NRL great PAUL GALLEN will appear on Nine’s 100% FOOTY every Monday night of the NRL season, debating rugby league’s hottest topics alongside Phil Gould and James Bracey. Tune in tonight at 9.45pm (AEST) following a bumper finals week one!
When I was told about the Valentine Holmes Instagram photo on Sunday my first reaction was anger.
I was angry because I assumed the photo was taken in private, and had been leaked by either a teammate or someone else.
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But when I was told Holmes had actually posted the photo himself to his own social media page I almost couldn’t believe it.
What a dumb thing to do. It’s basically the height of stupidity if that is what actually happened.
There are obviously a lot of things we don’t know for certain, and we may never know.
We don’t know categorically what was in the bag in his mouth, and even if it is what everyone assumes it is we still don’t know if Holmes actually took any.
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Of course it’s likely the NRL will drug test Holmes as part of their investigation, but even if he does test positive that won’t be made public if it’s his first offence.
But even if we never get those answers publicly, the fact he posted that photo in the first place is just incredibly stupid.
I’m not one to throw stones, and I’ll put my hand up and admit I made a stupid mistake with social media in 2014 when I publicly criticised the NRL following ASADA’s Sharks investigation.
That ended up costing me $35,000 so it’s an expensive exercise if you decide to go down that path in the heat of the moment.
But what Holmes did surely supersedes what I did.
I’m not sure what punishment the NRL or the Cowboys can actually hand down if they can’t prove what was in the bag and if Holmes did anything illegal.
The photo itself will probably be enough to land him a “bringing the game into disrepute” charge and a fine.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – social media is a trap and footy players fall into it far too often.
Know when to put the phones down, boys.
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Walker pinned for high shot
‘DISAPPOINTING’ SHARKS SEASON ENDS
It’s disappointing the Sharks couldn’t progress to week two of the finals.
It was a pretty scrappy game on Saturday night but Cronulla had chances at the end there to either score a try or kick a field goal.
The Roosters did well to charge down a couple of Nicho Hynes attempts, and I guess it just wasn’t to be.
The Sharks spine didn’t gel too well which I think cost them in the end.
Hopefully they can take this experience into next season and make a good run at the premiership.