The Bulldogs star at the centre of an explosive training punishment row is reportedly considering taking legal action against the club.
The footy world was rocked this week when reports emerged of a fringe player being forced to wrestle more 20 teammates after coaches deemed that he had arrived late for training.
Canterbury players are understood to have viewed the punishment as ‘pretty ordinary’ and the player in question has walked out on the club and has refused to return.
Now the Daily Telegraph reports that a meeting with club bosses, including football director Phil Gould, failed to result in a reconciliation, and the player is now considering his next step.
The club has reportedly vowed to continue offering assistance as the player deals with mental health issues.
The punishment is understood to have involved the player taking on 20 of his teammates, one by one, in a wrestling exercise known as ‘shark bait’. The incident happened five weeks ago.
The player argues that the schedule said players were to arrive at Belmore Park at 8am for strapping before beginning training at 8.30am.
As he did not need strapping, he believed he was 20 minutes early.
The Telegraph reports that he trained for two hours before being served the punishment, and he ‘could barely pick himself off the floor’.
One player, speaking anonymously, said: ‘After it happened, I thought ‘what the f*** was that?’ It was pretty ordinary. A lot of players didn’t want to do it.’
A second player, who has left the club, said he departed due to the environment at Canterbury.
‘I just didn’t enjoy being there,’ he said.
‘A lot of other players felt the same. It had nothing to do with hard work … it was just the environment.’
It has also been suggested that a number of Canterbury players are upset with Ciraldo for publicly criticising their work ethic in recent weeks.
One player said: ‘No one is afraid to work hard. That’s never been the problem.’
