Every year something happens in the world of Australian sport that keeps the journos busy all season long.
Some have long-term effects that forever shift the landscape of the club or code involved. Here’s some from the last 20 years.
South Sydney Rabbitohs Reinstatement 2002
Gee whiz, we went down a rabbit hole looking at what actually happened when South Sydney were kicked out of the NRL at the end of the 1999 season.
The NRL powers at the time were steadfast in having a 14-team competition by the year 2000.
This meant that six teams had to merge.
Western Suburbs and Balmain became the Wests Tigers, St George & Illawarra joined forces, and North Sydney briefly paired up with Manly for the short lived Northern Eagles.
After the mergers, there was still one too many teams in the condensed competition and someone had to be kicked out.
South Sydney, despite being a foundation club & having one of the biggest supporter bases, lost that game of musical chairs.
After several protests through the Sydney streets and Federal Court appeals, the Rabbitohs were reinstated for the 2002 season.
Wayne Carey & North Melbourne 2002
This scandal has received plenty of air time over the years.
Before the start of the 2002 season, club captain Wayne Carey had an affair with teammate Anthony Stevens’ wife.
After receiving public and internal condemnation, Carey resigned from the North Melbourne footy club and didn’t play throughout the 2002 season.
The Adelaide Crows signed Carey for the 2003 & 2004 seasons where he was a shadow of his brilliant best but still played a key role for the South Australian side.
Australian Cricket Sandpaper Gate 2018
This one still hurts.
We can remember how dejected we were seeing the vision of Cameron Bancroft pulling a piece of sandpaper out of his pocket on every news outlet across the country.
It was so fundamentally against what we are about as a sporting nation, and to do it in our most coveted sporting icon, the Baggy Green, was salt in an already deep wound.
David Warner was identified as the mastermind behind the ordeal, instructing and demonstrating to Bancroft on how to effectively use the sandpaper, while captain Steve Smith was found to know about the plan and failed to put a stop to it.
All three players were found to bring the game into disrepute, and all served bans ranging from 9-12 months.
Melbourne Storm Salary Cap Scandal 2010
Whilst they are without a doubt the premier club in the NRL, there were some dark days for the Melbourne Storm in 2010.
The NRL uncovered salary cap breaches reaching nearly $2million over a five-year period, with another $700k projected for 2010.
Additionally, it was discovered that the Storm had kept a dual contract system with extra payments to players…
Melbourne was stripped of their 2008 and 2009 premierships and were prevented from earning any competition points in 2010.
Their star players during that time still deny any knowledge of the extra payments.
The Cronulla Sharks ASADA Saga 2013
In one of the strangest scandals to grip Rugby League for what felt like an eternity, the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) investigated the legality of the Sharks supplements program during the 2011 season.
After a lot of back and forth, sports scientist Stephen Dank admitted to administering banned peptides to players. This resulted in a series of punishments for club staff, including premiership coach Stephen Flanagan.
Players involved, including club and NSW captain Paul Gallen, received backdated, expired 12-month bans. They each only missed a couple of games in the 2014 season.
So, not so much of a big deal after all of that? So bizarre.
Without a doubt we have missed some. Let us know what on our socials below!
Written by,
Declan Jones & Dan Hutcheon
On the Drift
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