What a difference a year makes.
This time last year Todd Carney was riding high after the best season of his career. He talked about the way he had turned his life around, how he had seen the error of his ways and how he would never let his his team mates, his friend and have family down ever again.
Today the Sydney Roosters released Todd Carney.
The decision to release Carney was an easy one for the Roosters, simply because his form has been terrible this year. Make no mistake, if he was playing even half as well as he was last season, he would have got the Roosters support and they would not have released him.
I still can’t help but think back to all off the hacks in the media that talked about him turning his life around….gullible idiots. Don’t let a great “story” get in the way of the truth. This “out” being clutched at by some people that he started drinking again while in camp for Australia for last years Four Nations tournament is a cop out.
So where too now for Todd Carney?
I keep hearing that the Catalan Dragons are looking to change the registration of one of their players to get around the import laws in a similar way that Hull KR wanted Willie Mason off their books. If they can manage this they will have free’s up an import spot without actually losing any of their current imports, and Carney will be theirs.
Carney is said to be looking to stay in the NRL, but I don’t see who would even begin to consider taking him on board. Over the course of his career the longest he has gone without major issues is one season. It just isn’t worth the hassle when you could just promote a junior and give them a year of first grade experience.
The only club I could think of that might be able to get something out of Carney would be the Melbourne Storm. They have a great culture down there in Melbourne and the leadership doesn’t just come from the coach, it comes from their senior players too.
He doesn’t seem like a Storm player to me though. The Storm are in the amazing position where they can pick and choose who they bring into the club. They would have the ability to offer Carney a cheap contract, take it or leave it, and then impose a number of very harsh conditions on Carney.
Is it really all worth it when you consider that, none of that has worked in the past, and the fact the Melbourne Storm have a great young bloke called Gareth Widdop playing at five-eight for them who is the model of professionalism and getting better almost on a game by game basis?
In my opinion what Carney actually needs is to retire from professional Rugby League. He needs to get a full time job that forces him to get up early every day, work hard and not have the free time to go out and get on the drink.
The temptations that abound in professional sport are just too much for a weak person like Carney to resist.
Carney has thrown away hundreds of thousands of dollars over his career due to his behaviour. He has now had two clubs turn their back on him completely. The fact that the Sydney Roosters playing group and Brian Smith wanted rid of him says it all. Footy players are always sympathetic to other footy players, but not in this case.
I think we will see Carney playing over in France next season. It won’t change him.
