D'Arcy Waldegrave: Time to terminate the NRL's dirty Dragons

OPINION:

There's an urban myth that did the rounds back when I was a lad. A small central American republic, fed up with their drink driving road toll, came up with a master plan to deter their citizens from ever driving drunk again.

It was a simple plan, incredibly tough and very effective. The penalty for drink driving was death. As a direct result, the road toll dropped to zero. Harsh but effective.

It seems like an overreaction doesn't it? In any civilised community, this type of excessive punishment would not be tolerated, nor should it. But the temptation to unleash hellfire and fury upon unrepentant recidivists is part and parcel of our feral, Neanderthal nature.

Paul Vaughan isn't a drink driver. But the former Dragons prop is a repeat offender and has been sacked from his club for being the ringleader of a group of players who gathered for a BBQ to celebrate victory over the Warriors.

This was against the NRL and state governments' strict Covid protocols and expressly forbidden by the club. They did it anyway. They believed they were above the law. They laughed in the face of their club, and for that Vaughan's contract was terminated.

Paul Vaughan's Dragons contract was terminated. Photo / Getty

Before the guillotine blade was dropped on his Dragons career, the NRL had fined him $50k and suspended him for eight weeks. That punishment is severe, but he has been previously disciplined for breaching the covid bubble requirements.

Does the NRL stop there or, as in the mythical central American republic, go next level and make the Dragons the all-time pariah of the sport? Dock competition points, de-register players, fiscally cripple them with Godzilla fines, drop their salary cap, deny fans entry to their ground. You get the idea. Make the punishment well in excess of the crime.

Such widely punitive measures would affect more than just the bone-headed players concerned, it would drag the fans, the club and the sponsors down as well. Yes, it would be an extreme reaction, but in cases like this, only wide-reaching, hammer blow punishments will wake transgressors up to the seriousness of the situation. Their selfish actions put many at risk and by taking many down through sanctions would serve as a brutal reminder that players must toe the line. It's not just their livelihoods at stake.

The Warriors have sacrificed plenty to keep this competition afloat. They have been nomads, shovelled from one quarantine space to another. Players have suffered mentally under Covid's cosh. Their selflessness has kept the NRL going, kept players and staff employed, provided some joy in uncertain times for the fanbase. They have given something tenable to broadcast, and in doing so have saved the whole comp from going under.

They have been everything the Dragons have not. The environment that breeds this type of egregious arrogance and scant disregard for the wellbeing of others needs to be cleansed. The culture that bred the mould that is the dirty 13 needs to be terminated. It's not the death penalty but it needs to be severe enough to ensure all concerned have no doubts as to the gravity of the situation.