Bulldogs defend ‘punishment’ of player who walked out and didn’t return

Bulldogs defend ‘punishment’ of player who walked out and didn’t return

The punishment involved wrestling up to a dozen of his teammates for an extended period. A week later he asked the club for time off due to personal reasons and hasn’t been back.

www.smh.com.au

Michael Chammas​

August 29, 2023 — 9.31pm

The Canterbury Bulldogs are privately defending their treatment of an NRL player who walked out of training five weeks ago due to mental health reasons.
The player, who hasn’t been named due to the seriousness of his mental state, turned up to training late for a session last month. He is in the top 30 squad but considered a fringe first-grader.

The coaching staff decided to enforce a punishment, which is a common practice at NRL clubs, asking him to wrestle up to a dozen of his teammates for an extended period at the end of training.

A week later he asked the club for time off due to personal reasons and hasn’t been back to training since. The club is still paying his contract.

The Bulldogs declined to comment when contacted on Tuesday night. The Daily Telegraph also reported that centre Braidon Burns walked out on a training session last week after suffering a hamstring injury and has left the club. The Herald has been told he trained on Tuesday.

It comes after the Herald reported on Monday that Bulldogs staff were aware of a text message that has been doing the rounds in recent days that claimed up to eight players were unhappy at the club under the coaching of Cameron Ciraldo.

One of the grievances allegedly raised by some current players, and potential recruits, was a frustration over Ciraldo’s workload demands.

The message claimed that Ciraldo’s expectation for players to be around for training from 8am to 5.30pm was unrealistic and a deterrent for some players to join or remain at the club.

The Dogs’ performances of late, which have left many questioning the commitment of the players, speaks to a problem at the club. Those concerned about how hard or long training is appear to have their cards marked, with the Bulldogs expected to make a raft of changes once their season ends this weekend.

Ciraldo has a proven track record of success having worked hand in hand with Panthers coach Ivan Cleary to deliver two premierships at Penrith.

He has recruited players from clubs who have played for successful teams like Stephen Crichton (Panthers), Jaeman Salmon (Panthers), Liam Knight (Rabbitohs), Blake Taafe (Rabbitohs) and Siua Taukeiaho.

Ciraldo is expected to front the media for his weekly pre-game press conference on Wednesday.

 

[WesternSuburbsBoy]

I’m not doing that.
I’m older than you, have a huge amount of experience in a large amount of fields and know a lot of people.
My sample size is large enough

That just makes your opinion subjective not factual. I can say all the older people i've dealt with blame young people for todays problems & my sample size is large enough.

 

[Tucker]

Players turn up late all the time. 99% of them probably just brush it off, and don‘t make a big deal of it. The player in question could be entitled, or maybe he has other issues.

It’s not just about the one guy. There’s reports quite a few want out because the training staff are hard on them.

 

[Winston Churchill]

That's a load of BS

An amazing retort from the participation trophy generation.

 

[Tucker]

That just makes your opinion subjective not factual. I can say all the older people i've dealt with blame young people for todays problems & my sample size is large enough.

I dont blame young people for anything.
I try to help them as they don’t have the real world skills I have.

 

[Magpie_Magic]

In the 80s and 90s getting a job or getting into college was a struggle. Apprenticeships were virtually unobtainable for young people. Footballers had to work real crap jobs and play........if they weren't good enough they didn'tmake it in either field.

So today there is the mental health card.

What to do for a crap worker on 50k a year who plays it? Keep them in a Job?

And a crap Footballer on 500k a year? Keep them in a contract?

Sadly most players who go extreme routes do so because they didn't make it.

What's the solution?

 

[WesternSuburbsBoy]

An amazing retort from the participation trophy generation.

I grew up in Western Sydney. I was blessed enough to have food to eat, clothes to wear & was lucky enough to go to a decent school. Can I say the same for a lot of people I know? No, a lot of people I knew growing up had generational trauma passed down to them (most likely from your generation), parents who were also abused at a young age & have passed it down to their kids. It's easy to sit & judge from the outside looking in but that doesn't give you the right to sit here & throw out the word privilege hoping it sticks. Get off your high horse.

 

[WesternSuburbsBoy]

I dont blame young people for anything.
I try to help them as they don’t have the real world skills I have.

