangerous it can be for players socialising in public.
We've seen a number of stings over the years. Shane Warne, Lawrence Dallaglio and even the odd coach, such as Sven-Goran Eriksson, hasn't been spared. Now even I have to be careful where I order my mocca!
I also felt sorry last year for Matt Dunning and Lote Tuqiri, who had a late night out and were hung out to dry. The players were innocent of wrongdoing but other pressures were brought to bear, leading to a ridiculous curfew at the World Cup, which was subsequently relaxed. Dunning and Tuqiri were the victims of a big beat-up.
We've seen great inconsistencies in the punishments handed down to players for various shenanigans, which is why I believe Neitz's idea is a good one. An off-field judiciary can look at things in an objective and unbiased way. Maybe we've finally found something on which both codes can truly work together.
