Disgraced Canberra centre Joel Monaghan, who became the subject of worldwide derision after a photo emerged picturing him in a compromising position with a dog, is expected to be sacked this weekend.
Raiders
chairman John McIntyre said on Friday he was ringing the eight board
members in an attempt to organise a meeting to deal with Monaghan’s Mad
Monday “prank”.
It was initially believed the Raiders board would
meet on Monday, following reports that sponsors had threatened to
withdraw about $1 million worth of revenue over the lewd photograph of
Monaghan.
But McIntyre said the sooner the board dealt with the matter the better.
Asked if the board meeting would be held on Monday, McIntyre told AAP: “I would prefer to have it sooner.
“I
am on the phone in the process of waiting to confirm whether or not we
have a conference with the board members to deal with this situation.
“As soon as I can have my fellow board members available we will convene.
“We will make an announcement after that board meeting.”
Asked
whether the board meeting was being hastily organised due to pressure
from sponsors, McIntyre said: “That’s highly speculative”.
The
NRL is closely monitoring the Raiders’ response to the photograph in
which Monaghan is in a compromising position with a dog.
Monaghan
faces the prospect of not only being sacked by Canberra but also being
de-registered by the NRL, ensuring he can’t play rugby league in
Australia.
The Raiders also sacked Todd Carney in 2008 following a
string of alcohol-fuelled incidents, prompting the playmaker to also be
de-registered by the NRL.
Carney completed a remarkable
turnaround on his NRL return in 2010, guiding the Sydney Roosters to the
grand final while also picking up the Dally M Medal, the Golden Boot
and a Test jersey.
Rugby league clean skin Andrew Ettingshausen
believed Carney was proof that Monaghan could make a successful NRL
comeback following his Mad Monday disgrace.
The Cronulla legend
also cited ex-NRL bad boy Greg Bird as an example – but he warned
Monaghan that he faced a long road to redemption.
“It is
certainly going to be a very tough battle for him to come back and earn
back that respect,” Ettingshausen told Fox Sports.
“We’ve seen a
couple of players be able to do that over the last number of years –
Birdy had a bit of an incident and been able to come back into the
Australian team.
“We’ve got Todd Carney who is playing this weekend (in the Four Nations clash against New Zealand).
“It’s a long road back for these guys. They have to turn it right around.
“But they have to show they are not only willing to but they have to go out and prove it.”
Asked
if he was surprised by the latest off-field rugby league controversy,
the veteran of 165 tries and 328 games for the Sharks said: “I guess you
are never that surprised – it’s happening every year now.”
