Blues coach Brad Fittler says he wouldn’t select the three players fined for lockdown breaches if he was naming his State of Origin team now and admits it will still be hard to do in six months’ time.
Fittler said he was horrified when the actions of NSW stars Latrell Mitchell, Josh Addo-Carr and Nathan Cleary were exposed this week for disregarding public health orders, with all of them to pay a financial price after the NRL announced they’d brought the game into disrepute.
Mitchell and Addo-Carr, who were fined $50,000 for their part in a 12-man camping trip, were also charged by NSW Police over firearm offences.
Cleary was fined $10,000 after being photographed with a group of people at his home.
All fines were 60 per cent suspended for the remainder of the season.
Fittler didn’t hold back on the ramifications of the players’ actions, saying it’s not inconceivable it will cost the sport its season restart, scheduled for May 28.
The competition is still awaiting a green light from federal and state politicians.
“If I was picking the team right now, definitely not,” Fittler said when asked on Wide World of Sports Radio if he would name the trio if an Origin series started this week.
All three players were part of Fittler’s successful Blues squad last year but he said they will have plenty of ground to make up if they want another shot at inter-state football, which has been set down for November, immediately after the pushed-back NRL season finishes.
He said off and on-field factors play a part in all his selections and that the trio have dented their prospects, even six months out.
“What they’ve done is not only put themselves under pressure, they’ve put their teammates under pressure, their club team, they’ve obviously put their representative jerseys under pressure and they’ve put their coaches under pressure,” he said.
“We’ve got to deal with the fact ‘do we pick them? Then all of a sudden for the first couple of days at training it’s all about them (in the media) and whether we’ve picked them or haven’t picked them.
“That’s why it’s easy to say sometimes ‘you know what, go and have a rest, go and see what you can do for your club’.”
Fittler felt the fines were fair and represented the NRL showing support to clubs, as well as putting pressure on the players to amend their behaviour.
He was riled that the trio’s indiscretions were captured on mobile phones, something he has long felt is a scourge to society’s youth.
“What are they thinking, how stupid are people?
“Why on earth do you need to get recognition out of phones? It’s crazy.”