Rugby League player Russell Packer, best known to the general public as the urinating Warrior, has received a maximum two-year sentence for assaulting a 22-year-old at a Sydney bar in November last year, and Brian Lima has had to quit his role with Samoan rugby while domestic violence allegations involving his former wife are investigated and brought to court.
Whether an act of violence is against someone you know or against a stranger in a pub, this behaviour is deplorable. It doesn't matter that they're well-known sports people, or that it was out of character, a crime of passion or a momentary lapse in reason. Violence of this nature is not OK, and both Lima and Packer would have been exposed to that slogan here in New Zealand and in Samoa.
They're also individuals who were rewarded for their aggressive tactics and no-holds-barred approach to their respective sports. Packer is well known for playing 110 games for the Warriors, two tests for the Kiwis, and one test for the Maori rugby league team. Everyone laughed a little at the ''pee-gate'' situation because many players had done this in the past, just not in front of cameras.
In hindsight, was that act an indication of his attitude towards rules and appropriate behaviour in public places?
This year, he uprooted his family to play for the Newcastle Knights, in the hope his career would take off even further. It has taken off, but not in the way he intended.
In a drunken stupor, he hit Enoka Time to the ground and continued to hit the man and stomp on his head, leaving him unconscious and with fractured bones in his face. As a result, Packer is serving time in prison. He wasn't prepared for the harsh penalty and neither was his family.
Brian Lima, a former Samoan rugby union player, was nicknamed ''The Chiropractor'' for his shuddering defensive hits and, despite the controversy surrounding these hits, towards the end of his career he was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame in 2011. His most recent public appearance was a shirtless Siva Tau, performed in honour of Pita Fatialofa, before the match against Ireland. This act showed a man, who despite being more than 40 years old, is still in good shape.
Can you imagine all that athleticism and force being directed into the face of his ex-wife, Lemalu Sina Retzlaff? A king-hit like that on the rugby field might be officially tut-tutted but unofficially praised by team-mates and coaches. Such an act against someone you have children with, in a public venue, and off the field is never acceptable.
The assault left Lemalu with two black eyes, cuts and a badly bruised face. Good on her, for going public with the story and the images. Too many times the victims of these assaults are faceless and depersonalised.
Enoka Time also went public but with some reactive comments to Packer's sentencing, rather than images. His Facebook account has since been deactivated, probably to avoid further abuse from fans, friends and family of Packer. Is the two-year sentence over the top? Considering the recent trend of king-hits going on in Sydney, Packer's punishment may be on the high side, in order to set a precedent.
Who knows what the outcome of Lima's case will be?Because Lima and Packer are public figures and high-profile individuals in contact sports, their demise is sending a strong message to others in their profession and in society in general: that violence, in all its forms and motives, is appalling and will not be tolerated.
