when we have a bad day at work dont we sometimes need a beer?

Do you really think it’s always as simple as that? I would argue that if there was a player as good as an Andy Gregory out there that he’d get cut a lot more slack and probably have to get out of line a lot more before he was shipped out. I think Danny Brough (although not fit to lace Gregory’s boots) is the nearest modern day example. Perhaps Tommy Martyn or Lee Briers are other examples of players that are a bit maverick that didn’t get a look in for GB. But would any of these players really have made much of a difference had they been picked? I’d say probably not.

Regardless of whether this story is true or not, it is clear that there is a huge gulf in how serious RL players take fitness compared to more popular sports (popular in terms of viewing figures etc).

Not saying that there aren't RL players who take this stuff really seriously, but clearly there are a large amount of them that don't.
Does this simply reflect the level of the sport though?
Other sports are so well run nowadays and are such professional environments and the cost of winning or losing is so great that fitness is one of the main priorities.

Talent and ability will not really improve with better fitness, although any of us who have played any active sport at any level, will know that the more tired you are the harder it seems to be to do the basics, let alone something special.

It is clear though that once you get to a certain level in sport, your talent and ability will no longer be enough on its own as you will be surrounded and up against equal levels of talent and ability.
At the top level of sport, you have to find advantages wherever you can and fitness is one of them areas where a real advantage can be gained.

In a sport like football, you'd probably have to say it's harder to get an advantage through fitness, because at the top level, every footballer is probably completely aware and obsessed with it and therefore they're all conditioned to be able to play for the entire 90 minutes at full intensity and if they aren't, they'll be playing in the lower divisions in no time.

In RL, there is a real advantage to be had because the culture isn't the same and there is still a lot of players who drink and maybe smoke etc, so if you are a real fitness freak, and you have better conditioning than any other player, you will stand out compared to the players who aren't as fit.
Having said that, is it not also true in RL that because the fitness and conditioning isn't as high as in other sports, then you can get away with not being in as good a condition as you could be??

It's not the fact they're drinking and smoking! I'd say for the vast majority no one could give two hoots on whether they drink or smoke. The point is that after losing the opening game of the season, to see the majority of the squad out on the lash without a care in the world doesn't look good. It gives the impression that they're not @r$ed about losing the game.

No one is begrudging them going out but why do it right where their fan base is and where everyone recognises them? take it elsewhere.

Re-open the carlton club, you'll have something to moan about then.