MELBOURNE skipper Cameron Smith says a blanket alcohol ban on NRL players would be "over the top" and individuals need to be responsible for their actions. Former NSW Origin coach Phil Gould says it may be a "necessary sacrifice" for players to swear off alcohol for the term of their NRL contracts in the wake of numerous alcohol-related incidents and allegations. His comments came as premiers Manly were engulfed in controversy with stars Brett Stewart and Anthony Watmough allegedly involved in off-field incidents following the Sea Eagles' season launch party. Last month Melbourne sacked new recruit Arana Taumata following a late night altercation in the CBD that involved alcohol. Smith said today he could understand Gould's argument but players shouldn't be treated like children. "Having it in your contract that you're not allowed to drink beer is over the top," the Queensland hooker said. www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/s ... 49,00.html

MELBOURNE skipper Cameron Smith says a blanket alcohol ban on NRL players would be "over the top" and individuals need to be responsible for their actions. Former NSW Origin coach Phil Gould says it may be a "necessary sacrifice" for players to swear off alcohol for the term of their NRL contracts in the wake of numerous alcohol-related incidents and allegations. His comments came as premiers Manly were engulfed in controversy with stars Brett Stewart and Anthony Watmough allegedly involved in off-field incidents following the Sea Eagles' season launch party. Last month Melbourne sacked new recruit Arana Taumata following a late night altercation in the CBD that involved alcohol. Smith said today he could understand Gould's argument but players shouldn't be treated like children. "Having it in your contract that you're not allowed to drink beer is over the top," the Queensland hooker said. www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/s ... 49,00.html

every time a wigan player has a beer half the town knows about it.

One main problem in the nrl is that if a player plays up and gets the sack he will eventually find another club to play with. And this infuriates the fans as they have lost a good player to a rival club and made the offending players club weaker.

The list is long and i won`t name everyone but one good example is when thurston took the rap for the coffs harbour rape allegations. the dogs had a miserable yr after that and the cowboys picked up an australian halfback, if he had stayed with the dogs they might of won the gf.

So my point is the players are given lots of chances to redeem themselves, maybe to many? i don`t know. What i think clubs should do is keep their players, fine them heavily then place them in reabilitation programs and community service work . When you are going out into the community helping others less fortunate than yourself its a real leveler and makes you realise who you are what you should be doing with your life.

You can`t save everybody, clubs must try and if they fail with the player well the onus falls upon the player as the clubs have exhausted all avenues, then the player should be banned from ever playing professionally again, end of story.

A line needs to be drawn , society, players and junior players need to see what they can and can`t do, otherwise we`ll continue along the path with people getting away with murder,(I know this phrase is a bit hard but you know what i`m talking about.

Cronulla's Brett Seymour and Rooster Jake Friend under investigation The NRL plunged further into turmoil on Tuesday with one player charged with high range drink driving and another involved in an alleged alcohol-fuelled incident at a Cronulla nightclub. Less than a week after the NRL stood down Manly's Brett Stewart for four weeks for being drunk at the club launch, Sydney Roosters hooker Jake Friend was fined $10,000 for blowing more than twice the legal limit in Sydney's eastern suburbs on Monday night. He was also ordered to undergo counselling and offered to participate in a traffic offenders' program. And in a further embarrassment to the NRL, Cronulla confirmed it was investigating an incident involving an allegedly heavily intoxicated Brett Seymour outside the front of a Cronulla nightclub on Sunday. "There is not much I can tell you at this stage, we are going through the process of gathering all the information, we hope to have it finalised tomorrow or the next day," Sharks chief executive Tony Zappia said. www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,207 ... public_rss

Cronulla's Brett Seymour and Rooster Jake Friend under investigation The NRL plunged further into turmoil on Tuesday with one player charged with high range drink driving and another involved in an alleged alcohol-fuelled incident at a Cronulla nightclub. Less than a week after the NRL stood down Manly's Brett Stewart for four weeks for being drunk at the club launch, Sydney Roosters hooker Jake Friend was fined $10,000 for blowing more than twice the legal limit in Sydney's eastern suburbs on Monday night. He was also ordered to undergo counselling and offered to participate in a traffic offenders' program. And in a further embarrassment to the NRL, Cronulla confirmed it was investigating an incident involving an allegedly heavily intoxicated Brett Seymour outside the front of a Cronulla nightclub on Sunday. "There is not much I can tell you at this stage, we are going through the process of gathering all the information, we hope to have it finalised tomorrow or the next day," Sharks chief executive Tony Zappia said. www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,207 ... public_rss

Ban fredie from copy and pasting.

He seems to get away with it.If that was us tb would be down our throats.

dont start or i will keep on manlys back

yeah how dare he do something like that.

get a life.

You're an idiot.

made my point

Imagine if the RFl brought it in, the warrington players would be suicidal

at least they could then relate to the warrington fans