@MacDougall said:
And our clean skinned top blokes turn out to be backstabbing jerks.
Too true. Publicaly clean skins can cause just as much problem behind the scenes as the "bad boys".
What I will say is that Knights took a punt on Mason, Cronulla on Carney, Dragons on Dugan, Cowboys on Lui… bad boys perhaps, but it is true in sport that if you have the talent then all can be forgiven.
Not that any other scenario is a predictor for Ferguson, but despite all the cockiness and baggage, he is still an outstanding young prospect. Else Raiders would have daggered him long ago.
It also needs to be considered that in the modern game, many of the young talents have been living exceptional lives with exceptional expectations since they were teenagers. I think myself about how much learning and growing up I did in university, part-time jobs and then starting my career - young footballers don't have this same experience. Instead they are constantly praised, talked about in the media, offered big money, made famous. It is thus not surprising that some of these kids turn out to be d!ckheads and do a lot of "growing up" in the public eye.
But if Todd Carney can seem to get his act together, then there is hope for any footballer. And if you need a first-class centre (and we do) then we'd be mad not to at least sniff around.
We have run with a "no d!ckheads" policy for a long time under Sheens. There can be some argument that only playing likable, honest, hard-working players leaves you somewhat short in the aggression / toughness / confidence / arrogance / brilliance department, and the reality is that these latter attributes are often what wins tight games. Think of Benji's arrogant brilliance in 2005 and how that has disappeared, along with an inability to close out clutch games.
