I hate the media!

[Steve]

Scotty judging by the photos I've seen of you - you're a pretty sizeable guy, and the fact you're not a woman - there's just no way you can try and predict what that girl should/shouldn't have done. Until you're in a similar situation I doubt you could properly understand.

How soft is Melbourne? Yesterday they said he would remain in his role with the club and 20 minutes after Channel 9 announce he is being stood down they follow the same path? Still i don't blame them for changing their stance. Johns is poison and no NRL club or TV network can afford to have him on their books right now.

 

[Chumbason]

So now there seems to be some pretty broad strokes being made here with the idea that she may have had grog poured into her to an extent that would result in her not being able to say no...

PLUS some are now talking about her being bashed if she tried to fight back, COME ON!!!

Are we meant to think that the so called 10 - 15 cronulla reps and players were going to hold down and bash a 19 year old girl for some drunk sex, PLEASE!

This is an awful thing to have happen, we all agree on that, but lets not kid ourselves that they're aren't people and times when this sort of thing happens with the agreement of every one, only to be thought the better of afterwards.

If she isn't coping well with it then that is very sad for her and I feel for her, but that does not automaticlly mean that someone else is to blame or has to pay for it. She was a part of this, as was Johns and though it may not now seem to be the most sensible thing to do, at one stage or another they had agreed to do it.

I can fully understand that as things went on she may not have thought it was as much fun or as pleasurable as she may have first thought, and that's what it was about, drunken pleasure between adults... I do though fail to see that as many as 15 grown men would've stood by and knowingly watched a young woman be raped or sexually assulted under the threat of violence.

I also struggle to think that those men, especially the ones that were only spectators would've then firstly lied to police and then kept it to themselves for seven years. Men can be bastards, I know, I'm a man, we can be rude and rough and silly and insensetive and do all sorts of silly sh#t, but to think that not one in 15 did or said a single thing, is a bit too much.

I've been around the block a few times and I know more than just a few guys and girls that have been involved in things a little bit like this, so it's not that unheard of that both guys and girls get up to this sort of crap. I don't recommend it for men, and I would advise against it for the ladies in my life, but in the end, if you choose to roll this way, then you have to be happy to live with it. You should not be judged by what you think or feel, but most certainly for what you do or say.

She may not be soley to blame for the way her life as turned out, but that doesn't mean that Johns & co are either.

 

[OXY-351]

I feel sorry for Johns. The only mistake he made was to cheat on his wife. That's a big mistake in itself, but that's something his family has to deal with, in private.

I feel sorry for him because he is being made a scapegoat for all the bad behavoiur of NRL players over the past 12-18 months. If those incidents don't happen, then this would probably have never been brought back up, and even if it had been, there wouldn't be the public scrutiny regarding it that has been whipped up by a media frenzy of previous off field nrl incidents, and channel nine wouldn't be forced to sack Johns just to appease public backlash.

 

[Nashy]

Double standards much?

Matty Johns gets fired for not breaking the law, and having sex with a female who was drunk, while he was drunk. She did not say not. Yet he cheated (which isn't the sisue here).

On the other hand.

Andrew Johns openly admits to breaking the law and cheating the game he "loves" by taking hard drugs throughout his football career. He is more of an idol to the sport and it's fans than his brother, yet he keeps his high paying gigs at channel 9.

 

[OXY-351]

So here's another scenario, what if she was given so many drinks she didn't know what she was doing. What is the difference between that and a date rape drug? Technically these girls (and boys) are are given a drug don't say "no" and technically it's not illegal.

Here's another scenario. What if she is just a dirty hoe and loved every minute of it, but then realised that maybe her bf wasn't going to be too happy that a team of nrl players had filled her every hole, so then makes allegations of sexual assault to make it look like it wasn't her fault.

People need to take responsibilty for their actions. Too many people these days are looking to blame other for their mistakes. What sort of women, who apparently has a boyfriend, goes back to a hotel room with multiple other guys? Seriously, what does sh ethink is going to happen? I'm not saying she asked for the whole team to turn up, but it's not exactly like she put herself in the best of situations.

There seems to be a lot of people here saying that Johns employer should sack him for participating in group sex. Are these same people happy to agree that Hunt and Thaiday should no longer be playing for the Broncos?

 

[lynx000]

Double standards on many fronts me thinks Nashy.

