BY CURTIS WOODWARD

@woodward_curtis

In October of 2020 and just hours before Parramatta’s semi-final against the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Eels centre Michael Jennings – in the midst of a somewhat peculiar yet spectacular renaissance that saw him surge back to career-best form – was scratched from the side.

Jennings had tested positive to Ibutamoren and Ligandrol which are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency and the NRL.

You would have thought that spelt the end of his career.

During his three-year suspension, Jennings was taken to the NSW District Court by his ex-wife Kirra Wilden and ordered to pay her $500,000 in damages for post-traumatic stress disorder which included several alleged incidents of assault and rape going back to 2014 and 2015.

Those alleged events place Jennings in the prime of his career at the Roosters where he was playing representative football and had just won a premiership under Trent Robinson at the Tricolours at the end of 2013.

Jennings made his comeback for the Roosters as 18th man in their loss to Canterbury-Bankstown last week at Homebush.

“I think it’s disgraceful that they have allowed this to happen,” Wilden told The Sydney Morning Herald.

“It’s upsetting as I feel the NRL doesn’t take the safety of women seriously.

“People wonder why people don’t speak up about these types of incidents, it’s because I feel nothing gets done about it in time.”

Jennings is now to set join the illustrious ‘300 club’ if he is picked by Robinson against Newcastle.

Robinson, under the most pressure of his head coaching career at the Roosters who have a 2-3 record, wasn’t shying away from giving Jennings the most extraordinary of lifelines.

“The idea wasn’t to get him back in and play NRL, the idea was to help him get back on track, back to being the best version of himself,” he told the same newspaper.

“His purpose is really clear. He wants to play for his kids and his family, and he wants his kids to see him as a good dad and a footy player. That’s it.

“I’m proud of what we can do for players that have worn the jersey and get the best version of them. If we can do something to assist them, that’s where it’s coming from.”

So what’s it say about Robinson and the Roosters?

Or does it say more about what the pressure on the coach?

For all these years we’ve heard about the “Roosters way” and “Roosters culture”.

It sounds lovely when you’re winning premiership rings and holding up trophies.

Perhaps the Chooks could have gotten away with this a few years ago when they were resting up against back-to-back titles.

It’s far easier to sign Matt Lodge or Zane Tetevano because… well… “Roosters culture”.

… If you’re winning.

The fact is, Robinson’s Roosters have been on a slide for a while.

They’ve won their fair share of games but something has been off for a while.

Chucking the proverbial sombrero at Brandon Smith hasn’t worked.

Before that they nicked Joseph Suaalii from the Bunnies and now he’s off to catch a cold in rugby union.

Englishman Dom Young set the NRL on fire at the Knights in 2023 but is a shadow of the man that scored for fun as a Novocastrian last season.

It’s clear the Roosters have struggled to fill the holes left by outgoing legends Jake Friend, Boyd Cordner and Mitch Aubusson – all the while Jared Waerea-Hargreaves sings his swansong before heading to the English Super League.

Kiwi superstar Joey Manu has packed his bags for France and inspirational skipper James Tedesco is on the wrong side of 31.

But there’s also a ruthlessness that has come back to bite Robinson and the Bondi glamour club and it goes back to when they squeezed premiership-hero and one-club halfback Mitch Pearce out for Cooper Cronk.

It’s easy to sign whomever you want when you’re on top of the mountain because you can control the narrative and everyone buys it.

Go Wests Tigers? Nah, just go (South) West, Tigers: Spiritual home is in the sky and it’s going to the place that’s the best

People remember when you’re on the slide back down.

Jennings should have been stuck on 298 NRL games for the rest of his life.

The optics for Robinson and the Roosters have never been worse.

@woodward_curtis