Off the Wall

The whole sorry Todd Carney saga leaves me with the impression that along the way - and in recent times in particular - he has been the subject of some very bad advice.

But there are those who will argue that his response to the recent ultimatum simply confirms that he is beyond hope when it comes to accepting the extent of his inability to handle strong drink, or deal with its consequences.

It may be a combination of both but you have to think that he has been very badly advised in refusing to accept what were stringent, but in the circumstances not unreasonable or unexpected, conditions.

His Manager, or others around him, seems to have believed the Canberra Raiders were bluffing - especially on the conditions that he stands down for the rest of this year, and get off the drink.

That latter condition is largely unenforceable as we saw when the Parramatta Eels imposed it on Tim Smith! The NRL - clearly responding to concern about its