Todd Carney did not, in fact, drink his own urine, his agent has been at pains to clarify on Monday morning.
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“It’s a set-up, like when people stand in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa,” David Riolo told Fairfax Media's radio station 2UE.
Todd Carney's infamous 'bubbling' photo.
Riolo admitted that his client had posed for a regrettable picture but said that Carney had never intended for it to be made public.
“Todd’s paid a very, very heavy price for a photo that he didn’t want out there or upload himself. It was supposed to be kept between mates," Riolo said.
His attempt to counter an explosion of bad press came as Cronulla Sharks players left a two-hour crisis meeting at Remondis Stadium, their first since Carney was sacked after the emergence of a picture of the player engaging in the lewd act in a nightclub toilet.
The team's planned 9am training session was cancelled because an official declared players were “not in the right head space”.
Riolo confirmed that his client was feeling betrayed after being dismissed by the Sharks on Sunday.
When asked to confirm that it was one of Carney’s "friends" who released the photo, Riolo replied: “I use that word loosely.
“The person who took the photo contacted me this morning by text and said ‘My phone got lost’ – supposedly – and that’s how the photo got out. It was meant to be a joke.”
Riolo said the incident should not have been a sacking offence and said that the club’s managers had acted too quickly.
“He’s now got a photo of himself gone worldwide in not a very pleasant setting that’s going to be on the net for his family and everyone to see for future generations. That in itself is a very big price to pay.”
Riolo denied reports this morning that the five-eighth had committed two previous, potentially more serious breaches of Cronulla’s code of conduct earlier this year that may have made this weekend’s sacking inevitable.
“There’s been no serious allegations that I’m aware of that have come across my desk in writing,” he said. “I get 1000 emails every time Todd steps out.”
He said a legal challenge to Carney’s sacking appeared unlikely.
Sharks players started arriving at Remondis Stadium from 8am and were tight-lipped as they entered the ground.
It is understood that some players are unhappy with Carney for putting himself in a position to again be sacked while others were disappointed with the club’s decision to sack him immediately.
The Sharks play the Roosters on Saturday night.
By BRAD WALTER
TODD Carney’s agent, David Riolo, has hit out at Cronulla for not affording the star five-eighth an opportunity to explain himself at a hearing before terminating his $3.5million, five-year contract.
Carney was sacked less than 24 hours after another patron at Northies hotel in Cronulla on Saturday night took a photograph of Carney apparently urinating into his own mouth and uploaded it on Twitter. While he did not defend his client’s actions, Riolo said the process followed by the Sharks had not been fair.
‘‘This decision is indicative of where Cronulla has been in recent times and their organisation from board level down,’’ Riolo said.
‘‘I’m not defending the photo or anything like that, but I think he deserved an opportunity to at least front the board to put forward a statement on his own behalf before they terminated a five-year contract.’’
It is the third time Carney has been sacked by an NRL club.
Reports of the action Cronulla directors had decided on leaked out by mid-afternoon yesterday, but Sharks chief executive Steve Noyce continued to insist to Riolo and media until after 6pm that no decision had been made.
Noyce then conducted a media conference outside Sharkies Leagues Club at about 6.30pm and said the club had no choice but to sack the player.
‘‘I have spoken to Todd several times today and obviously it is a difficult situation for him. It is difficult for all of us, but clubs have to have high standards,’’ Noyce said.
‘‘The game, the community, our stakeholders, all demand that, and it is important that we are proud to represent this great club, play in this great game and meet the standards that are expected of all of us.’’
It is understood Carney was prepared to accept a massive fine and/or suspension for the rest of the season. But, by sacking him, the Sharks might have ended his NRL career.
‘‘The way we behave today is subject to mobile phones and all sorts of communication channels,’’ Noyce said.
‘‘Social media, if used properly, is a great way to get messages out there, but obviously for him and his family and for the club and for lots of people, that image is not what Todd and the club stand for.
‘‘We live as a club 365 days a year, we play 26 rounds of football, we want to play in finals series, we have stakeholders, we have licensed clubs, we have residential partners and partners who support us. That means we have responsibility to the game and to other clubs.’’
Carney did not upload the photograph, but he is believed to know the person who did, an act that has cost him about $3million.
Carney’s sacking drew sympathy from some other players.
St George Illawarra forward Joel Thompson tweeted: ‘‘Whoever leaked that photo of Toddy is nothing but a dog... Can’t even have a joke in the privacy of a toilet #feelforhim.’’
But former Sharks chairman Damian Irvine said on Twitter that Carney had been an accident waiting to happen and criticised the club for ignoring the warning.
