This may be controversial...

(Hat tip to Skull for the title)

Firstly, not the wine.

So here is my constant companion over the last ten days and for the next 21. In this case, it was a fine bottle of Mount Franklin Lightly Sparkling 2021. It delivered what was on the label that’s for sure. Clear, enough bubbles to make it interesting and refreshes and at times cleanses the palate. Not sure of the exact vintage – perhaps it was May? Maybe June? Either way, it is one that I will not hesitate to recommend or have again.

As you may or may not know, I am in the middle of Dry July and raising money for the McGrath Foundation so there isn’t the usual wine review. It is all for a good cause so if you are able and are interested in donating, please go to https://www.dryjuly.com/users/brett-moorgas No donation is too big or too small and is very much appreciated. Thanks.

Well, first and foremost I must say thanks to Al up in Queensland for providing the proverbial kick up the date to get back to the tools with respect to this blog. The reason to do so was Al wanted my views on the situation at my football team, the St George-Illawarra Dragons after several players decided to hold a gathering in contravention of NSW Public Health orders and the instructions from their management. A gathering that led to fines, suspensions and well deserved mockery.

But more on that later.

First things first, I type away after watching the daily 11am press conference held by the NSW Premier & Chief Health Officer on the COVID status in Greater Sydney. 50 new cases and 26 of them had been in the community while infectious. And today, Sydney enters the third week of a lockdown in response to the Delta variant spreading across the city.

I have kept an close eye on things due to some specific work reasons and I was guilty like many other Sydneysiders that I thought that this lockdown would be the usual circuit breaker. A couple of weeks, stay at home where possible, don the mask when you are out and about and that would do it. Turns out that will not be the case.

I did think about doing a considered, balanced thought piece about all this (and attempted it by the way). In the end, I remembered that this is my little piece of real estate on the interweb to vent; hence decided on that approach. So here it is:

• I don’t think many Sydneysiders (myself included) took the lockdown decision too seriously. While I didn’t have a boozy gathering like my footy team, I thought like the times before this, it would be a couple of weeks to get it sorted and we’ll be right. As the emphasis on the numbers infectious in the community increased and that number continued to go up, I began to change my mind. This culminated in every ounce of optimism being drained away after the press conference on Friday.

• One of the reasons for this was the fact that the Premier mentioned that we can’t open up with only a 9% vaccination rate in the State. Nationally, we have a 8.3% rate according to Oxford University. I am now at a point where I have to physically restrain myself from not throwing something at the screen when the Prime Minister comes on. The Federal Government has screwed up the vaccination rollout - plain and simple. That and the fact that the PM continues to lie about what he and his Government said that they would do with respect to targets shows the absolute contempt that he has for the people in this country.

• Recently, I have started to lean more to the view that we need to do whatever we can to keep things open and also look at opening up the borders; both national and international. I also freely admit that this may be due to the fact that I have received both shots. We are a nation that has a very large percentage of our population with links to countries overseas. We have industries (including the one that I am in) that are reliant on international trade & skill transfers for the Australian market to grow. I still am of that view but I also understand that it is reliant on high vaccination rates. Hence, the screens in the house are constantly under threat when I see the PM (the only immediate winner that I see out of this situation is JB Hi Fi as I can’t be alone in this thinking!).

Anyway, Sydney will have to deal with this for a few weeks to come and if nothing else, it will probably cause some pangs of guilt after hurling shade on those in Melbourne last year.

Which leads me to the St George Illawarra Dragons (strap yourself in Al).

I have been a supporter of the Dragons since Steve Rogers left Cronulla and joined the Red V in 1983. I have been a paid up ‘Red V’ member for over ten years, have lived through 1985, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1999 (Dragons fans will know what those years mean) as well as the joyous year that was 2010. Needless to say, I am invested in this Club.

To start with, I can’t and have no intention to defend what these players did nor do I intend to have a go at the penalties that were handed out by the NRL & the Club. No right minded supporter could.

I tweeted during the week that I honestly did not know if it was arrogance or stupidity that led to those players to decide that it was a good idea to have a loud party while there was a Public Health order in place which prevents such gatherings from happening. There is a well-worn joke that Rugby League players aren’t the sharpest tool in the shed and there has been plenty of evidence over the years to justify that view.

I then read the article written by Michael Chammas in the Sydney Morning Herald - see the link below. (Full disclosure: I know Michael from my cricket playing days and not only he is a good bloke but has become a very well respected sporting journalist hence I have no doubt that what he wrote is accurate).

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/lies-and-deception-inside-story-of-party-that-destroyed-dragons-season-20210706-p587ds.html

• So, after being told by their Coach & their management not to get together, they decided to go ahead with the gathering.

• A gathering that was organised by a player who had been previously sanctioned for acting against COVID guidelines last year and as it comes out, was also internally sanctioned for a ‘sexting’ complaint.

• A gathering that wasn’t a few quiet beers amongst like-minded individuals but rather one that led to a noise complaint which led to the Police to be called.

• Which then led to some players to flee the scene and others to hide in wardrobes and under beds. One of them being a player who the Club had supported (financially and otherwise) while being the subject of a court case which lasted over two years. He then decided to repay that support by attending this party and then actively looking to cover up his participation.

Seriously, you can’t make this shit up!!!

Now, I think that it was a combination of arrogance and a sense of self entitlement that exists with some pockets of spo today.

I will still support the Club but gee, they are making it hard.

First, management decide that signing Israel Folau would be a good idea (I support his right to say what he believes but I don’t agree with it and I don’t want him playing for the team I support) and now thirteen players have screwed up a season which could have them playing finals; which at the start of the season supporters would have taken any day of the week.

The Dragons regularly hold special training sessions for their members where they’re invited to watch the team train, cheer them on and get photos, autographs etc. The Club should hold a similar session at Kogarah & Wollongong where the remaining twelve players publicly apologise to their supporters and explain their justification in making their decision.

When these events happen in rugby league, I always think about those supporters who spend a large percentage of their income on season tickets, travel to and from games, jumpers & other gear so that they can cheer on their team week in and week out. Those that follow their teams with such undying devotion, that they ride the emotional rollercoaster every week hoping that their team wins and everything is good in their world.

And they wake up and find that the very group of players that they cheer on treat their support with utter contempt and disrespect.

Roy & HG said it best with the saying “you’re an embarrassment to yourself and a joke to others”.