They won't be able to sack him then.

It's irrelevant to me what sex it is, these people are in a very privileged position & if they cannot act professionally like they are paid to do & manage to find themselves in a court of law & convicted they should be sacked & made to earn a living in a mundane 9-5 job like most people do, they just drag our sport down...plenty out there who would love the opportunities these blokes get & would be prepared to act in a professional manner.

This.

I also wonder what knock on effect it will have on the game in general.

Is this another 'idiot' Sheldon?

Oh yes, but everyone already knows that.

Not sack him. They could say he's not in the plans and look for another club

Totally different case as Crookes is still able to do carry out his job where as when someone is sent down they can no longer do their job.

Unless the contract Crookes signed had something in it re termination of contract for certain misdemeanours then the club would find it difficult to sack him for this.

Personally I think he's a complete idiot and whether he should be sacked or not is not for me to say as I dont employ him nor know the full facts. Reading the story in the HDM it reads more like a fairy story than a factual story and for me leaves alot of questions.

I often find these cases rightly or wrongly are dealt with depending on the profile of the player. It kind of goes back to Sheldons devils advocate post earlier in this thread.

Would fans be as keen to give a player like Ellis another chance over the likes of Paul Johnson? I can imagine a player like Sam Tomkins would certainly be cut a hell of a lot slack by most clubs.
Crookes is a player that has been an average signing so wouldn’t be that big a loss so its an easy call to get rid.
Not saying this attitude is the right one but unfortunately if an MoS gets sacked there’d be a queue of teams who could ‘get his career back on the straight and narrow’ so sacking almost rewards them.

As for the RFL stepping in, that precedent has been set time and time again so will not happen, nor should it.
This needs to be seen to be dealt with by the club, missing the cup final a big fine and a final warning would seem like a start. Not sure AP has done himself any favours with the harsh comments.

Also can I state the petty way this thread was started by a supposed Rovers fan is nothing short of cringeworthy..

Problem is nobody on this board knows any of the facts of the case only hear say & gossip.

Something doesn't quite add up for me here, I would think if a 15 stone rugby player hits a woman in the face he'd send her more than stumbling backwards a bit. Also, the sentence being very lenient and AP saying he'd been dealt with harshly means something just isn't quite sitting right with me over this.

Obviously he should be sacked though, not the sort of bloke the club should be looking after once convicted.

DBS reasons ?

I disagree, the RFL should take it out of the clubs hands. He should be stood down till 2015. Taking away the chance for other clubs to sign him.

He should then be on a rehabilitation program and until complete unable to be re-registered. He should start an training program for life out side of RL, imo all players should start a apprenticeship/further education in the academy.

Great post totally agree, would we be saying sack him if it was Ellis.

We dont know the full facts and never will but he has been found guilty and he should be punished by the club.

That HDM article is a strange read. I'm surprised there were no witnesses, for example. And the story given by Crookes seems full of holes to say the least. I'm guessing there may be more that hasn't come out as otherwise I have no idea why anyone would think he's been harshly treated, nor why he's ended up with a relatively light sentence.

Going on the available facts I'd want him sacked, although as others have pointed out that's not always as simple as it seems.

Some would.

You'd really struggle legally with this as you would be restricting his right to employment and to earn a living.

I fully agree with the sentiments but we all know that if FC sack him he'll be picked up by another club in short order and won't have to find a 'mundane' job at all. Hence Sheldon's suggestion that in cases like this the RFL should suspend his registration for a period so that no other clubs could sign him.

Doubt that will ever happen though, and TBH could be open to legal challenges anyway under restraint of trade.

The NRL have done it with Robert Lui. Obviously I don't know if they are differences in the law.

As a professional rugby player maybe (and rightly so is my stance), however it would not stop him getting a job in the open job market like the rest of us.

He could get a job in a factory packing shelves, and get a gig for Dockers on a Saturday afternoon.

It would still be restraint of trade as his [iprofessional[/i skills are as an RL player and the RFL would be preventing him from using these skills to find employment.

But that is a restriction of HIS trade.

If a nurse is convicted in a court of law of assault the NMC (governing body)would remove them from the register, thus preventing them from employment using their skills in this country, however that nurse could try & get a job in a different industry. It's the same thing all the RFL would be doing is preventing him from plying his trade at a professional level, therefore he would have to work in a different industry, it would definitely clean the sport up.

Where would the RFL draw the line if they did step in?

Assualt
Drink Driving
Peeing in the street
1st offence

What is the NRL precedent

Pretty much how I see it. Not sure that the HDM is a good enough source of facts to be definitive and the seeming shortage of witnesses was one that surprised me. However at the end of the day he's been convicted and that's the bottom line.

The RFL could just stop him plying his trade in SL but allow him to be picked up by a CC club. This wouldn't restrict his right to ply his trade as a professional RL player