‘‘Common knowledge TC had digressed to previous behaviours recently, club ignored it. Tolerance=acceptance.Yet as this 1 is public they act?,’’ Irvine tweeted.
‘‘Either ban gambling and drinking culture and sponsors, or use common sense and treat mental health same as other injuries. Diagnose, treat, rehab.’’
NRL chief operating officer Jim Doyle said the photo was ‘‘unacceptable and tarnished the image of the game’’.
Rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns said on radio that the disgraced former Dally M medallist would be picked up by another club.
By BRAD WALTER
A MEETING with Atherton Roosters president Mick Nasser after Friday night’s match in Brisbane should have reminded Todd Carney of what it was like to lose his livelihood as an NRL player.
Nasser, who employed Carney at his North Queensland pub in 2009 after he was sacked by Canberra, has been one of the former NSW five-eighth’s biggest supporters and travelled to Brisbane to watch him help the Sharks to a 24-22 comeback win over the Broncos.
But just 24 hours later Carney showed he had learned little from past mistakes when he allowed a photo to be taken of him urinating towards his own mouth during a drinking session on Saturday night at Northies in Cronulla.
After being sacked by Sydney Roosters when the club’s chairman, Nick Politis, could no longer stand by him following two years of unwavering support, it now appears to be a case of three strikes and you’re out for Carney in the NRL.
Throughout his career, officials, coaches and teammates at the Raiders, Roosters and Sharks have stood by the talented playmaker and each time he has let them down. No other club is again likely to do so.
Cronulla represented his last-chance saloon, and while the Sharks haven’t made public any other breaches since he joined the club in 2012, there were widespread rumours Carney had been off the rails this year and it was considered only a matter of time before he again found himself in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
A rival club official said his coach had recently raised the possibility of signing Carney in the belief that Cronulla might let him go. It may now be clearer why the Sharks pursued Benji Marshall so hard before he joined the Dragons.
The Sharks already have no major sponsor and trying to attract one had been hard enough with the ASADA investigation hanging over the club. But Carney’s behaviour would have made that task virtually impossible if the club’s board did not act swiftly to terminate his contract.
It is understood he did not upload the photo circulating on social media, but Carney has already been linked to a bizarre apparent craze known as ‘‘bubbling’’. It is a story that will travel around the world in the same way as John Hopoate’s finger-poking antics and Joel Monaghan’s simulated sex act with a dog.
The incident comes after the team’s third win in a game that featured the scrum-base combination of Carney and halfback Jeff Robson playing a full match together for just the third time this season – all of which have resulted in victory. But the damage to the Sharks brand and the image of the game is far more important.
Cronulla chief executive Steve Noyce now has the distinction of having sacked the same player twice as he was the Roosters CEO when Carney’s contract was terminated by the club in 2011. Rather than impose restrictions on Carney, Cronulla officials said he deserved to be treated ‘‘like a man’’ and thought he would respond by showing responsibility. His failure to do so may have cost him his NRL career and what was left of his reputation.
JUNE 2004: NRL debut aged 17 for Canberra against Bulldogs
NOV 2006: Banned from driving after being arrested for drink-driving
MAY 2007: Sentenced to 200 hours of community service and banned from driving until 2012 after police chase in Canberra
AUG 2008: Sacked by Canberra and deregistered by NRL after urinating on a patron in a Canberra nightclub
FEB 2009: Move to Super League club Huddersfield collapses after UK officials reject visa application
MARCH 2009: Banned from home town Goulburn for a year and ordered to alcohol counselling after a drunken rampage
APRIL 2009: Signs for North Queensland bush team Atherton Roosters
NOV 2009: Signs for Sydney Roosters
JAN 2010: Sets alight a man’s trousers at a New Year’s Eve party, causing burns to his buttock, scrotum and thighs
SEP 2010: Awarded Dally M medal after helping Roosters to grand final
NOV 2010: First and only Test, against Kiwis
NOV 2010: Wins Rugby League International Federation’s international player of the year award
FEB 2011: Charged with drink-driving the morning after sinking eight to 10 beers
MAR 2011: Narrowly avoids jail for drink-driving charge and vows to attend Alcoholics Anonymous
APRIL 2011: Stood down by Roosters after alcohol-related indiscretions with teammate Anthony Watts, returns in round 10
SEP 2011: Released from final year of Roosters contract for breaking alcohol ban on night out with Nate Myles and Frank-Paul Nuuausala
OCT 2011: Joins Cronulla on two-year deal worth about $650,000 a season
MAY 2012: Plays all three games for NSW in 2-1 State of Origin series loss
MAY 2013: Signs five-year deal with Cronulla worth about $650,000 a year
JUNE 2014: Sacked by Cronulla after unsavoury photo of him at a urinal appeared on social media
