NRL make their move too early on ‘Yenji’ Marshall
Roar Guru
By Steve Kaless, 20 Feb 2009 Steve Kaless is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- Benji Marshall, David Gallop, Rugby League, West Tigers, Wests Tigers
Am I the only person in the world that senses that perhaps Australian rugby league officials are being taught a lesson in negotiation by some saki soaked rugby officials in Japan?
Like my Roaring colleague Spiro Zavos, I can’t see the sense in the NRL’s supremo David Gallop making any sort of bold declaration about Benji Marshall without there being a concrete offer coming from Japan.
Of course, I’m only going by what is in the media and we all know there is sometimes much more and sometimes much less actually happening in reality. But so far the only people who have really played their hand are the NRL.
Also, they played a hand which doesn’t really leave them much room to move.
If they in any way change their mind now, it will look like they are either panicking or had no idea in the first place.
Cooler heads should have prevailed.
Reports suggest that David Gallop was touring the various clubs in preparation for the new season, so rather than talking about that new season, we get dragged into yet another hypothetical debate about code jumping players.
The Tigers clearly haven’t made their mind up about what to do, and like every club these days are bending over backwards to keep their star player happy.
There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of a real deal coming out of Japan yet, so they are obviously holding their fire.
So why the rush from the NRL?
What would have been so wrong with saying. “We’ll have to see what deal is presented to us before we make any comment.”
I don’t know anyone from either code that actually thinks the plan of playing a full season for the Tigers, followed by a stint in Japan, followed by another season with the Tigers is actually going to work out like it sounds for Benji.
It strikes me like one of those really complex pub crawls. It all sounds like a real hoot with scorecards and leg chains, until a third of the way into the night most the group are watching the footy, another group has fallen asleep, and another has splintered off into a hen’s party.
I can just see the Tigers playmaker getting caught in traffic from Sydney Airport trying to make the 3pm kickoff after his flight from Tokyo was delayed.
So why didn’t Dave make a play on everyone’s doubts rather than playing the role of an iron fisted parent who demanded their child stay home and do their homework rather than going and playing Pokemon with the rest of the kids from the kumon maths class.
All that has been achieved by David Gallop’s comments is that he has ensured the matter will remain a circus until it is finally resolved.
It is already full of clowns and it hasn’t even hit the Sunday papers yet, which will have exclusives from sushi bars around Sydney that Benji was spotted there getting ready for his new diet.
You heard it here first.
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- Explore:
- Benji Marshall, David Gallop, Rugby League, West Tigers, Wests Tigers
Spiro Zavos said | February 20th 2009 @ 4:51am | Report comment
Steve I think you are on the nail. I think that the crux of the matter for David Gallop is that he has a micky-mouse job which is running the NRL competition, which is really a small-time administrative job at the best. But he is presented as the equivalent of the CEO’s of football and rugby, who do have big-time jobs, especially the international component. So Gallop gallops into every controversy, and generally makes a mess of it.
It was a bad joke a couple of years ago when he was made Sports Administrator of the Year. The applause seems to have got to him. His interventions are almost invariably wrong.
The other thing is that the NRL are notoriously splenetic in their PR etc as any journalist who has had an dispute with them will testify.
Gallop also has the problem of being a former News Ltd lawyer during the Super League dispute. He is always trying to prove his bona fides as a great rugby league man, hence the attacks on rugby union as the ‘competitor’ and so on when his organisation did more harm to the rugby league code than other single group or sport.
cosmos forever said | February 20th 2009 @ 8:09am | Report comment
Spiro – undoubtedly you have more of an inside view than most with regards to the relative roles of sports administrators and their style (pr etc), but as an outsider I think Gallop is playing the card of ‘league man’ less than you hint. I think he is smart enough to know he isn’t a Geoff Carr and deliberately plays the opposite hand – “I’m a controlled, rational guardian of the game”.
Not saying he gets it right but I certainly don’t think of him as a wanna be leage bloke (in the mould of our former prime minister in his ill-fitting Wallabies tracksuit!).
And I know this will kick off the same old debate that always happens here but I’m still not convinced Rugby administration is necessarily a bigger job than league. It’s a pointless argument but you say international, I say no second tier comp “let’s call the whole thing off”
As for the point of the article (the Benji factor), agreed that they simply should have waited to see a deal if any. As usual the administrators have played directly into the hands of much smarter and more cunning player manager (rather than Japanese rugby officials). I’m of the opinion there may well have never been a deal and that they have played right into the managers hands.
