Published on July 24th, 2008 | by Daniel Boyle

Todd Carney

So the big news in the sports pages this week has been Canberra Raiders halfback Todd Carney, who once again has been in trouble with the police. Todd Carney is definitely the most talented player that Canberra has had in a long while, however the way he acts off the field really drags him down.
This photo (although not very good quality) is one I took at a Raiders game early in the season. It shows the Raiders players celebrating after Carney kicked a field goal, and the Dragons with their heads down, as the game was out of reach.

For a long time, the top players always get away with a slap on the wrist for misbehaviour. Think about if it was just you or me, and I decided that I would just piss all over someone and bark at women like dogs. For a start I think I would get bashed, but I suppose footy players are pretty strong, so it would take someone stronger to beat them up.

I am sure this will not be Todd Carney’s last straw, his on field performances are very valuable to the Raiders, and it’s not like they have a range of other big name players to pick from. However, the Raiders need to put a no-drinking policy on him. Every time he’s been in trouble, it’s because he can’t handle his grog. If I was in senior management at the Raiders (I studied Sports Management at uni, maybe one day I could be…) I would be setting a full time drinking ban on him, and if he breaks it, tear up the contract.

What I don’t get however, is just because one player is out, the papers (especially the Daily Telegraph) are writing off the Raiders as now unable to win. I don’t know if they realise that the Gold Coast Titans are missing a lot more players than the Raiders, or how good ALAN TONGUE is! What a legend, and what a great leader for the club.

At the start of the year I planned to get a Raiders membership and go to every game. That didn’t really work out, so tomorrow’s match will only be the third I’ve been to this year, and I think it will be a really good match.