It’s hard to refuse suggestions your club has cultural issues when you’ve just had to sack one of your most experienced players for something like vaping in the toilet at half-time, but that’s the situation Titans coach Justin Holbrook has found himself in.
He’s been put in that awkward spot by Kevin Proctor, the 283-game NRL veteran who had to be disciplined after inexplicably sharing a video of himself vaping in the Commbank Stadium toilets during half-time of the Titans’ latest loss.
Proctor was not in the team but still travelled with the squad for the important clash. After the video made its way to the media on Monday, he was dumped from the remainder of his contract.
The video was uploaded with the caption “not the halftime vape” and featured Proctor nodding and blowing smoke into the camera in the type of video you’d expect from an 18-year-old as opposed to a 33-year-old.
“Poor KP (Proctor), he’s not the world’s smartest person,” Holbrook told AAP.
“He’s a decent guy but it’s just a really dumb thing and gave us no choice but to finish him up.
“It’s a terrible look given where we sit on the table. People at every club are going to make poor decisions but it highlights the fact when you’re not having a good year – that’s for sure.”
Holbrook said that the unfortunate incident wasn’t reflective of a wider cultural issue, but would also serve as a timely reminder to the playing group about their responsibilities to the team.
“No one’s happy with where we’re sitting and an unfortunate action like that doesn’t do us any favours,” he said.
“Everyone knows what’s expected of them. We’re getting more scrutinised. We’re going to be a little more careful (about) how we conduct ourselves.”
