Kiwi Brandon Smith (centre) of the Melbourne Storm. Photo / Getty
Kiwi Brandon Smith (centre) of the Melbourne Storm. Photo / Getty
OPINION:
In recent years, it's not often that the Warriors have outshone the Melbourne Storm.
The Victorian team has set the benchmark on the field, with four grand final appearances since 2016, while the Warriors managed just one top eight finish in that time.
The Storm have also grabbed someof the best Kiwi talent, like Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Brandon Smith and Jahrome Hughes, scooping the Warriors in their own backyard.
And they have established a dominance over the Auckland team, winning the last eleven encounters dating back to March 2016.
But the respective handling of recent drug dramas painted the Warriors in a good light, while the Storm's credibility took a hammering.
The Warriors were open and honest after the Reece Walsh incident, emerging from a difficult situation with their integrity intact.
Reece Walsh of the Warriors. Photo / Photosport
But the Storm's reputation has been badly damaged – not just by the actions of the three players filmed in the hotel room, intoxicated and partying with a 'mystery' white powder, but the subsequent reaction of Storm chief executive Justin Rodski.
Granted the two situations were markedly different, as Walsh had been caught red handed by police in possession of cocaine, while the Storm trio were filmed with an 'unknown' substance.
But the Warriors went on the front foot immediately, which also forced Walsh to take responsibility for his actions. He fronted a media call barely 12 hours after he had been arrested by police in Surfers Paradise.
And instead of reading a carefully prepared statement, Walsh confessed and apologised in his own words, before chief executive Cameron George expressed his own anger and disappointment, while backing Walsh to bounce back.
The following Tuesday the fullback had Zoom calls with each of the club's partners and sponsors, wanting to apologise personally to them.
George said that Walsh's immediate and sincere contrition will assist his rehabilitation.
"He retained a lot of his credibility by doing it that way," said George. "He could have gone and hid in a room, but that would be far more damaging for Reece as a person and his mental well-being.
"He has received significant support from people reaching out to him, it has actually worked to the contrary and helped him significantly, rather than him being subject to rumour and speculation."
The Storm took a different approach, which has provoked heavy criticism in the media.
When they finally fronted, the three players (Cameron Munster, Brandon Smith and Chris Lewis) read heavily scripted lines, before Rodski outlined sanctions, which included suspended fines and being removed from leadership groups.
But what were they actually being punished for?
Rodski talked in riddles, claiming he didn't know what the white powder was "because I wasn't in the [hotel] room", and backed up the player's statements that they were too intoxicated to remember what they had done.
He said the club hadn't asked the players to submit to a drug test, because that was an NRL remit. Then Rodski seemed to confuse the issue further by saying that drug tests aren't able to be done in the off-season, due to a clause in the collective bargaining agreement with the player's association.
It was top class PR spin – but didn't too much for the Storm's integrity.
Rodski then went on the offensive against veteran league journalist Peter Badel, who suggested the club's response was a farce and their failure to undertake a robust investigation "embarrassing".
Badel was only echoing the thoughts of most of the league community, but Rodski chose to make it personal, accusing the writer of not listening to anything that had been previously said in the media conference, which was ironic, as the Storm chief executive has appeared somewhat tone deaf to public sentiment in his handling of this affair.
