Nick Bendel
Bird purged! But might he fly his way back into the Cronulla nest?
August 28th 2008 14:44
Tony Zappia, the chief executive of the Cronulla Sharks, seems to be a student of history, because Greg Bird has just begun to disappear from his club’s historical record. Although he has yet to be airbrushed from the team photo, and although he is still on the contract list, he is no longer to be found amongst the player profiles.
Why has Greg Bird become an unperson? Well, you won’t find the answer in Cronulla’s news section, whose journalists are apparently unaware that the club’s star five-eighth has lately gotten himself into a spot of bother. You will, however, find the answer many times over by paying attention to the rest of the nation’s media, which seems determined to keep Bird’s memory alive.
So why is the media so keen on Bird? The answer to that question- just like the answer to so many others- is money. Who wouldn’t want to buy a newspaper or flick on the news to learn the latest lurid details of his alleged offence? And how lurid those details are. According to the allegations, the former Kangaroo glassed his girlfriend, Katie Milligan, before pinning the blame on his friend, Brent Watson. “How do you feel about that?” Bird is said to have asked Watson.
Presumably, Watson didn’t feel all that good about it. Nor did Zappia, which is why he placed Bird on indefinite suspension, and had his profile removed from the club’s website. At the same time, he staked a bold- if muddled- claim to the moral high ground. “Obviously, at the moment, he’s under police investigation…We’ve got sponsors to think about and we’re ensuring the integrity of the brand.”
Greg Bird, how do you feel about your suspension?
However principled he tried to sound, Zappia could not hide the fact that the Sharks- just like the sharks in the media- were in it for the money. For it shouldn’t be forgotten that this was just the latest in a long line of scandals that Bird has gotten himself- and thus his employer- into. On previous occasions, although the Sharks talked tough, they failed to take any meaningful action against their star, understanding that for all the embarrassment he had caused them, they were more likely to be successful with him than without him.
Had these latest allegations not been so serious, it would not have been surprising if Bird had not received the latest in a long line of slaps on the wrist. But while all manner of loutish misdeeds can be covered up or hosed down, neither the public nor the sponsors would have accepted anything less than an indefinite suspension for Milligan’s horrific injuries. If self-interest had formerly compelled Cronulla to support Bird, this time it was clearly in the club’s interest to dump him.
Different though they were, the Bird scandal has a lot in common with the previous example of footballers behaving badly- that is, the incident involving Alan Didak and Heath Shaw. Just like Cronulla, Collingwood felt compelled to come down hard on two important players, whose misbehaviour, it could be argued, may never had occurred had those repeat offenders not been indulged in the past.
Indeed, Sport: The Australian Disease presaged this very thing:
When, in the not too distant future, a footballer is discovered to have assaulted something he oughtn’t have assaulted, crashed something he oughtn’t have crashed, or (yawn) bonked something he oughtn’t have bonked- as he inevitably will- the reaction of his club will be enlightening. A ruthless, narrowly-focussed outfit will attempt to make light of the scandal. A more contemplative and courageous organisation will try to nip the ill-discipline in the bud. Or, there will be the third scenario, in which a formerly indulgent club is left with no option but to furiously slam the stable door shut, long after its [errant] horse has bolted.
If the comparison between the NRL and AFL clubs is valid, then it is worth considering the noises that have lately begun to come out of Collingwood. Having initially let it be known that Shaw and Didak would not merely be suspended for the rest of the season, but also booted out once it had concluded, the Magpies have started dropping subtle hints that either or both of them might somehow ‘prove’ that they deserved to be retained.
Like the Magpies, the Sharks have unofficially declared that Bird will never wear their colours again. And, if the allegations turn out to be true, that is certain to be the case. However, should the star manage to find a way out of this mess, it would not be surprising if he was able to ‘prove’ to Cronulla that he had learned his lesson and deserved another chance. True, his arguments might not make sense to the punters, but it won’t be their heads clouded by money.
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