Mark Coyne has found an unlikely ally after his alcohol-fuelled incident in Singapore, with the Rugby League Players’ Association declaring he should be able to stay on as an ARL commissioner.
Coyne has been stood down from the ARLC and offered to resign after he was arrested and fined for a expletive-laden tirade at police following a disagreement with a taxi driver last month.
The former St George and Queensland great returned to Sydney on Thursday and will learn his fate later this month.
The ARLC and chairman Peter Beattie appear to have little room to move after they took a hardline stance on player behaviour earlier this year, which resulted in the controversial “no-fault” stand down rule.
The RLPA has fervently opposed the rule, which allows the NRL to stand down any player charged with a crime which carries a jail sentence of 11 years or more.
They are challenging the validity of the rule under the collective bargaining agreement.
RLPA chief executive Ian Prendergast said he didn’t want to see Coyne thrown out because of one indiscretion, citing his clean track record as a player and experience as a businessman and administrator.
“We always encourage the game to look at these things in totality,” Prendergast said.
“You can’t discount the work that Mark has done up until this point, both in and out of the game and the contribution he’s making on the commission.
“We understand he’s stuffed up on this occasion and we’re sure he’s deeply embarrassed about the situation.
“But we think it’s important that he’s taken responsibility for his actions. And we believe he’s still got a huge amount of value to add to his role as a commissioner.”
With the NRL driving hard for players to take accountability for their actions, the RLPA could easily have used the issue to fire back at Coyne and the commission.
But Prendergast hoped Coyne had an opportunity to atone for his actions.
“It just demonstrates that even people of really high standing within the game can find themselves in compromised positions off the field for a variety of reasons, whether it’s around stress or pressure or having too much to drink,” he said.
“The reality is we have people working in sport and at times they’re going to make mistakes.
“What happens next is more important from our perspective in terms of the person taking responsibility for their actions, owning them and be allowed to continue working within the game if they’ve got value to add.”