The Serve

Craig Gower messes up again. Now where’s the NRL?

DAILY SERVE: Mon 12/2

It doesn’t even make the back page anymore. We’ve become so nonchalant to Craig Gower’s late night shenanigans, these days newspaper reports of his activities sit behind the Aussie cricket team, the A-League and women’s golf. Now, that is blasé.

Gower is apparently about to lose the captaincy at Penrith, after a curious chain of events at a Kings Cross nightclub. It’s a punishment that the NRL will undoubtedly sign off on as it’s seen to be proactive, but really, is the captaincy such a big deal? He’s the halfback, so he’s calling the shots no matter what. Given his worth to the team, the Panthers would be nuts to get rid of him, nor should they. As the Dragons so candidly opined when they declined to act on abundant opportunities to cut Wes Naiqama, their loss would simply be another club’s gain.

The NRL is always quick off the mark when these things transpire, quick to alert everyone that they’ll be assuming the position of big brother, making sure the club acts appropriately. Then big brother seems to go for a coffee. The club has bills to pay, they pay them by filling seats, they do that by winning games. If there is to be a real punishment, it should be up to the league.