Melbourne on Anzac Day: A tale of two codes
Columnist By Adrian Musolino, 26 Apr 2010 Adrian Musolino is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- anzac day, Billy Slater, Greg Inglis, Melbourne Storm, Melbourne Storm Salary cap, New Zealand Warriors, NRL, Rugby League
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NRL Rugby League, Melbourne Storm v Warriors at Etihad Stadium, Sunday April 25th 2010. Digital image by Brett Crockford, © nrlphotos
Some pride may have been restored in the hearts of Melbourne Storm fans following their rousing 40-6 victory over the New Zealand Warriors at Etihad Stadium in front of an impressive 23,906 crowd, but where do they go from here?
Now that the emotion of proving a point to themselves, their fans and the rest of the competition has been left at Etihad on Anzac Day, the reality that the rest of the 2010 season will be a point-less exercise with that emotion of last night’s match dwindling with each round sets in.
Aside from playing for their representative careers and contracts for next season, will the Storm players really lift to the extent they did last night to tear the poor Warriors apart for the remainder of the season, particularly when the true story of culpability hasn’t emerged as yet?
And now that the fans have shown their solidarity with the club following their week from hell, will they continue to turn out each week?
Watch the replay of the match closely and beyond all the celebrations of the Storm’s performance during the game, there were two moments that bookended Fox Sports’ coverage that suggested the hurt of the scandal has infested the club.
At the beginning of the coverage, as Fox panned across Etihad’s expansive stands, the faces in the crowd seemed particularly downcast, undoubtedly still reeling from the lost 2010 season and premierships.
Fast forward to the end of the coverage and despite the big win, the final shot was of the Storm players looking as downcast as their fans did before the game; reality having hit them hard following the initial exaltation of the prize-less win.
That pain and hurt will only grow as the resilience they showed last night washes away and recriminations and accusations emerge.
Unlike the Bulldogs previously, Melbourne faces a much longer haul to get to the end of the season with so little to play for.
On the crowd, 23,906 was a strong statement from the Storm faithful – a figure not far off the record home and away crowd of 25,404 achieved on Good Friday.
It was the expected show of support for the club in crisis.
One banner in the crowd read: “We believe in the Storm players. Sin bin the admin.” The overwhelming feeling from the core Storm supporters is that the club is the victim.
But how many fans will be there in Round 26 when the Storm host the Newcastle Knights?
Again, as the hard reality of the draconian 2010 punishment sets in, the Storm is buried in the Victorian press by the AFL, and the emotion of the controversy fades, crowds could well hit A-League Gold Coast lows.
Let’s judge the Storm’s future in Melbourne based on that Round 26 crowd, not on last night’s turnout as that will be the truer test away from the immediate emotional reaction.
On the park, the shattering display from the Storm highlights that there is a significant gulf between the illegally formulated squad and the rest of the competition – and this was with Greg Inglis and others watching from the sidelines.
Once the Storm are forced onto an even playing field with the rest of the competition next season, the overall spectacle of the NRL, with this great side in the competition, will regress – and as Phil Gould has said, the NRL must ask the question of whether they want Storm ilk teams or the inconsistent teams that make up the majority of the competition.
A tinkering of the salary cap may be required.
As the great Storm side parades around the competition, Penrith coach Matt Elliott has said they could well become the Harlem Globetrotters of the NRL – entertaining with their brand of exciting football and tinkering for future reference with their highly talented squad.
But remember, as you watch the Storm on their “globetrotting” tour of the NRL that this team is at its core a fallacy, or a mirage.
As a result, the Warriors, for example, have a right to feel aggrieved, particularly should the miss the finals by the points they could have won on their trip to Melbourne.
Should they miss the finals series as a result, do they not have a claim at being cheated?
Any team who succumbs to the Storm for the remainder of the season has a legitimate case for protesting the fact that they have lost to a team formulated by breaching the rules, and still doing so – particularly those who face them twice.
This is the greatest flaw in the punishment.
Gould – who has made some salient points amongst the throng of media deliberations on this issue – wrote that the NRL has two immediate choices to make: either force the Storm to sit out the remainder of the 2010 season (something he acknowledges would kill the club), or force them to make the necessary changes and abide by the salary cap.
The latter appears to be the only just solution if the Storm are allowed to steal their competition’s points this season.
The calls for a review of the punishment for this season will increase in the coming weeks, as will the unraveling of who was culpable, or knowing, of the salary cap breaches within the Storm organisation.
The Fairfax press is reporting that seven players – Billy Slater, Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Dallas Johnson, Brett White, Michael Crocker and Steve Turner – will have their salaries scrutinised in the coming weeks.
The Sunday Herald Sun even reported that some players were given “boats, cars, tens of thousands of dollars in shopping vouchers and paid-for home renovations,” raising the prospect that some players could well have been aware of the breaches.
Already there are reports of fractured relationships developing in the Storm camp, which could well grow as this current state of unity evaporates into the reality of the fraud.
