Chris Rattue: League shame as NRL pet Greg Inglis gets soft drink-driving ride

Here we were, thinking the Sydney Roosters had brought civilisation to its knees because — horror of horrors — club officials lied about an injury before the NRL grand final.

Then along came a real story, when the great back Greg Inglis was charged with drinking and driving the day after discovering he was the new Kangaroos league captain.

What an appalling business. Inglis should be copping it from all sides for committing a crime which kills and maims people, destroys lives, families, careers, costs society a fortune. Drinking and driving is a real-life horror story.

And yet the kid gloves are out. Top officials are praising Greg Inglis, someone wrote about him having "well-deserved beers", there's emphasis on his involvement in an indigenous sports tournament.

Minimising, minimising and more minimising. From what I can find, only veteran Aussie sports columnist Mike Colman has properly acknowledged the victims of drinking and driving, describing it as "one of the greatest blights in modern society".

Yes, Inglis should be able to get on with his life and career at some point, absolutely. This is not about giving him a total life sentence.

But the rush to forgive and rehabilitate poor Inglis is an abysmal spectacle, and the bloke himself hardly seems overly remorseful.

I suspect Inglis — who has accepted his guilt — has a problem with alcohol. He may need help.

Inglis doesn't seem to remember when he went to bed and was so inebriated he could not legally drive hours later.

News that he was to captain Australia hadn't diverted his attention away from a serious session with the bottle.

But a drinking problem is no excuse for committing a disgraceful crime.

A few people in high places, most notably head Australian selector Laurie Daley, seemed to get it. Daley immediately knew Inglis should pay a heavy price.

Yet others, including Inglis himself and the great club coach Craig Bellamy, don't. Both Inglis and Bellamy thought he should retain his Australian place and captaincy.

Inglis described his actions in terms like "unacceptable" and "silly mistake", pointing out that he had "never had a criminal charge laid against me".

Furthermore, Inglis reckoned "I still have the full support of the playing group and everyone else", a hasty and unsubstantiated claim which unfairly implied other players were indifferent to his crime. He even played the indigenous role model card.

Maybe Bellamy has spent too many hours watching footy videos.

"I'd like to see them forgive him and let him play and let him be the captain," said Bellamy, as if his former Storm player had arrived at training a few minutes late.

Even Daley seemed more concerned about Inglis letting the game rather than his fellow citizens down.

The NRL did the right thing by standing Inglis down, but they aren't saying the right things.

"He deserves full credit for being upfront today by apologising and taking full ownership of his mistake," said NRL CEO Todd Greenberg, who must have a rather loose view of what full ownership involves.

Coach Mal Meninga is already talking about Inglis wearing the Australian colours again.

What a load of PR baloney. It's too early for the issuing of full credit and test caps, with the booze barely off his breath, the wheel barely out of his hands.

What Inglis, Greenberg, Meninga, Bellamy and company should be doing is highlighting the tragedy of drinking and driving.

If an Aussie league captain hurled rocks at cars from an overbridge would it immediately be deemed a silly mistake because he didn't hit anyone.

A car in the hands of a drunk driver is an extremely dangerous weapon. If the offence means Inglis never plays for Australia again so be it because there are people who never drew breath again because of drink driving.