Racial slur costs Gallen $10,000
26.05.2009
By: Stuart Honeysett, Ray Gatt, Additional reporting: Dan Koch
CRONULLA is yet to determine whether Paul Gallen will retain the club captaincy after he was yesterday fined $10,000 for racially vilifying St George Illawarra's Mickey Paea.
Gallen has indicated he will appeal against the fine and his fate barely rated a mention among Sharks directors last night after NRL chief executive David Gallop and chief operating officer Graham Annesley descended upon the embattled club to discuss a raft of issues that have brought the game into disrepute.
They included a damaging report on ABC's Four Corners that exposed a group sex scandal involving Sharks players from 2002, the club's $9 million financial black hole and a $20,000 payout to a former female employee that had been struck by chief executive Tony Zappia.
Gallen came under scrutiny for calling Paea a ``black c...'' during the Sharks 26-4 loss to the Dragons at Toyota Park last Saturday night.
Paea reacted angrily to the slur but decided against pursuing the matter under the game's Racial Vilification Policy while Gallen later apologised for his actions.
Although on-field audio did not pick up exactly what Gallen said, the NRL believed there was enough evidence to suggest a racial slur had been made and fined the Sharks lock $10,000 for breaching its players' code of conduct.
There were immediate calls following the fine for Gallen to be stripped of the captaincy, given he has had a long and chequred history of on-field indiscretions since gaining the position.
Former South Sydney forward Bryan Fletcher was stripped of his club's captaincy after he was found guilty of racially vilifying Parramatta backrower Dean Widders in 2005.
However, last night beleagured Sharks chairman Barry Pierce would not be drawn on whether Gallen would lose the captaincy over the issue.
``I do know he will appeal,'' Pierce said. ``He has got due process.
``All I can say is that we will wait to see the breach notice. To be honest, I have had a lot on my plate tonight and I can't say much more than that.''
Gallen and his manager, David Riolo, also attended the meeting and Gallop said the league had taken a dim view of his actions and would be addressing the board about his ongoing role as captain.
``Certainly that will be an issue we will talk to the Cronulla board about now,'' Gallop said.
``There is clear evidence the racist slur was made.
``The player apologised for it and as I said it's one thing for it to be dealt with one-on-one but it has brought on a ramification and that's why we imposed the penalty.''
Riolo said after emerging from the meeting that he had not yet received the breach notice and was concerned about due process, claiming the media was informed about the fine before Gallen.
``For the NRL to come to a definitive decision strikes me as quite strange when the player has not even been interviewed,'' Riolo said.
``I thought that common practice and due process would be that the player at least gets a chance to defend himself.''
In an earlier statement, Gallop said while Gallen's apology was important there was clearly no room for racial vilification in the game.
``This is not something that happens on a regular basis and it is not something that can be dismissed under the guise of what happens on the field stays on the field,'' Gallop said.
``I respect the fact that Mickey Paea has dealt with the issue one to one and that he wishes to move on.
``However, the area of racial vilification is also something that is bigger than two individuals, it involves a principle that we must support across all areas of the game.
``I don't believe racism is a part of rugby league and I don't suggest that these sort of comments represent a racist view, but I do believe that it is important everyone knows there are boundaries that simply can't be crossed.
``Excuses such as the heat of the moment or gamesmanship when they are offered simply don't change that fact.''
Outspoken world boxing champion Anthony Mundine, preparing for a world title fight against Daniel Geale in Brisbane tomorrow night, yestereday continued his attack on the NRL, saying the league had been dormant on the issue of racism.
Mundine claimed to have been racially vilified by Bulldogs prop Barry Ward over a decade ago when he was playing in the NRL with St George Illawarra.
``They have pushes on off-field situations with the sex scandals and drinking, but as far as racial problems it seems like they haven't wanted to take the next step,'' Mundine said.
Former Bulldogs backrower turned French rugby union player Sonny Bill Williams, who is fighting on Mundine's undercard, said the NRL needed to take a stronger stance on the issue given Polynesian players are traditionally shy and quiet.
``I just think he (Paea) probably realised the ramifications of speaking up would see him on the front and back pages of newspapers and being an Islander probably was a bit shy about that,'' Williams said.
``I think there needs to be more emphasis from the NRL in situations like that where the officials step in and say you don't have to come out and say anything.''
