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Sam Burgess - 'No case to answer' (Merged Threads)


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I'm hopeful this latest and last (as far as i'm aware) Police investigation into Sam brings this whole sorry saga to an end. It was clear from the start there were 2 sides to all the allegations made and whilst this doesn't prove his innocence, there's more evidence to support this was more likely a targeted campaign by the Hooke's to 'destroy' him, as Sam previously stated. 

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/exnrl-star-sam-burgess-cleared-after-yearlong-police-investigation-into-allegations-of-abuse/news-story/155905767396ceb51adcbd49c638ca3f

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So, after falsely accusing SB of intimidation, to which he was found ‘Not Guilty’. Then making a string of false allegations (50 page document) of physical & mental abuse toward his ex wife which have subsequently been dismissed after a police investigation.

All of which have resulted in Sam Burgess having a breakdown, losing access to his children, having to stand down from his post playing Rugby League career, losing vast amounts of money & defaming his name.

Should the Hooke family just get to just walk away without any consequences for their campaign to ruin Sam Burgess?

I have to say, from the outset I was convinced that Sam’s ex father in law was orchestrating a vicious retaliation against SB for having the audacity to embarrass his daughter by cheating on her. 

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1 hour ago, OMEGA said:

So, after falsely accusing SB of intimidation, to which he was found ‘Not Guilty’. Then making a string of false allegations (50 page document) of physical & mental abuse toward his ex wife which have subsequently been dismissed after a police investigation.

All of which have resulted in Sam Burgess having a breakdown, losing access to his children, having to stand down from his post playing Rugby League career, losing vast amounts of money & defaming his name.

Should the Hooke family just get to just walk away without any consequences for their campaign to ruin Sam Burgess?

I have to say, from the outset I was convinced that Sam’s ex father in law was orchestrating a vicious retaliation against SB for having the audacity to embarrass his daughter by cheating on her. 

Reading the reporting of the case it's very difficult to know with any certainty what happened in Sam's marriage or whether there was indeed a campaign against him by his wife and father-in-law.

All I'll say is that if Sam did genuinely abuse his wife, then he deserves to have the book thrown at him. But if he didn't and the allegations were exaggerated, then he deserves our sympathy.

The fact that the police say they will not bring a prosecution tends towards the latter, rather than the former.

So it's interesting to see in The Australian newspaper today, posted about an hour ago, another interview with Phoebe in which she continues to attack Sam and the NRL more generally.

“Thousands of women have contacted me with their own stories of feeling afraid in their own home and silenced by a culture which puts women and children last,” Ms Burgess said.

“I am not surprised police feel unable to proceed to prosecution, and to be honest I feel some relief that my family’s trauma will not now be the subject of a criminal trial. I never approached police – they came to me after The Australian’s reporting and I simply told the truth. Nothing about my life or my story has changed. I look forward to the day the National Rugby League takes action to clean up this game, which has become the punchline of every terrible joke about sexism, violence and cover-ups."

A few observations on this.

To start with, although Phoebe may indeed have received some communications from other women, I rather doubt that "thousands" did so. That shows a tendency towards exaggeration.

The NRL, for all its undoubted faults, certainly doesn't put women and children last as far as I can see. It tries to be inclusive with players' families. Inevitably there may be some individual cases of players mistreating women, but that can hardly be blamed on the NRL. Unfortunately it is a wider societal problem.

When she refers to The Australian's reporting, as far as I'm aware its reporting consisted of publishing a dossier that she and her father had prepared. It didn't seriously question her about the accuracy of what she had written.

I could be wrong, but I find it hard not to conclude that she is using her failed marriage to Sam to raise her own profile. I'm not sure to what end.

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Yes I’m not surprised she’s relieved there’s not going to be a criminal trial when everything would be scrutinised. No doubt she’ll be changing her name from Burgess and wont be looking to use this whole situation for personal advancement , publicity and money 

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I think it's a shame the rest of what Phoebe goes onto say will be lost in what essentially reads as a final attempt to derail any future prospects Sam might have, in coaching or the media.

I think a lot of that stuff about the sexual perversion/deviation/abuse that occurs amongst RL players is almost certainly true and it's not just limited to the professional game. You can go in almost any club changing rooms or scan through the whatsapp groups of the playing squad and there will be videos/pics and messages being shared in a fashion that has been described in the above article. Of course this isn't only a problem in RL but certainly feels more prevalent in that setting than wider society in general. 

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15 hours ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

I think it's a shame the rest of what Phoebe goes onto say will be lost in what essentially reads as a final attempt to derail any future prospects Sam might have, in coaching or the media.

