NSW Media Campaign against Smith and Storm

Discussion on anything to do with Melbourne Storm - games, players, rumours - anything!
Mattpoet
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No doubt about it. I keep saying, at what point does someone sue?
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Danger D
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Another garbage article by a NRL 'journalist'. I'm disappointed that this click-bait headline got me to bite.

Storm win PR job of week for spin on Bali brawl, but NRL was unmoved
By Danny Weidler
Sydney Morning Herald
October 19, 2019 — 9.18pm

Melbourne Storm chairman Bart Campbell drove the push for stronger penalties for NRL players who do the wrong thing, in particular the ‘‘no-fault’’ stand-down policy. He was the man behind the scenes pushing hard to fix the game’s image.

Yet, he was silent during the week as the Nelson Asofa-Solomona furore unfolded. We asked Campbell to comment but were told it was unlikely as he was heading to Japan.

The issue is simple: was Asofa-Solomona acting in self-defence?

The Storm win the PR job of the week for the spin they applied to Asofa-Solomona’s involvement in a wild brawl in Bali. Leaks to the media led to public outrage and support for the Storm giant, who was said to be coming to the aid of teammate Suliasi Vunivalu, who had been attacked.

The owner of the nightclub where the incident occurred said Asofa-Solomona and Vunivalu were worried about being ‘‘glassed’’ by a man with a bottle. As it turns out, there was never a bottle threat.

There was also a period of time between security getting the situation under control in the club and the brawl starting outside. The situation had been calmed down by the time Asofa-Solomona and his mates left the club. There was no threat. Only words were exchanged.

And the end result? Asofa-Solomona is banned for three matches, all of which will be Tests. The Kiwis get penalised and the Storm don’t. Brilliant result.

So why was Asofa-Solomona banned by the NRL if it was self-defence? Because that’s not how the NRL integrity unit viewed it.

This is what I’ve been told. Judge for yourself.

The NRL integrity unit found there was no issue with the way any player handled the initial assault on Vunivalu. Security controlled the situation and removed the attacker. Nobody from the Storm retaliated and the integrity unit determined all players acted appropriately.

They left about five minutes later and the attacker was still outside. He was abusive towards the Storm players.

Asofa-Solomona engaged and the brawl ensued. The integrity unit determined Asofa-Solomona had an opportunity to retreat but did not.

Importantly, no Storm player gave any evidence suggesting there was a bottle involved. This runs contrary to the narrative that Asofa-Solomona had to act.

NRL integrity unit has reportedly cleared the Melbourne Storm forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona over a brawl he was involved in while in Bali.

Some will still argue he was standing up for a mate. The integrity unit determined there was a degree of provocation, given the perpetrator was abusive outside the club and had already assaulted Vunivalu inside only a few minutes earlier and took that into account when handing down the penalty.

They also took into account that Asofa-Solomon’s evidence matched the CCTV footage and that of other witnesses.

No complaint about Asofa-Solomona was made to police.
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yourhero
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What is wrong with our game where people like Weidler, Kent, Crawley and Hooper are the primary 'sports journalists' setting the narrative of the game and driving outcomes (fan opinion, NRL administration, judiciary, MRC, etc) via targetted campaigns?

It truly is pathetic and seriously embarrasses me as an NRL fan.
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Danger D
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yourhero wrote: Mon Oct 21, 2019 9:20 am It truly is pathetic and seriously embarrasses me as an NRL fan.
+1

If it was Paul Gallen instead of NAS then Weilder writes a story of modern ANZAC spirit where Gal bravely stood up for his mates...
Mattpoet
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Seriously, even BRAITH ANASTA was on our side on this one, just go home Weidler, you're embarrassing drunk journos everywhere.
Bullucked
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Unfortunately for us the dumb asres in NSW all read and swallow this crap whole.

Yourhero is spot on;
" 'sports journalists' setting the narrative of the game and driving outcomes (fan opinion, NRL administration, judiciary, MRC, etc) via targetted campaigns."
TC
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Dunny Widdler 's name should never be used in the same sentence as journalist.
We must all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately
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