This is not OK. I really like Laurie but he should be sacked for this.
How can we ever be taken seriously as a club if we cop the likes of this.
Imagine how it will be taken as a club if we sack a player for wearing a rival jersey that he played in 12 months ago.
We would be crucified
If you downvoted and disagree and think we should sack a top 3 Rookie this season for something like this, you are a deadset moron.
He is way out of line mate, he should not be in another clubs kit, sure frame it, have it on the wall at home, but to wear it out celebrating with Panthers fans, what a moron.
Well, honestly, what's the difference? If he's a mad Penrith fan at home, what's the point of being closeted about it in public?
All I really care is if Laurie plays good football and tries his best every week. There are certainly other players I can accuse of not putting in, but Laurie isn't one of them.
If anything, Laurie's reaction to the GF win shows Tigers what a winning club culture is truly like - that even ex-players are still happy that their old team-mates won; that the relationship of the club extends beyond the just the money and the contract. I could only wish Tigers got to a point where our roster was so solid that we had to let good players go, and those players were still emotionally tied to the club.
All that being said, didn't stop Laurie and Tamou being pretty stoked at being Penrith earlier in the year.
I don't know, of all the Tigers and world things to worry about, this one doesn't rate very highly to me. I'm sure the club will call him in and give him a clip over the ears.
No, it is a slap in the face to a fanbase that hasn't had their team in finals football for 10 years, a fanbase that hurts watching another finals series without their team. Show a bit of common sense and don't rub their faces in it.
I understand what you are saying and I agree it's a dumb decision. I think, however, of all the things Tigers have endured in 2021 and likely to endure in 2022, it ranks fairly lowly on the list of grievances. I mean people were already getting annoyed at Tamou congratulating his old team-mates on Twittergram, before any moustachioed Tigers fullbacks decided to do burnouts in St Clair in a Penrith jersey.
I won't deny anyone the right to get upset or annoyed over it, I just saw the video myself and... had no reaction. I didn't care as much as I expected to.
To me it shows a lack of commonsense and understanding of the position the club is in at the moment.
Yes it does. Also, I don't think anyone is surprised about the cultural issue? I mean we already knew it was there and it wasn't fixed during September.
Two more comments from me:
(1) I very strongly suspect that what is "common sense" and "understanding of club's position" is lost on many of the modern players. I think it's only going to get worse wrt disconnect between the fanbase and players seeing themselves as personal brands / commodities. I think many 20 year old players really don't care about the club's legacy or honoured history.
(2) Melbourne, despite having arguably the best all-around club culture of the past decade, had several of their blokes doing lines, and not for the first time. Unfortunately the lack of sense and understanding isn't limited to just the lower-performing clubs.
The response from Melbourne left a lot to be desired as well, so it isn't only our club.