 

[mrslong]

Exactly, people need to take responsibility for their actions. Just like Matt Johns is today.

 

[OXY-351]

Exactly, people need to take responsibility for their actions. Just like Matt Johns is today.

No, Mathew Johns is taking responsibility for every other nrl player who has been in trouble of the past 12-18 months actions

What did he do wrong? He should probably be divorced now, but still working at channel nine.

 

[lynx000]

I have to agree Mrs Long. But I think there is something to the suggestion that MJ is being made a scape goat for all of the bad publicity that the League has suffered over the last few years. As long as people are treated consistently from here on in, then I have no problems with it. For an example, if Bird's conviction remains, because his offence involved actual violence (and serious violence) against a woman then arguably the NRL should consider refusing to ever register him as a player in the NRL again. Ditto Stewart if he is found guilty. Bet they don't though.

 

[mrslong]

I think it's the fact that he produced these http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKTnSE_v ... L&index=11 pearlers that he's been stood down also.

 

[guppy]

In that situation you don't know what the harm could inevitably be anyway, and you should respect yourself enough to do everything you possibly can do to stop it.

One thing this girl mentioned a number of times is that she was "nothing" to them. She believes that they treated her like a piece of meat.
If you're being treated like "nothing", self respect can easily disappear completely. I'm not calling this scenario rape, but it's not uncommon for rape victims to blame themselves and feel worthless.

There's also the whole "survival instinct" topic. Those instincts vary from person to person, not just between genders. You do whatever you can to SURVIVE. That may mean you fight to the death. That may mean you run like hell. That may mean you lie still until the threat eventually becomes disinterested and leaves.

Until you're put in such a situation, you'll never know for sure what your instinct will be.

 

[Coxy]

I have heard so many stories of rape cases where the victim was literally petrified to the point that they couldn't speak, couldn't move. And Gymp, you're right, the cases were thrown out because they couldn't say "no". Physically couldn't say it.

That's why it's SO ridiculous to use "there's no legal case to answer" as any justification for Johns or anyone else being excused in this.

This woman has suffered extensive psychological trauma. That's clear. We can only take her and her doctor's word for it that it was this particular incident that did it.

You don't suffer psychological trauma from waking up the next morning going "oops, shouldn't have done that". The experience ITSELF must have deeply traumatised her.

I have absolutely no doubt that it was the escalation from perhaps a 3some into a 12-on-1 that caused that fear. Rational or not, she probably feared for her safety.

AND, yes, Matt Johns and Brett Firman are the most culpable in this. If they indeed were the initial guys she was with, and they knowingly led her into that far more intimidating situation, then they deserve everything they're copping now.

That said, I also agree with mrslong that it's harsh for Johns to lose his off field, behind the scenes coaching role with the Storm etc.

 

[Nashy]

I'm starting to feel deeply traumatised from the economic slowdown too. Should I acuse someone of something?

I don't believe her story at all, she seems like yet another drug bubbly idiot who wants to hook up with a footy player.

 

[MIKEY]

did you hear they were interviewing a girl on the 97.3 radio station she said that most girls she saw would try and look good in front of the players etc when they saw them after a game , she said they would virtually throw themselves at the players ......she said she had lots of friends who acted like that just for the attention .....and she didnt like that they did this ......

 

[Coxy]

I'm starting to feel deeply traumatised from the economic slowdown too. Should I acuse someone of something?

I don't believe her story at all, she seems like yet another drug bubbly idiot who wants to hook up with a footy player.

Obviously. Possibly even 2.

Doubt she really wanted to be the entertainment for 12 blokes though.

 

[OXY-351]

I'm starting to feel deeply traumatised from the economic slowdown too. Should I acuse someone of something?

I don't believe her story at all, she seems like yet another drug bubbly idiot who wants to hook up with a footy player.

Obviously. Possibly even 2.

Doubt she really wanted to be the entertainment for 12 blokes though.

So what of these other 11 guys? Should they also lose their current job? You'd have to think that some of the players involved would still be playing in the nrl today

 

[mrslong]

Yep, Coxyz, and I doubt she wanted to get on with no-named nuffy's and managers who man handled her and did the disgusting things they did to her too. Huge difference between a 3some and a 13some.

 

[MIKEY]

yeah so let me get this straight, did these guys force themselves on this girl ......