As I think on this whole matter that has blown up over the revelation of the gambling money by Foran , there's a lot in many ways to think on this.
An article over on the RLW web site or some other one, has Larry Cowara pleading against how NRL has let him down, many players from the past say similar things, especially those from bygone years. Have heard Sterlo make comments on the Sunday footy show last year regarding what he got out of the years of playing. Most really have nothing to show for those years of playing, many had trades to go back to & their own businesses which also likely failed & they have nothing really these days to show for it.
Many players have longish careers in the 10 -15 year range, many of them will have earned well above average weekly earnings in the workforce, most earn likely amounts above the average wages & sit in the mid range or 2nd tier tax bracket.
Over time there has been a lot of players caught in gambling & basically are addicted to it, same with those who become alcoholics. Those in the top rung of players do earn good money, the majority earn more than the Prime minister gets, even excluding their TPA's that is allowances.
Sorrow is that many who have earned good & those in the top bracket of players end up gambling much of it away, poor financial advice in investments & the like. There are so many who have these addictions that do not get revealed until after their careers have finished when they come clean, our own Nathan Hindmarsh an example, Sandow another but he's likely on good coin in the SL, & hopefully learnt his lessons.
Looking at the case of Foran & this revelation I think falls into a different category, as I see him a family man, not married but with 2 children who no doubt was devoted to them all, as the relationship soured, they separated, & its been devastating on him, & I have no doubt this club has stuck with him as a result, the proof is out there to see. Not only that his playing mates which under our coaching team has created a real family aspect encompassing them all.
The thing I think is most real of it all is that this gambling issue, if its true was likely the result of the overall separation pain, & his head & heart were in a spin, his heart was pieced & like many who take to alcohol as a means to clear out pain, Keiran squandered good money as his relief valve, seen it with other cases which happen in ""normal"" world.
To have this then top up his pain to be put into what is likely to have ended up as a National notice is to me outside of normal human morality, the normal base standard of how we should treat each other, help in the time of need rather than publish what has been put out which could well drive a person to go beyond trying just prescription medications.
On that score alone, the reporter has gone past & through that bottom line of base humanity, yet I also do not find it surprising coming from a Murdoch owned media group. No further proof is needed to look to England & the closing down of one his papers, & in case denial. Now seems we follow the empire as good colonials should, I guess!
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At some point you have to take responsibility for your own actions.It is fashionable in today's culture of "Victimhood" to look for exterior causes for one's own f*ckups.To say that that players have little to show for their playing years is sad.I bet they had a great time in those years living it up on easy money.To someone like myself and many other battlers,we worked hard,lived within our means and are now comfortable.Are we entitled to extra brownie points for not being total tools and pissing our money away?
Life is subjective. Personally,the idea of living fast ,having fun and dying young has it's attractions as old age approaches and the body begins to break down.You can't legislate common sense.
Tom,
Fair comments but! The reality is that the age in which we live in now is much more an open circus, the advent of social media with thumbs machines all the go, people are hardly out of the spotlight as people are hardly off their stupid ignorant thumbs machines. How I long for the days when you went out, & closed the door behind you, you were away from telephones to interrupt the days outing.
These days someone spots a sports star & any star of whatever & they take a photo, its out on their faceache & twit account, & they can text whatever they want with the photo, even how the star posed for the shot while he scratched his butte, next thing the star has piles or worse.
The part of it all is that there has to be a time where the stars have some rights to privacy in a society that wants to deny them of it. We go through the current saga & how many see the leaks as being a concern, yet who leaked this information regarding Foran? Does he not have the right to have a personal life as against whoever leaked the bit with the gambling have the right to do so without being out in the public & how he got the information?
There is without doubt some who view the game today as looking after players but, those in the past who played tough & hard for little reward other than the enjoyment & camaraderie & desire to be with the team etc, that some of those bygone players feel they have been left behind or let down now they view what is happening as nothing more than money squandered as being wrong. yet some of those players themselves had issues that cost them their careers outside of the game as they failed to adapt.
Some who have lost all after the game blame no one but themselves, others the opposite.
My whole point in this thread is nothing more than being open in saying that in the case of this particular player who has had a rough time, then gets the rough end when his privacy is further breached by a media pack wanting an exclusive scoop, without any care as to how affected the player is. If he was not a star or high profile person, someone say like you or me, they would leave us alone, at least I would think & hope so, but in this case they can pull down someone who in their eyes have reached a higher pinnacle than they have.
Every yr there is hard luck stories of American Pro athletes crying poor for the same reason.
Players come into the NRL knowing the career is short and need to plan for it.Some do it better then others just like everyone else in day to day life
Colin,I am not having a go at Foran.My point was that if you have the means to splurge out, do it.Just accept that every action has a price and a consequence.Be a man and accept that cost without later having a whinge at how badly you are treated.Being a public figure means certain onerous obligations also come with the fame and wealth.If you don't like that,McDonalds are always on the lookout for kitchen hands
Tom, no issues & pretty well agree with what you say.
My primary point though, is how the media in this circumstance has taken an advantage of a circumstance that is private, meaning they have breached what should be held in private.
Taking it a bit further, Foran was going through a tough time owing to the personal side of his life outside of RL, going through a time of deep depression, such as a Prescription overdose, that did not help, & then the media grab a further headline about a gambling episode, which would have not helped the affected person. How much of his personal life be allowed in the media that may tip a person over the edge? That is one side of a the coin.
The other side of the coin is where people have abused their own life by not taking responsibility for their actions is another matter, I thought that had come out relatively clear in what I said originally & in the reply to what you are saying.
Case point is that Sterlo commented on how little they got as players, but no regrets, & he had no issues with how much todays players get. I used the other example of Larry Corowa in saying how the RL had let him down, a different age of non professional RL as it was an article I had only just read.
There are & were many cases of personal bad management over the years as many who got good money for playing, lost the lot, some even were declared bankruptcy to help in the future. Some of them got bad financial advise while others just blew it.
Nonna, That's one of the issues with this case, & what I am getting at.
The other area that sits very much alongside it is how did the leak occur if TAB is supposed to be secure for your transactions, just like one could guess like some other leaks of recent times, are they all from the same hole in the pipe?