Ben Barba Stood Down Indefinately

[kioli]

It's pretty obvious he hasn't or there'd be police involved...

[Smakked]

It's pretty obvious he hasn't or there'd be police involved...

Yeah very true but you know rumors. What i heard if bulldogs didst do anything she was going to come forward. But like i said all rumors

[DIEHARD]

We will just have to wait until things come out in the media. Rumours are damaging and hard to prove or disprove.

Just sad business all round.

[Smakked]

Well at least they can afford Izzy now
:P

[DIEHARD]

I havent had the heart or time to ring my poor Bulldogs mate Bobby.

[DIEHARD]

I already trolled him hard when we signed Marmin Barba.

[Boofhead]

Canterbury Bulldogs star Ben Barba goes off the rails and joins the Epic Bender Crew
Josh Massoud | February 25, 2013



THEY'RE proudly known as the Epic Bender Crew, a tight-knit band of party-hard Gen Y mates who binge their way through most weekends.

And just before Christmas last year, Ben Barba decided to join them.

Barba's association with the Cronulla-based group, known locally and online as EBC, provides plenty of clues as why he could no longer be the game's clean-skinned poster boy.

While a painful split with childhood sweetheart, Ainslie Currie, and problem gambling are the other significant reasons, excessive drinking and partying have conspired toward Barba's downfall.

Those pastimes are also the driving force behind EBC's charter, with the group known around the Sutherland Shire for its extreme commitment to having a blast.

The link to Barba appears to be Daniel Folkes, the son of former Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes. Daniel Folkes also featured on the short-lived TV show The Shire.


Barba and Folkes were teammates in Canterbury's under-20s team and were photographed together in EBC-themed parties over the Christmas period.

There's also a telling SMS exchange that Folkes posted on his Facebook site, in which Barba pledges to join EBC by getting a tattoo with the group's initials.

"I think it's safe to say you are part of the famous EBC welcome aboard," Folkes texted on December 14 last year.

"That's it, I'm getting the tatt," Barba replied.

Shortly afterwards Folkes posted another picture, this time of a shirtless Barba getting the initials E-B-C inked on to his lower torso.



A close friend of Barba last night said the superstar has toned down his partying with EBC since resuming training last month.

"He did spend a bit of time with those guys before and after Christmas," the friend said.

There's no suggestion EBC enjoy anything more sinister than having a good time - for a long time.

Furthermore, Reni Maitua and John Sutton have carved out long careers as members of the Bra Boys, an infinitely more notorious gang.

And in the end, Barba will not be cured should he stop drinking or have the EBC tattoo removed.

His problems extend back to the split with Currie, his childhood sweetheart from Mackay and the mother of his two baby daughters.

Barba's association with EBC occurred around the same time he and Currie ended their eight-year relationship.The couple purchased their first home in Caringbah last year, but Barba didn't move out until early last week.

In the first indication that his life was falling apart, Barba requested a few days away from training last week.

Canterbury boss Todd Greenberg gave him the green light and was receiving daily updates about Barba's welfare from Currie.

"Moving out was a big thing," the friend said.

"Suddenly Ben was on his own and I don't think he expected it to be so hard without the kids."

Friends are confident that Barba will be restored once he and Currie patch up their differences.

But he also has deeper demons to confront, including a worrying gambling habit.

While Greenberg dismissed suggestions that Barba had fallen into debt, Bulldogs insiders have been concerned for some time about the proportion of his salary that's frittered away through TAB terminals and poker machines.

"He bets on the horses," an inner-city publican said.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1226585460804

[DIEHARD]

Epic Bender Crew....that is epicly lame.

[TITAN PETE]

Epic Bender Crew....that is epicly lame.

trying to be the next Bra Boys

[TITAN PETE]

RSS
By Steve Jancetic AAP Mon, Feb 25, 2013 - 7:10 PM

It wasn't the straw that broke the camel's back, but it was the final indicator that Ben Barba's head space wasn't prepared for an NRL season.

Taking part in his one and only trial match for the Bulldogs in Goulburn last Saturday night, Barba told one of the team's trainers he wanted to come off because he wasn't really interested in playing.

It was a poignant moment.

For all his off-field issues, the rugby league field had always been a place of solace for Barba, a chance for him to escape the troubles of his private life.

Never was this more evident that with his stunning hat-trick in the All Stars match earlier this month, a performance which many believed was a portent to an imminent State of Origin call-up for Queensland.

That dream now appears in tatters, with Barba to seek help for a multitude of behavioural issues stemming from the breakdown in his relationship with Ainslie Currie, the mother of his two children.

He was in tears on Sunday as he met with Bulldogs coach Des Hasler and chief executive Todd Greenberg, who had been aware of Barba's troubles for some time.

"It became quite serious to me over this weekend," Greenberg said.

"We've been talking to him a lot ... over the last 24-48 hours it became significant enough for me to take the action.

"(It was) not so much an incident, just a manifestation of a lot of issues that have been in his life over a period of time.

