Super Cronk
04-05-06, 10:45 PM
Before i post this article i want to remind everyone to remember the rules of the forum and please think before you post! This thread will be monited very carefully. I thought this was a very intresting article(it was posted earlier this week i believe) i found on Rleague.com written by Chris Riediger (Senior Editor-Rleague.com) so please dont stuff it up.
Without wanting to re-open old wounds too much, I read today with interest an article in the Daily Telegraph detailing what has happened to the Task Force assembled to investigate the accusations made by a Coffs Harbour female against members of the Bulldogs NRL side in February 2004, and I thought I'd draw a little attention to it.
The article, on Page 15 of today's morning edition, details what has happened to the task force members since that gruelling and very public investigation. It details a trail of police officers who are disillusioned with their own ranks, with almost all of the task force leaving or on stress-related leave some 2 years after the investigation concluded with the accused Bulldogs not being charged.
I guess this article reinforces what many Bulldogs fans felt at the time; that the entire scandal was handled very badly by a number of individuals. And that these handlings ultimately lead to fallout for a number of people involved that could have been avoided. Between the daily beatings the Bulldogs players and club were subjected to and the pressure to obtain a "result" placed upon Strike Force McGuigon, really the only people to come out of this feeling a sense of personal pain are the Bulldogs players and staff, the strike force members and the alleged victim. The likes of 2GB shock-jock Ray Hadley came out of this unscathed, using the whole incident to boost his ratings and push his anti-Bulldogs agenda. The senior brass in the NSW Police Force were able to push for a big PR "win", and yet they feel no personal loss outside that of former Deputy Commission Madden, who was dismissed for leaking details of an illegal phone tap.
Some of the revelations in this article are not entirely new, but are certainly not known to a wider audience ? the same audience that made life uncomfortable for a most Bulldogs fans during the scandal. In particular, the revelation that the investigating officers "knew within 48 hours the evidence was so thin it was extremely unlikely they would be able to lay charges", and that "the woman gave different stories to detectives, (and) witnesses saw no crime" will not only continue to vindicate the Bulldogs, but they should help Bulldogs fans close out a chapter of their lives that only became bearable because of a 2004 Grand Final win at the end of the year.
I was a critic of some of the task force spokespeople and the task force itself during the investigation, mostly for some of the public comments made which added fuel to the fire. However, no member of our police force should be reduced to a discharge due to stress and a career change to mowing lawns - particularly such high ranking officers as Detective Senior Sargeant Gary McEvoy.
Sometimes I wonder whether sections of our media know of the damage they do to the actual people involved; the people with a personal stake who have to live it every day. I do not doubt it wasn't given a thought when Mr Hadley broadcast his now infamous leaked report, nor did Mr Weidler when he reported comments made by a former Bulldogs player. I doubt it was given a thought when the media turned on Task Force McGuigon and Dt. McEvoy when they failed to get a result; a result that they knew was out of the question within the first 48 hours.
Well the damage is there for all to see now. Just ask the Bulldogs Club, the fans, the NRL and the members of Strike Force McGuigon.
Without wanting to re-open old wounds too much, I read today with interest an article in the Daily Telegraph detailing what has happened to the Task Force assembled to investigate the accusations made by a Coffs Harbour female against members of the Bulldogs NRL side in February 2004, and I thought I'd draw a little attention to it.
The article, on Page 15 of today's morning edition, details what has happened to the task force members since that gruelling and very public investigation. It details a trail of police officers who are disillusioned with their own ranks, with almost all of the task force leaving or on stress-related leave some 2 years after the investigation concluded with the accused Bulldogs not being charged.
I guess this article reinforces what many Bulldogs fans felt at the time; that the entire scandal was handled very badly by a number of individuals. And that these handlings ultimately lead to fallout for a number of people involved that could have been avoided. Between the daily beatings the Bulldogs players and club were subjected to and the pressure to obtain a "result" placed upon Strike Force McGuigon, really the only people to come out of this feeling a sense of personal pain are the Bulldogs players and staff, the strike force members and the alleged victim. The likes of 2GB shock-jock Ray Hadley came out of this unscathed, using the whole incident to boost his ratings and push his anti-Bulldogs agenda. The senior brass in the NSW Police Force were able to push for a big PR "win", and yet they feel no personal loss outside that of former Deputy Commission Madden, who was dismissed for leaking details of an illegal phone tap.
Some of the revelations in this article are not entirely new, but are certainly not known to a wider audience ? the same audience that made life uncomfortable for a most Bulldogs fans during the scandal. In particular, the revelation that the investigating officers "knew within 48 hours the evidence was so thin it was extremely unlikely they would be able to lay charges", and that "the woman gave different stories to detectives, (and) witnesses saw no crime" will not only continue to vindicate the Bulldogs, but they should help Bulldogs fans close out a chapter of their lives that only became bearable because of a 2004 Grand Final win at the end of the year.
I was a critic of some of the task force spokespeople and the task force itself during the investigation, mostly for some of the public comments made which added fuel to the fire. However, no member of our police force should be reduced to a discharge due to stress and a career change to mowing lawns - particularly such high ranking officers as Detective Senior Sargeant Gary McEvoy.
Sometimes I wonder whether sections of our media know of the damage they do to the actual people involved; the people with a personal stake who have to live it every day. I do not doubt it wasn't given a thought when Mr Hadley broadcast his now infamous leaked report, nor did Mr Weidler when he reported comments made by a former Bulldogs player. I doubt it was given a thought when the media turned on Task Force McGuigon and Dt. McEvoy when they failed to get a result; a result that they knew was out of the question within the first 48 hours.
Well the damage is there for all to see now. Just ask the Bulldogs Club, the fans, the NRL and the members of Strike Force McGuigon.