I think a lot of that stuff about the sexual perversion/deviation/abuse that occurs amongst RL players is almost certainly true and it's not just limited to the professional game. You can go in almost any club changing rooms or scan through the whatsapp groups of the playing squad and there will be videos/pics and messages being shared in a fashion that has been described in the above article. Of course this isn't only a problem in RL but certainly feels more prevalent in that setting than wider society in general. 

Unless you have a unique degree of access to "any club changing rooms" or to the WhatsApp groups of numerous playing squads, I'm not sure how you can make this claim.

Certainly in Australia, any activity of that kind is likely to end up in the media, which of course then gives the impression that such behaviour is much more widespread than it really is.

I suspect that such behaviour is far less ubiquitous than it was in the days before social media became so dominant if for no other reason that these days you are far more likely to be exposed.

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1 hour ago, Martyn Sadler said:

Unless you have a unique degree of access to "any club changing rooms" or to the WhatsApp groups of numerous playing squads, I'm not sure how you can make this claim.

Certainly in Australia, any activity of that kind is likely to end up in the media, which of course then gives the impression that such behaviour is much more widespread than it really is.

I suspect that such behaviour is far less ubiquitous than it was in the days before social media became so dominant if for no other reason that these days you are far more likely to be exposed.

It doesn't require a 'unique degree of access', Martyn. Most amateur/semi pro players have each other across various social media platforms these days - i'm talking from other teams too (often how a lot of this material is shared so widely). And yes I've witnessed this both as a player and a coach. To be clear, the vast majority of what i'm eluding isn't the physical acts themselves (although that is what it always seemed based round), more the way they're shared so openly amongst many others, without consent and the consequences after that. This is the kind of thing from the article i'm drawing comparisons to. The notion this isn't rife amongst players in our game is fanciful at best and/or very naive. Sadly social media facilitates it rather than discouraging it and every now and again it gets exposed, but only at the elite level where there's a 'story' to be had. 

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4 minutes ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

It doesn't require a 'unique degree of access', Martyn. Most amateur/semi pro players have each other across various social media platforms these days - i'm talking from other teams too (often how a lot of this material is shared so widely). And yes I've witnessed this both as a player and a coach. To be clear, the vast majority of what i'm eluding isn't the physical acts themselves (although that is what it always seemed based round), more the way they're shared so openly amongst many others, without consent and the consequences after that. This is the kind of thing from the article i'm drawing comparisons to. The notion this isn't rife amongst players in our game is fanciful at best and/or very naive. Sadly social media facilitates it rather than discouraging it and every now and again it gets exposed, but only at the elite level where there's a 'story' to be had. 

I was talking primarily about players at the top of the professional game, particularly in Australia in the context of Sam Burgess' problems.

At different levels of the game it would be surprising if players didn't share material on WhatsApp and other platforms, but we can only speculate on how widespread it is.

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23 hours ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

there's more evidence to support this was more likely a targeted campaign by the Hooke's to 'destroy' him, as Sam previously stated. 

 

21 hours ago, OMEGA said:

I have to say, from the outset I was convinced that Sam’s ex father in law was orchestrating a vicious retaliation against SB for having the audacity to embarrass his daughter by cheating on her. 

 

19 hours ago, Martyn Sadler said:

The fact that the police say they will not bring a prosecution tends towards the latter, rather than the former.

 

19 hours ago, DavidM said:

Yes I’m not surprised she’s relieved there’s not going to be a criminal trial when everything would be scrutinised. No doubt she’ll be changing her name from Burgess and wont be looking to use this whole situation for personal advancement , publicity and money 

It was the worst mistake Sam Burgess ever made getting involved with that family. 

That girls father is Mitch Hooke, who used to be head of the Australian Minerals Council or something, the very essence of the worst type of businessman, who frankly gives other businessman a bad name. This repugnant blow-hard used to boast how he single handedly bought down the Gillard/Rudd Government with their campaign against the mining tax. Can you imagine the ego, a real big-shot blowhard.

Apparently he wasn`t so tough in his driveway when Sam turned up for his regulation visit with his children, Hooke said Burgess was intimidating him, Burgess swears he didn`t go within 10 metres of him, I know who I believe and apparently the police did too. The Hookes have no morals and will stoop to any lies to ruin him. People like that think that having money is a virtue, nothing else matters, ugly to the core.

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Ex wife of Sam slams the sport for being mysogenistic and characterised by a poor culture. 

Is she correct. 

Now in the UK we have always had a string female fan base, and tye womens game is growing at an exceptional rate. 

But are her comments correct 

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  • John Drake changed the title to Sam Burgess - 'No case to answer' (Merged Threads)

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