Controversial: Andrew Fifita wore wrist strapping bearing the initials of Kieran Loveridge as a show of support.. Credit:Matt King I've never met Fifita. From afar, he strikes me as being a world champion in making unusual decisions, which itself is no crime. For the ARL to not select the man, to receive the sport's highest honour – of representing his country – on "character" grounds (or whatever opaque reasons which were proffered), is dangerous territory. Understandably, it's entirely unpalatable to many people, that Fifita might dare be inclined to visiting his childhood friend, the convicted killer Kieran Loveridge, in jail. It's almost universally viewed as idiotic, that Fifita might ever have had the temerity, to scribble some not-yet-deciphered acronym on his strapped wrist, in an apparent support of Loveridge. But let's get one thing straight – it is a legal impossibility, that Fifita has been issued a "consorting" notice under the enacted laws of NSW, for merely visiting someone in prison. It's not impossible that there's more at play, but the fact is, that visiting one person in jail – however heinous their crime – is not a crime itself. Inane it may well be, to write "FKL" on one's wrist with the intention of supporting a convicted killer, but one can only wonder how things might have been so different, had Fifita taken an alternate path. Would all and sundry seek to spear Fifita, had he instead penned an articulate, thoughtful letter to the editor of this newspaper, declaring his unwavering support for Loveridge, in spite of Loveridge's popularity being on a par with untreated sewerage?

Maybe that would have been a better approach, compared to cracking out the coloured textas. One will now never know. For mine, there's enormous double-standards at play here. Blake Ferguson has been selected to represent Australia, despite his past misdeeds involving shoving his lecherous hand up a girl's dress in a nightclub, uninvited. Though Ferguson's criminal conviction for indecent assault was overturned on appeal in 2014, the same court found the criminal conduct proven, and placed him on a good behaviour bond. For every reader that has a mother, a sister or a daughter: explain to me, how Ferguson's conduct isn't a thousand times worse, than anything Fifita has been accused of doing. Moreover, almost a quarter of a century ago Bevan Meninga, the brother of Australia's coach Mal Meninga – the coach of the very team Fifita has been purposely not selected in – was jailed for life. Imprisoned after being convicted of the murder, in 1991, of 19-year-old Cheree Richardson. Bevan Meninga bashed Richardson to death, with a tree branch. Her battered, barely recognisable body was later discovered in a park. As is so often the case, "life" doesn't mean LIFE. In 2012, Bevan Meninga became eligible for parole (he was released in 2014, but returned to custody earlier this year). In support of his brother's application, Mal Meninga wrote a letter to the Queensland Parole Board, part of which reads as follows:

To Whom It May Concern I am writing in support of my brother Bevan Errol Meninga. I have supported Bevan by phone, letters and visits over the term of his incarceration and have kept a keen interest in his welfare during that period. I believe family support is so invaluable regardless of his wrongdoing or how long it is between phone calls or visits, the family love, respect and support is paramount to his re-integration. Whilst as a family we don't condone his actions of the past, I will make certain that Bevan will have the necessary family support during his re-integration back into the community .... Does a single, reasonable person countenance the proposition that Mal Meninga was in any way wrong, in penning this letter, or for visiting his incarcerated brother during the two decades prior? Bloody hell, of course not.

Did Mal Meninga bring the Queensland Rugby League (he was, in 2012, the State of Origin coach) or the sport as a whole, into disrepute or censure by acting with human compassion towards his brother, despite Bevan Meninga's wicked crimes? So riddle me this – why exactly, is Fifita's interactions with Loveridge viewed through such a different prism? Put simply, there are some people who are unbelievably fortunate to be involved in the sport of rugby league; people who've done things mightily worse than the high-water mark of what Fifita is accused of doing. Deeds for which there shouldn't be any second chances in the sport. Yet second chances, there are aplenty. Which is a reality, that sits very awkwardly with Fifita's intentional non-selection. Loading

Darren Kane is a Sydney sports lawyer Twitter: @sportslawyer7