CANTERBURY-Bankstown banning pre-season trips to locations north of Sydney will achieve only one thing - disadvantaging fans in regional areas such as Port Macquarie.
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In a time when the code is trying to grow, maintain and even broaden its scope, such a suggestion made by Paul Kent on Fox Sports' NRL 360 program on Wednesday night is not the answer.
It comes in the wake of code of conduct breaches involving Bulldogs pair Corey Harawira-Naera and Jayden Okunbor and teenage girls during their pre-season trip to Port Macquarie.
Not only has it cost the club a $2 million sponsorship, it looks likely to cost Okunbor his contract.
But Kent's view is such a simple and narrow-minded one - and one which hopefully isn't shared by the National Rugby League club.
A crowd of nearly 5000 turned up to Regional Stadium on February 29 for the Bulldogs' pre-season trial against Canberra.
Why should the majority of that crowd - who were from the local area - potentially be disadvantaged by the acts of two players?
The underlying issue has nothing to do with the Mid-North and North Coast regions and everything to do with the culture surrounding rugby league.
Clubs can only do so much, but how much more education should players need?
Steps forward have been made in recent years, but this latest incident is another two steps back for the code.
The culture of the sport must end up in a place where we don't need to set rules around player behaviour. Respect just exists.
We still have a long way to go, but taking a professional sporting club out of a specific region doesn't solve the problem at hand, it only moves it somewhere else.
This isn't an isolated problem, this is a cultural problem that has for too long been embedded in the sport.
These players knew the rules and expectations in this circumstance, but being above them may now very well ruin their careers.
Their choices, and subsequent actions, are for Harawira-Naera and Okunbor alone to own.
The culture of the sport must end up in a place where we don't need to set rules around player behaviour. Respect just exists.
Consent is not the issue here. Choice is. The players who have the power and public profile should have said no.
They should have set the standard. They didn't.
They could have championed change. They haven't.
The Bulldogs must be congratulated for how swiftly they acted and the punishments handed down.
Club chief executive Andrew Hill went on the front foot during a press conference on Wednesday morning.
"These are very concerning matters that the club has treated very seriously," he said.
Hopefully the club still treats their five-year partnership with the North Coast just as seriously.
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