The outcome of this is quite major actually – for wests they might lose Benji completely, for every other mildly talented player they get the idea they can do this as well so all clubs are now under a pressure that needn’t exist, for the brand RL looks reactionary and incapable of letting small things go without a fuss.
Worlds Biggest said | February 20th 2009 @ 12:23pm | Report comment
There is a reason Gallop has all those grey hairs, he is completely paranoid about Rugby and losing another star player. He jumped the gun with the Benji issue and as Steve pointed out the circus is under way with Gallop playing head clown. Every sports radio show is talking about this for what might amount to zero. Has Benji actually been offered a deal in Japan ??. Japan is in deep recession / depression, can they continue to afford huge bucks on players let alone an unproven one. I don’t know how Gallop must sleep at night, what with his paranoia over players swapping codes and the ever present threat that is AFL in League heartlands. He must have nightmares when thinking about Andrew Demetriou.
True Tah said | February 20th 2009 @ 12:30pm | Report comment
WB
I agree with your point that Gallop is worried about AFL and union, when the SBW saga happened, Gallop mentioned he wanted SBW to go to jail – this was clutching at straws, as the only way SBW would end up in a cell is for contempt of court, which is REALLY clutching at straws.
Worlds Biggest said | February 20th 2009 @ 2:16pm | Report comment
Gallops reaction to the SBW defecftion was just laughable, he let the emotion get to him and making those statements ( jail )was outlandish and not considered. As arrogant as they both are, O’Neill and Demetriou wouldn’t let there guard down in front of the media like Gallop has done several times. Spiro – I wasn’t aware he won that award a couple of years ago. Surely O’Neill should have won it for overseeing a renaisance in Football – A League and World Cup performance etc…
ohtani's jacket said | February 20th 2009 @ 6:17pm | Report comment
It’s sake not saki
Junior said | February 20th 2009 @ 6:55pm | Report comment
o’neil for sports administrator of the year? surely you jest.
he has two major achievements in his sporting cv. football in 2006 and rugby in 2004 (or was it 2003?). how hard would it be to look like a superstar when the socceroos qualify for world cup for the first time in 32 years or when australia is hosting that other event? the drover’s dog would sparkle with such a favourable backdrop.
Sam said | February 20th 2009 @ 7:36pm | Report comment
As a football lover I found O’Neill always had an inkling for what was required to get a game going. He in my mind will no doubt lift rugby union to a higher level. The problem with rugby league (and it is the only other code I watch) is that it is stuck in a dilemma between creating new clubs in new regions or maintaining its foothold in the Sydney market.
Gallop mentions he wants to maintain the Sydney clubs, but this won’t allow new teams from outer areas into the competition. In a way rugby league is the only code that is standing still thanks to Gallop. In my honest opinion Sydney won’t save rugby league, so they are better of moving into new areas and cutting some Sydney clubs. Sydney is not like Melbourne where the crowds keep turning up, so Gallop should just bite the bullet and expand to Perth, Sunshine Coast, Central Coast and 2nd brisbane team.
This whole Benji Marshall issue is one part of the problem, however does not address the main issue rugby league has.
Fragglerocker said | February 20th 2009 @ 9:02pm | Report comment
The sooner the NRL gets rid of Gallop the sooner they can actually have some measure of credibility. Here’s Gallop, standing in front of a microphone giving his usual “Rah-Rah’s under the bed” speech, whilst knowing full well that the NRL has always and will always continue to target rugby juniors for professional NRL contracts.
This is the same gallop who only a year ago stood in front of the same microphones in response to the SBW affair and lectured the world about how contracts were an unbreakable holy writ, sacrosanct in perpetuity, set in stone and written in the blood of the martyrs. The same gallop who just over 10 years ago threw wads of News Ltd cash at ARL-contracted players to get them to tear up their contracts and join the Super League.
I’m just puzzled how he can look himself in the mirror without crying or laughing.
Steffy said | February 20th 2009 @ 9:42pm | Report comment
It is rather odd that Gallop is making these pronouncements when there hasn’t apparently been an offer from Japanese union. If Marshall wishes to play union then that’s up to him. If he later wishes to return to rugby that’s up to him. However I don’t believe that a professional player, of either code, should be allowed to be registered to a rugby club and a union club at the same time.
Before union went openly professional any union player who played rugby (or even talked to a rugby club in some cases) was banned from playing union – rugby needs to avoid falling into that dishonourable trap, rugby is better than union in that respect, let’s keep it that way.