NETBALLERS are "no angels" but Brisbane Broncos chief Bruno Cullen's view that they should be scrutinised like footballers has left former Australian captain Liz Ellis puzzled.
Ellis, a qualified lawyer and now working as a sports commentator, said Cullen needed to get some perspective.
Cullen yesterday lamented what he perceived to be the media's double standards when it came to badly behaved league players and their counterparts in netball.
He pointed out the disparity in the reporting of Queensland Firebirds captain Peta Stephens's drink-driving charge to three Broncos players being investigated for an alleged sexual assault on a woman.
A Queensland newspaper printed a four-paragraph news story about Stephens's arrest, while the Broncos have dominated all media outlets since the assault allegations emerged.
"There was a two postage stamp-size article about a captain of a high-profile sporting team being charged with drink-driving … that's all I've seen of that," Cullen told ABC Radio.
"It just makes you wonder about … this feeding frenzy [and double standards] when a captain of a state team gets booked for drink-driving and it [appears] on page 40. If that was one of our lowest-graded players, it would be front-page news and probably on ABC TV."
Ellis said netball waged a constant battle for space in the media and didn't hear Cullen complaining when the Broncos dominated the sports pages for the right reasons.
"I wouldn't pretend that the netball girls are angels," she said.
"The fact is we are not professional athletes - we juggle training and holding down jobs and that doesn't leave us much time for getting into trouble.
"But there isn't any comparison [between football and netball]. I don't see Bruno complaining when they dominate the first five pages of the sport in the Queensland newspaper.
"If the Firebirds dominated the sports pages like the Broncos do in Queensland, then there would be cause for some concern with the reporting [of Stephens's offence]. There's a link between the levels of good and bad publicity."
Ellis said Cullen also needed to take into account the severity of the crime of sexual assault before making any more comments.
"I think sexual assault allegations and drink-driving are in two totally different ball parks," Ellis said. "They are poles apart, and Bruno needs to keep that in mind.
"That's not to say that drink-driving isn't a very severe crime, but there is a huge difference, a galaxy, between the offences."
Stephens was arrested last weekend after allegedly returning a blood-alcohol reading of .066. Stephens thought she had slept off "a few drinks" after celebrating on Friday night but was arrested at 6am on Saturday.
Cullen said journalists were trying to "dig up dirt" on footballers, adding: "Most media organisations - paper, TV and radio - have telephoned just about every liquor establishment in Brisbane over the last few days asking them for dirt on the Broncos.
"I don't know whether they know but as soon as they hang up, the organisations ring us."
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