@Papacito said in [Packer & Reynolds](/post/1225384) said:
If anything, the finger of blame should be pointed at management for having (as Madge put it) “no hard and fast rules” about whether you’re meant to be at the game or not.
Whilst I, as a layman, think it would make sense to compel every player to attend every game possible (unless there's extended travel), I wouldn't be blaming anyone for not having that rule.
I'm not a pro footballer and I can understand that if the boss tells you that you can skip an evening of work, considering you basically work 7 days a week, you might be inclined to take it.
I am sure clubs like Warriors and Cowboys don't make their full roster travel, simply on account of how many games they play abroad.
So I think it would be up to the club to consider whether compulsory attendance is the best move or not. I can see a situation, for example, where someone decides to run the narrative that Madge is "too tough" because he makes every player attend every game even when injured. There's been a lot of that talk lately.
Ultimately the thing about football is you can't be forcing players to do XYZ, they need to be turning up themselves, that's the whole deal. Doing extra training, extra skills work, going to charity stuff off your own back, attending games when not selected - all part and parcel of being a more competitive and contributing employee. You can't force players to be more committed, it has to come from within.
And then stupid of the two players not to think of the optics, in light of all the stuff in the media lately. Maybe they don't care or maybe they are too dumb.
It begs the question why JRey even turned up at all, if he didn't have to, to leave at halftime. There would have been less drama had he not bothered at all. I've been to Brooky, I can understand the desire to leave as soon as possible.