Stateless Volkman deserved better, starting with the man he should be able to rely on most

If you’re a St George Illawarra fan, as I occasionally claim to be, is it premature to be asking confronting questions in January?

Genuinely, I wish coach Shane Flanagan and the club all the success in 2024, but I fear those wishes will amount to nothing and it will be an arid season.

The imbroglio involving new-recruit-turned-discard Ronald Volkman is an example of things already turning sour. The circumstances of his momentary recruitment raise vital questions, which presently remain entirely unanswered.

The timeline goes something like this: the 21-year-old Volkman was, until late December 2023, signed to the New Zealand Warriors for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. On January 3, the Dragons publicly announced Volkman would be joining them.

On Christmas Eve, his management had executed a deed of termination and release with the Warriors, thus ending the employment relationship there and then. The Warriors were to pay some of Volkman’s 2024 and 2025 salary, with the Dragons topping up the rest.

It has been suggested the deal being done over the NRL’s Christmas shutdown was the reason for the delay.

Ronald Volkman at Prince of Wales Hospital on Friday after receiving scans on his injured shoulder.

As part of the player transaction, the Warriors disclosed to the Dragons a medical report of January 2, which indicated the player was experiencing some “shoulder irritation” and that he had been involved in non-contact training for a week, but otherwise had completed all of his pre-Christmas training obligations.

On January 4, Volkman took part in his first Dragons training session, but was physically inhibited to the extent that he couldn’t easily pass a ball. For a five-eighth, the ability to pass the ball is a necessary skill at all times. Mere “shoulder irritation” shouldn’t hinder to the degree that the most fundamental skill required can’t be practised.

On January 5, Volkman underwent medical scans (no doubt because the representation as to “shoulder irritation” didn’t neatly align with his physical limitations), which indicated that the hardware inserted in his shoulder during a 2022 reconstruction of the joint had come loose.

Medical reports also indicated that Volkman had sustained a “contact injury” in mid-December 2023. It can’t be known whether that injury caused the dislodgement of surgical screws, but who would know?

Volkman executed a release from his Warriors contract so has none of the usual protections for injured, contracted players.

By January 10 or thereabouts, the Dragons told Volkman they had buyer’s remorse and wouldn’t be registering his new playing contract with the NRL. The reason being that the Dragons’ medical due diligence had indicated the player requires shoulder surgery on the same joint that was the subject of the 2022 reconstruction.

Put another way, the Dragons had contracted to acquire a Ferrari 308 GTS; instead, they received a clapped-out Commodore.

Volkman’s shoulder was undoubtedly “irritated” as of December 2023, though the Warriors’ reference to irritation is likely euphemistic, unless Volkman has an unimpeachable tolerance for the pain associated with loose screws and unhinged ligaments floating about his shoulder socket.

The status quo is that Volkman is stateless in a rugby league sense. He has no contract with the Warriors and none of the usual protections for injured, contracted players protected under the NRL playing contract and collective bargaining arrangements. For the surgery, and all the rehabilitation, he’s on his own.

So, what to make of all this? For a professional sport that generates north of $600 million in annual revenues, surely we must expect better than to stand aside while Volkman is discarded, at least for a while, on the game’s scrapheap. That’s a throwaway statement to make, but there needs to be a safety net somewhere.

Here’s what I reckon. First, if there is any evidence that the Warriors have in any way misled, been cute with the truth, or tried to conceal from the Dragons the true nature of the physical condition of Volkman, that would amount to conduct that is misleading and deceptive, and entirely deceitful. The present reality, though, is that there’s no evidence of any double-dealing. We must assume no evidence exists.

Second, as to the situation from the Dragons’ perspective, it was at least premature and amateurish that the club would announce the signing of a player prior to the completion of the club’s due diligence as to his physical fitness. Why a statement needed to be released on January 3 is anyone’s guess, but it smacks of desperation from an outfit looking for a positive headline. Caveat emptor and all that.

Those issues aside, however, it’s both orthodox and entirely proper that the Dragons required the player to submit to examination by the club’s own doctors.

It’s also definitely the case that the club is within its rights to back out of the transaction. Put in straightforward terms, by January 5 it had become clear the Dragons were not receiving what they had signed a contract to buy. So why should they nonetheless part with any money? Harsh, but it’s business.

From Volkman’s perspective, it’s borderline unfathomable as to how he himself didn’t twig to the fact that the physical limitations of his shoulder would escape the attention of his proposed new employer. The player can’t be said to be an innocent pawn in all of this; he’s a 21-year-old, not some man-child. Who did he tell about the true state of his injuries through the whole recruitment negotiation?

But the real clangerin this whole mess was made by the player’s manager, Mario Tartak, who is the one person whose only job is to look after the player.

How did he advise his client to sign a release from his contract with the Warriors in December 2023 before he had an iron-clad, binding and NRL-registered contract with the Dragons?

It’s a straightforward player management 101 situation.

A player engages an agent to protect their interests in matters they are likely unfamiliar with, and where there is an inherent disparity between the bargaining strengths and interests of themselves and clubs. It beggars belief that an agent would conduct and conclude negotiations in a way that would leave his client so hopelessly exposed.

One of the few requirements of a registered player agent is that they obtain and maintain professional indemnity insurance. If I’ve got one bit of advice for Volkman, there’d be worse things he could do right now than to investigate claiming against his agent for negligent advice, breach of contract and dereliction of duty.

Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.