The NRL is banning Kasey Badger from officiating in any more Rabbitohs matches to remove any perceived conflicts of interest due to her husband Gavin working as a consultant for the club.
NRL head of football Graham Annesley was unaware Gavin, a former long-serving referee, held a role with Souths where he helps the team at training and on game nights so they don’t fall foul of the whistleblowers.
Annesley told NewsCorp that Kasey, who was in the NRL bunker on Saturday night for South Sydney’s clash with Cronulla at Shark Park while Gavin was in the coach’s box with Ben Hornby, will not officiate in Bunnies fixtures in the Future
We do not question Kasey’s objectivity or professionalism but we acknowledge it’s not a good look.”
The problem of the Badgers’ unique situation was discussed at an NRL senior management meeting on Monday after Fox League highlighted the fact that they were both working at the same game in vastly different roles.
Manly’s Lachlan Croker has opened up on his hard road back from concussion, saying he feared for his long-term health amid ongoing nausea, balance issues and eye problems.
The hard-working Sea Eagles hooker went down with a head knock during the round-nine loss to Canberra in early May, but had always bounced back quickly from similar injuries in the past.
So when he woke up the next day feeling unwell, Croker knew something was wrong.
“To not feel fine the next day, and then months after, it was something that rattled me and played with my brain a little bit,” Croker told AAP.
What followed was a three-month journey to return to the field, one that would take him through doctors’ offices and into consultations with neuroscientists and physiotherapists.
In that time, Croker has struggled to make sense of the feeling of what was described to him as a “vestibular concussion” – a head knock mostly affecting the inner ear.
“It wasn’t so much an issue with my brain, it was sort of my eyes and my balance and a lot of sort of nausea type feelings and that sort of stuff,” he said.
“My eyes didn’t feel like they were focusing properly things just took longer to get into focus.
“That made me feel sick and I sort of had that feeling where I was about to vomit but never actually vomited.
“It hasn’t been fun.”
The constant sickness was one thing, but the uncertainty around his return-to-play timeline was tougher to swallow for such a process-driven player as Croker.
“You sort of wish it was just a simple injury where you got a six-week plan and you can break it down into little portions to know where you’re going,” Croker said.
“It was a really difficult thing to put on someone who just wants to play football.”
At one point, Croker had felt ready to return to the field, only to experience a sudden onset of symptoms during a conditioning session at 4 Pines Park. By his own estimation, that one episode set him back weeks.
“I felt sick almost straight away. That was when I realised that I was further away than I thought I was,” Croker said.
In his darkest times, Croker had fears for his playing career, and his health after it.
“There always is when it’s your head, which is probably why I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, because it’s a scary thought, post-football,” he said.