Exactly my point Tuck, you personally don't blame young people for anything but that doesn't mean other people your age don't, just like some young people you have encounters with may have thoughts like the guy you dealt with at work doesn't mean we're all like that. It's easy to sit here & group a bunch of people into stereotypes, that doesn't make it true.

 

[Tucker]

I grew up in Western Sydney. I was blessed enough to have food to eat, clothes to wear & was lucky enough to go to a decent school. Can I say the same for a lot of people I know? No, a lot of people I knew growing up had generational trauma passed down to them (most likely from your generation), parents who were also abused at a young age & have passed it down to their kids. It's easy to sit & judge from the outside looking in but that doesn't give you the right to sit here & throw out the word privilege hoping it sticks. Get off your high horse.

My deepest sympathies that you had to grow up in Western Sydney.

 

[WesternSuburbsBoy]

My deepest sympathies that you had to grow up in Western Sydney.

Yeh no worries idk why I sit tryna argue with a bunch ignorant aholes

 

[WestsEffTheRest]

My deepest sympathies that you had to grow up in Western Sydney.

That wasn't the point he was making Tuck & you know it

 

[Flippedy]

Just my opinion, but I feel the punishment did not fit the crime and it bordered on bullying. Being a few minutes late for crying out loud! Getting somewhere on time is not always in our control, especially with the crap that goes on the roads in Sydney these days. If he was a serial offender then fair enough, but if it was the first time then people need to see reason. Stay back after training and do an hour of extra drills or something, but making someone wrestle 12 players one after another is just plain sadistic, imo. Oh and before anyone calls me a millennial snowflake or whatever I’m 60 plus and from the school of hard knocks - honestly though that’s nothing to be proud of, one would hope we’d have evolved a bit since my day.

 

[Tucker]

Yeh no worries idk why I sit tryna argue with a bunch ignorant aholes

Lol no coping mechanism.
A grown up would have retorted with a witty reply.
You throw your toys out of the cot.
You reacted the same way when I pulled you up about your claims of how racist this country is.

 

[Tucker]

That wasn't the point he was making Tuck & you know it

He doesn’t understand where we’re coming from so I just thought I’d have some fun.

 

[Winston Churchill]

I grew up in Western Sydney. I was blessed enough to have food to eat, clothes to wear & was lucky enough to go to a decent school. Can I say the same for a lot of people I know? No, a lot of people I knew growing up had generational trauma passed down to them (most likely from your generation), parents who were also abused at a young age & have passed it down to their kids. It's easy to sit & judge from the outside looking in but that doesn't give you the right to sit here & throw out the word privilege hoping it sticks. Get off your high horse.

I feel sorry that you were blessed to have the first world privilege you have. Must have been such a struggle and so tiring to be so entitled yet a victim at the same time.

 

[Winston Churchill]

That wasn't the point he was making Tuck & you know it

The humourless generation too.

 

[Magpie_Magic]

On a lighter side.

I often think our boys need to be tougher. No soft performances that year from my team.

Evolution is shit.

 

[Tim Sheens]

Missed out on being a "boomer" by a year, and this gen x guy loves to see the participation of today, along with the smiles on the faces of kids as the get a trophy.

Doesn't mean that they don't know or appreciate why others get best forward, back or whatever, but they do understand the embarrassment of public punishment and its effects.

The team including 6 girls above all benefit and prosper in a welcoming environment, and win against all discrimination, and even the supposedly superior all boy sides.

 

[tiger_one]

Ageing??
The great thing about getting older is that you get a chance to tell the people in your life who matter what they mean to you.
I love this forum. And I love Wests Tigers, win or lose. It's something within.
All I'd say is keep a cool head and a warm heart.

 

[Telltails]

Some players are in it for the lifestyle and those players are content to play and lose as long as they get paid. Clubs/ coaches who want to succeed can't do so with players who arnt prepared to buy in to the demands necessary to produce an elite performance.
Without knowing the details I find it hard to believe in this day and age that a coach would be guilty of bullying a player at professional level and I also believe that all clubs have systems in place to support any players struggling with mental health.
Some players are just not cut out for the physical and mental demands of the NRL and the media love to point fingers before getting all the facts.

 

[tony soprano]

Pretty scary our club wanted to hire madge two so badly.