Carney facing axe from Roosters - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Carney facing axe from Roosters

By Ian McCullough 18/04/2011 08:00:40 PM Comments (0)

Dally M medallist Todd Carney is heading for an amazing fall from grace, with Sydney Roosters set to axe the 24-year-old following his late-night weekend drinking session.

Pressure is mounting from sponsors to take extreme action against Carney with chief executive Steve Noyce to make an announcement on his future, and that of hooker Anthony Watts, who was charged with assaulting his ex-girlfriend on Sunday, on Tuesday morning.

Carney joined Alcoholic's Anonymous last month following his arrest for drink-driving and was fined $10,000 by the NRL and told to follow a five-point plan put together by the club.

That included mandatory counselling, career education, a traffic-offenders course and work with alcohol support groups, but it did not stipulate he couldn't drink.

However, Carney admitted he had a problem with alcohol after his hearing and vowed to seek help.

The latest incident joins a long list of misdemeanours by Carney, who was sacked by Canberra 2008 and deregistered by the NRL for a year.

Noyce met with Carney on Monday, but remained tight-lipped about what was discussed.

"I met today with Todd and his manager David Riolo then Anthony Watts and they were open and very honest with me," Noyce told AAP.

"We will publish our report tomorrow and that is all I can say."

Riolo admitted Carney was not in great spirits but was hopeful he would sort out his problems.

"He is not running down the street kicking his heels in the air, he is a bit down, but this is not about his life and where he is at," Riolo told AAP.

"It is not whether there was a point in the plan that said he should or shouldn't drink, but the fact is he came out and said he didn't want to drink, and has and so obviously he has some issues he needs to work through."

"His health and wellbeing are the most important thing here, he has a history of issues and needs to sort them out."

Riolo also declined to reveal what was said in the meeting but was hopeful it would not spell the end of his career.

"He is only 24 and has a long career ahead of him, but the Roosters have the right to sack him if that is what they feel is fit, but hopefully it won't come to that," he said.

James Pitts, chief executive of Odyssey House rehab centre in Sydney, and board member of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia, urged Carney to seek help.

"I would advise him to write off this season and get into some serious rehabilitation," Pitts told AAP.

"He needs to find out what drives him to continue to use alcohol despite the fact it gets him into all sorts of difficulties.

"This is not an uncommon in professional sport, guys get into trouble and at some time early in their careers and they get out of it because of who they are and this maybe doesn't help them down the line.

"Carney has already been sacked once and he needs to take some responsibility for his actions, but at the same time, he is alcohol dependent and needs help to overcome his issues and I hope he can."

Watts' future at the Roosters also appears dim and he'll face court to answer domestic assault charges on Thursday.

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