Peter FitzSimons has urged NRL clubs to avoid the temptation of allowing Jayden Okunbor and Corey Harawira-Naera to return to the game.
Okunbor and Harawira-Naera had their NRL deregistrations overturned on appeal after they were sanctioned for their involvement in a schoolgirl sex scandal earlier this year.
The adjusted punishments handed down were a 14-match suspension and $22,500 fine for Okunbor, while Harawira-Naera was given a 10-match ban and a $15,000 fine.
After the Bulldogs confirmed they were in contact with the pair on what their next steps will be, FitzSimons conceded he's still "troubled" by the attitude of Harawira-Naera and Okunbor.
"Everything I ever wrote about this, I meant at the time," FitzSimons told Wide World of Sports' 5 Minutes with Fitzy.
"I mean what I say now, but if the people that know far more than you, who looked at the circumstances and said okay – then I accept the judicial process.
"However, I have a couple of other things to say. You recall when it happened, one of the players at least, was with a 16-year-old schoolgirl.
"There were people who were saying, 'how dare you describe the person involved as a schoolgirl, this is a 16-year-old young woman who is capable of making her own decisions…'
"In the realms of sexuality and relations, the problem arises when there is an imbalance. That's where it's problematic – where you have the President of the United States, Bill Clinton, with the junior intern. Most sexual harassment cases, often it's the employer who has the power over the employee that pursues against that person's will.
"In this case, there's no sexual harassment, but I must say I'm personally troubled by players in their early and mid-20s with a 16-year-old girl who's at school.
"What I say is - the judiciary, they've looked at it, they've gone into it, they've said legally entitled to come back…"
According to a report from Fox Sports, Okunbor is interested in making a return to the Bulldogs' line-up while Harawira-Naera so angry at the club he will refuse to play for them again and is expected to look at other options.
Whether it's the Bulldogs or a rival club, FitzSimons urged any current coach to avoid bringing either of them back into the game.
The former Wallaby was critical of the pair's "character" and said if he was a coach, he wouldn't "go within 50-metres of them."
"I say this however, if I was the coach building a team in any pursuits whatsoever, I want men of character," he said.
"I want guys that in the last five minutes when they're down 16-3, will play like Ricky Stuart. I want their eyeballs to be rolling and desperate to find a win ... From my experience in sport that comes from men in character. These guys, I question their character.
"Let's take the best view, they made a shocking decision on a bad day. I would be wary as a coach of building a team around guys like that. Against that, you've got people that made terrible decisions who shouldn't have their entire employment terminated. In that sense that they're available to play, okay.
"I just say, as a coach, I wouldn't go within 50 metres of them."
from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/peter-fitzsimons-urges-nrl-clubs-to-avoid-bring-back-jayden-okunbor-and-corey-harawiranaera-bulldogs/b4f04623-2e23-4435-b8d1-808721a60c37
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