"This is not one issue - this is a range of different issues that stem from the breakdown in a family and a personal relationship."

The Bulldogs have invested many hours in dealing with Barba's emotional shortcomings over the years.

A junior star, Barba once stunned Bulldogs officials during an under-20s match when he was so upset with a decision he walked off the field midway through a competition game.

There have been any number of rumours of incidents with teammates, the latest being an allegation by the Nine Network of an altercation with fellow squad member Tim Browne at training last week.

Greenberg said Barba wanted none of the attention his 2012 heroics delivered, but whether he liked it or not, he was now one of the NRL's poster boys.

Greenberg denied any of Barba's actions had warranted the attention of police, and related to breaches of club policy.

Rather, this had all the hallmarks of a pre-emptive strike.

"Some (breaches) are small, some are things that you do day to day in the club's operations and others you take a dimmer view of," Greenberg said.

"Certainly over the last week or so I've seen some signs that worry me and we need to make sure we got on the front foot with him to ensure we got him some help now before this came to something that was more drastic.

"We talked a lot yesterday about good decision making.

"Young footballers get to points of their careers where they make poor decisions - Ben's made a number of poor decisions in recent times and he needs to start making good decisions to get back on the football field.

"That's been explained to him in no uncertain terms."

[DIEHARD]

Can anyone confirm the location of Anthony Mundine? This sounds like his brand of poison that he rubs off on people. (Just joking but the vibes are familiar)

[Titanic]

Two older brothers who were also rugby league freaks ... one did a similar thing at Penrith and the other was saved by a career-ending knee injury ... then this one ... and we have the other one. I coached the father and even as this is no real surprise, it's so disappointing that the 'Dogs have let it get to this and now do the whole "good club" spin ... if they had so many indicators why weren't they diligent rather than reactive?

[big bear]

Two older brothers who were also rugby league freaks ... one did a similar thing at Penrith and the other was saved by a career-ending knee injury ... then this one ... and we have the other one. I coached the father and even as this is no real surprise, it's so disappointing that the 'Dogs have let it get to this and now do the whole "good club" spin ... if they had so many indicators why weren't they diligent rather than reactive?

His family is just a normal working class family who are very sport minded from Mackay Nth Qld.So much money & fame in a very short time for the young man to handle.

[Chaos]

Every top sportman goes through a down period...imagine the partying he would have done after such a confidence year.
He sounds depressed but how he handles it and who he turns to will determine his future.

It makes it harder when you don't have a grounded partner to lean on.

[Chaos]

Brad Walter

IT SHOULD have been one of the biggest honours of his career, but those close to Ben Barba believe the responsibility of launching the NRL season on Wednesday night may have been the catalyst for his decision to stand down from playing for Canterbury.

There are obvious comparisons between the 23-year-old fullback and the notoriously shy former Bulldogs star Ewan McGrady, who famously tried to avoid accepting the ARL's player-of-the-year award, such was his distaste for the spotlight.

While Canterbury officials say any comparison between the two is not quite accurate, they do admit that Barba has struggled to deal with the fame of being the NRL's pin-up boy and the accolades that have come his way since he won last year's Dally M medal.

With Barba's fall from grace continuing a curse that has afflicted players previously asked to launch the season such as Brett Stewart and Benji Marshall, some are now questioning why the NRL has to make any player the face of the game.

Advertisement ''It's too much for some young players,'' one leading official told Fairfax Media. ''If it has to be a player, it should be someone like Cameron Smith or Billy Slater, who you know will never let you down. They always go for what they consider the sexy option when the safe option would be better.''

With Smith and Slater not due to return to Melbourne until Wednesday after leading the Storm to victory over Leeds in the World Club Challenge, North Queensland superstar Johnathan Thurston has been given the task of launching the season.

Thurston has the experience of having fulfilled the role previously but Marshall's manager Martin Tauber said it could be a daunting task for a young player.

''Benji is very confident, but I can tell you that he was nervous about doing it [in 2011],'' Tauber said.

''I said to him, 'Are you right, do you know what you are going to say?'

''He said, 'Yes, I have written it down, I have rehe****d it, I know exactly what I am going to say' and that is what he did.

''But you are talking about a different kettle of fish with this young man. Benji has just turned 28 years old today and he is mature beyond his years now, but for a young man who has never been groomed to do that it would be daunting.

''One of Benji's great friends, who was one of his groomsmen, hired a speech writer for three months before he would get up and speak at Benji's wedding, so I think the league really need to be close to the person. I feel so sad for Ben Barba but [Canterbury boss] Todd Greenberg is a very good operator so if he has pulled the pin on this it would be serious.''

NRL marketing general manager Paul Kind said Thurston would share the stage on Wednesday night with Cowboys fan and the voice of the game's new anthem, Jessica Mauboy. "We are delighted he has accepted the honour of launching the season on behalf of the players," Kind said.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...#ixzz2LyCOtUWl