News 8/1: Dane Tilse in the news

[jamesgould]

I think Dane Tilse must have split personalities. First of all this from the SMH website:

Tilse refusing to cry foul at Gower's star treatment
By Will Swanton
January 8, 2006

DANE Tilse was a no-name; Craig Gower was a big name.

Tilse was sacked by the Newcastle Knights and deregistered by the NRL after an alcohol-fuelled incident involving a woman at Bathurst last February. Gower was fined $30,000 and sacked as Penrith captain after groping Wayne Pearce's daughter Tatum at a charity golf day, but his career can continue unabated.

Tilse has reason to feel robbed. He could justifiably accuse the NRL of treating its stars more leniently than it does expendable youngsters such as him.

One member of Tilse's family yesterday said the differences in the punishments were "wrong, totally wrong", but the 21-year-old preferred to praise the NRL and Penrith for launching a proper inquiry.

"It looked as if Penrith did a full and thorough investigation and took their time," he said. "That's the good thing to come out of it - that's the change since I had my drama.

"It was all rushed through with me, it was over before I knew it. The Knights were probably under a bit of pressure from the NRL, I don't know.

"I didn't want to see Craig sacked or anything like that. I just think the NRL needs guidelines to deal with things like this and if the procedures are better now, there might have been some good to come out of what happened last year."

Tilse has since signed with the Canberra Raiders. He would like to show the Knights how wrong they were to turn their back on him. He was kicked out of the club, and the NRL, less than 48 hours after he behaved badly at a Bathurst university.

Further investigations suggested he was treated too harshly while others got off virtually scot-free.

But Tilse, whose father Mick played with the Raiders in their formative years, wants to put the controversy behind him and capitalise on his second chance.

"It's been a pretty hard year, but I'm back into training and I'm enjoying it," he said. "I'm a bit nervous about playing again but I should be all right.

"I didn't play any local footy, nothing like that, I just worked all year, had a groin operation.

"I want to prove to myself that I can make it in the NRL after a setback like that. I've only played three games off the bench, so I haven't done anything yet.

"I try not to think about it too much, but now I've got this big name. I was disappointed about the way it all happened but I try not to dwell on it.

"I'm only 21 this month, and I'm hoping I'll get some good opportunities to play a lot of footy."

On the severity of Gower's punishment compared with his, Tilse said: "I sort of knew what he was going through, but it had nothing to do with me. I had my drama, but it's over and done with.

"I'm not going to make any big statements - but I think the way Penrith and the NRL handled the investigations was good."

From: http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/t...-star-treatment/2006/01/07/1136609984772.html

Then this from the Foxsports website:

Tilse slams double standards
By James Phelps
January 8, 2006

DANE Tilse, who was sacked by Newcastle last year for an off-field indiscretion, believes Craig Gower avoided a similar fate at Penrith because he is a "big-name" player.

Tilse lost his $60,000 salary from the Knights and was banned from the NRL for 12 months for his part in an alcohol-fuelled rampage at a Bathurst university. There were allegations of sexual assault that were later withdrawn.

He has called for the introduction of standard penalties for off-field indiscretions as pressure mounts on the NRL to take action against Gower.

NRL boss David Gallop said Gower's case would be reviewed this week.

Gower was stripped of the Penrith captaincy - although coach John Lang said he would have an on-field leadership role - and fined $100,000.

However, $70,000 of that fine is suspended, with the $30,000 Gower has to pay representing an estimated six per cent of his Panthers contract.

The NRL claims the two cases differ because Tilse allegedly forced his way into the woman's room while on an official NRL promotional trip. Gower was on a private holiday, albeit at a public charity event.

Tilse is glad Gower avoided a ban but said the decision not to sack the Test halfback leaves him feeling like a scapegoat.

"It was a lot easier to make an example of me rather than a guy like Gower," Tilse said.

"It's easy to sack a nobody and harder to get rid of one of the better players.
"Obviously that behaviour shouldn't be tolerated but I'm glad he didn't cop what I did. I don't want anyone else to go through it. We have to stick together as players."

Gower last week was found guilty of drunken behaviour on the Sunshine Coast. He was accused of groping the teenage daughter of Wayne Pearce, throwing knives and running naked through the Twin Waters resort.

Gallop will review the Penrith reports this week and decide if any further action needs to be taken.

"We will review the matter once we receive a formal report from the club," he said. "But on the face of it, loss of the captaincy and a six-figure fine, albeit with a large part suspended, is a significant penalty.

"As a general principle it is important clubs are given the opportunity to set standards for behaviour within their own organisations. The league's role is to monitor that."

Penrith boss Glen Matthews defended Gower's punishment.

"We handled it as a board and are happy with the decision," he said.

Tilse said the NRL needed to introduce a uniform set of guidelines to avoid such differences in penalty.

"I think guidelines need to be set," he said. "A few people may draw comparisons but I don't want to get into that. But I think uniform rules need to be put into place.

"I think the NRL rushed the Knights a bit and screamed down their necks.

"It all happened very quickly and Penrith need to be commended for the way they handled the Gower case. They worked through it and did a full investigation. Maybe the NRL should punish the players, not the clubs."

Tilse, 20, is now looking forward to resuming his career with the Raiders.

"The goal is to get back and play first grade as soon as possible,' he said.

From: http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,17753838-23214,00.html

I don't know how the NRL could possibly introduce guidelines for this sort of thing! It has to be done on a case by case basis ... the huge variety of stupid things that can be done makes it impossible to cater for every possibility. And Tilse's indiscretion was worse than Gower's anyway, if what we read was correct, he deserves a harsher penalty.

Dunno what he's talking about punishing the players instead of the clubs either? He feels he wasn't punished? The Knights are better off without this loser, no matter how good a player he is!

And besides, we replaced him with the legendary Craig Smith!!!