- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
If one is going to have a code of conduct, it could be argued, it should be one that has some kind of noticeable effect on behaviour. And in this respect the NRL’s current code isn’t really doing the trick.
It is time to give it a bit of a spruce-up, to implement a code of conduct that can get real results by addressing the key issues and pressing challenges facing the modern footballer, in a sensitive and understandable way. It’s time for this code.
More Mitchell Pearce:
» Mitchell Pearce speaks for first time following Australia Day scandal
» Whatever Pearce’s punishment, make sure he learns from it
» Pearce faces anxious wait on NRL career
» Roosters stand down disgraced captain Mitchell Pearce
» Footage emerges of Pearce simulating sex act with a dog
1. This code of conduct is to be considered to apply to your conduct as a professional rugby league player. As such, please read past this sentence. Or if necessary, have someone read it to you.
2. Alcohol is a fun and easy way to relax and enjoy time with friends and/or strangers. The NRL appreciates the vital role alcohol plays as a social lubricant for those players who find their social life insufficiently lubricated. However, we must stress that alcohol should always be consumed responsibly. What does this mean? Several things, including:
3. Punching someone on the field can get you suspended, but we all know that sometimes it’s worth it. It’s important to remember that this doesn’t apply to ordinary people you might meet in the street or at a bar or in your bedroom. When you’re out and bout, try to follow the three Ns:
Normality
Niceness
Not punching people
The three Ns are commonsense guidelines that work in a symbiotic fashion: when you’re being nice to people, you’re less likely to punch them, and when you don’t punch them, you’ll be acting like a normal person. I know many of you will be saying, “But I’m not a normal person”, and that’s true: you are an elite athlete. But you’ll find you’ll get in a lot less trouble if you act like a normal person, and that means not beating people up.
It also needs to be stressed that this applies even to people who deserve it.
4. Sometimes you will meet women who do not want to have sex with you. I know, I know… That’s a very counter-intuitive fact for you to have to face. It doesn’t seem quite possible. But for whatever perverse reason, some of them don’t.
So it will be necessary for you, when meeting women, to find a way to tell the difference between the ones who want to have sex with you and the ones who don’t. There are right ways and wrong ways to go about this. Some of the wrong ways include:
Some of the right ways include:
Once this process has been completed, if it turns out that the woman in question does not, in fact, want to have sex with you, a good option is to not have sex with her. Try to exercise this option at every opportunity.
5. Racism is a sensitive topic in our society, and negotiating the intricacies of race relations can sometimes be tricky. Often rugby league players will find themselves at a crossroads, where they have the choice to use racial slurs, or to not use racial slurs. It’s not always easy to know which choice to take, but a good rule of thumb is: choose the one where you don’t use racial slurs.
It is helpful to decide early on in your rugby league career whether you’re a racist or not. If you’re not one, every chance you get you should try to not act like one. If you are one, that’s still a pretty good idea.
6. The NRL is implementing strict rules regarding the treatment of dogs. These rules take the form of a comprehensive list of dos and don’ts regarding acceptable actions to make towards dogs:
Do: give them a nice pat.
Don’t: do anything else to them whatsoever.
These rules should also be considered to hold true for other animals, including but not limited to: cats, cows, horses, mice, kangaroos, wombats, snakes, wolves, lizards, cockroaches, goats, gerbils, budgies, giraffes, rabbits and ostriches.
7. If you’re in any doubt about any part of this code of conduct, just stay home and read a book for god’s sake.