It’s not every day that you get a statement from a club CEO about a late team change.

But the inclusion of Addin Fonua-Blake in Manly’s team to play Parramatta at Brookvale Oval last night wasn’t just any last-minute announcement.

Early last year, Fonua-Blake pleaded guility to assaulting his ex-girlfriend. He was fined $1000 and received a 12-month suspended jail sentence.

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He does not appear on the Sea Eagles website among the first grade player profiles and his late inclusion for Brenton Lawrence was pre-planned enough for a detailed statement quoting CEO Joe Kelly and coach Trent Barrett to be issued an hour before kick-off.

An NRL spokesperson said: “He has been out of the game for a year and has completed a detailed counselling course.”

“He was given permission to resume playing recently.”

Fonua-Blake received permission in November to train with Manly and to play NRL after a handful of NSW Cup appearances this season.

Some will believe a year out of the game is sufficient punishment for the former Junior Kiwis representative. Others will argue it is not long enough.

The point is that this is not an exact science, and the NRL Integrity Unit will never please everyone. Compare his crime to that of Mitchell Pearce and the Sydney Roosters halfback begins to look hard-done-by.



Kirisome Auva’a was suspended for nine months by the NRL after a magistrate gave him a two-year suspended jail sentence and meted out a $3000 fine in 2014 for a domestic assault.

So we are starting to see a pattern here – you’re going to miss the best part of a season if you become involved in one of these sorts of crimes.

Former Canberra Raider Alan Tongue was quoted just two days ago by ABC online as saying: “At the end of the day, domestic violence is a crime and it should be viewed as that.”

“The penalties should be harsher than what they are at the moment. I really believe that. But you have to take everybody’s situation on its own.”

Tongue was not referring to anyone in particular. Some people want offenders banned for life.

Certainly, a suspension at least as long as the suspended jail sentence would seem justified.

In a manner of speaking, 20-year-old Addin Fonua-Blake had two suspensions lifted this month. He should be very grateful.

You’ve got to hand it to Parramatta coach Brad Arthur and his players – they are doing a fantastic job of blocking out the salary cap drama and the loss of points hanging over them.



Reporters are tired of asking them about it because they get the same polite answers – “It’s nothing to do with us” and “we’re not even thinking about it”.

The question is how well they’ll deal with it if there is a competition points penalty, which everyone seems to think is a fait accompli.

Will they be able to be able to block out, for instance, not being a even mathematical chance of making the semis? Of, as one wag at Brookvale Oval put it, “needing to win 18 of their remaining ten games”?

Melbourne bounced back from a season of meaningless matches to eventually win a premiership, fair and square.

Turns out no match is completely meaningless.