The Storm must act swiftly if it emerges that players were involved, cutting out the cancerous tumors immediately to try and stop the wave of irreparable damage.
This is a necessity to try and limit the hurt – particularly with the fans, if stars players were aware – and help the Storm carry on this growing perception that they are the victims rather than villains.
Meanwhile, across town earlier in the afternoon, the AFL hosted its now traditional Anzac day clash at the MCG between Collingwood and Essendon, with the Magpies romping home over the sorry Bombers in front of over 90,000.
It was quite a contrast.
Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph probably summed up the feeling of many Victorians when he tweeted: “What a contrast – Essendon and Collingwood play for everything on Anzac Day. Hours later Storm play for nothing… literally.”
Only in its sixteenth season, you’d think the Anzac contest has been played for decades judging by the fanfare and reverence in which the fixture is received, with all its ceremony and the rivalry that has developed between the two clubs.
This is just one strong indication of how intrinsically linked the AFL is with a Melburnians DNA and the power it has over the state.
That is the behemoth rugby league and the NRL has faced in the Storm’s brief history in the Victorian capital, and must now face with its damaged brand and the baggage of its breach.
Beyond the diehard supporters who turned up to AAMI Park on Saturday and at Etihad Stadium yesterday to support the Storm, the casual Victorian supporters may be lost in the mire of the corruption, for whom Essendon, Collingwood and co remain the only football in their hearts – and an untainted code, in their minds.
These are the Victorians upon whom the future of the Storm rests, otherwise 25,000 crowds will become a distant memory and the club’s size and influence will shrink.
Melbourne is the most congested sporting city in the country, and remember that as the Storm stumble to the end of their point-less season and rebuild within the restriction of a salary cap they so blatantly ignored, the Rebels will be born with a clean slate.
Remember that the Storm that will be reborn next season will be complying with the same rules as everyone else in the competition and could well be buried in the mid-table or worse.
This won’t be an easy rebirth and last night’s events do not change the immense challenges the club faces.
As they continue on in 2010, let’s hope the fans remain committed and faithful.
It won’t be an easy ride, but for the sake of the 23,906 fans who parted with their money to watch the Storm last night let’s hope they can survive and one day return to the summit of the NRL legitimately.
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April 26th 2010 @ 10:12am
Billy McClure said | April 26th 2010 @ 10:12am | Report comment
Oh course Storm would win – they still have the same squad that has cheated the salary cap. They have the best players. Storm should win most their games this season because they still have the best team which they cheated to get. Part of their punishment should have been to lose some of their star players.
April 26th 2010 @ 11:19am
Chris said | April 26th 2010 @ 11:19am | Report comment
They did have a certain Greg Inglis missing. That is at least 60% of the salary cap breach right there.
April 28th 2010 @ 1:08pm
Ken said | April 28th 2010 @ 1:08pm | Report comment
All teams have injuries, with more money to spend comes not only more top line players but also better depth to cover when you lose one.
April 26th 2010 @ 10:14am
mds1970 said | April 26th 2010 @ 10:14am | Report comment
Interesting article Adrian, and it was an interesting contrast between the games.
I’d thought about flying down to Melbourne for the AFL game, and had I done so I’d have doubled up and gone to the NRL at Docklands afterwards.
The MCG Anzac Day tradition as we know it only started in 1995, but has become the biggest game of the season outside the grand final. Other teams had been involved at the MCG before then, but on that particular day in 1995 they got well over 90,000 in while over 10,000 were locked outside – I was the last person to be admitted to the Ponsford Stand before that gate was locked, but couldn’t find a seat so had to go in standing room for the day (that was before pre-booked reserved seating). Since then the game has become a guaranteed sellout and the Anzac ceremony ensures that footy fans will never forget those who fought for our country. Without that game, and the ceremony held before the game, some footy fans would not pay any respect to what the day is for.
Unfortanately the result wasn’t what my Bombers would have wanted, but credit to Collingwood – they put on a sensational display and deserved their win. Maybe next year…..
Docklands that evening would have been interesting. How many times, in any sport, do we see a club with their backs to the wall come out fighting? And that’s what the Storm did – the club was on the ropes, but they’ve come out swinging and their supporters by coming up in such numbers would have encouraged the club and the league, even though their win doesn’t count. Of course, as you’ve mentioned, it’s going to be extremely tough to maintain that emotion throughout the remainder of the season, but at least for one more day they’ve put up a show of defiance.
AFL will always be number 1 in Melbourne. 90,000 crowds for the Essendon v Collingwood blockbuster on Anzac Day are here to stay. But hopefully rugby league can survive this scandal and retain its place in the Melbourne sporting landscape.
April 26th 2010 @ 10:37am
Midfielder said | April 26th 2010 @ 10:37am | Report comment
To the Storm faithful … a little gift … they start singing after about 30 seconds … inspiring song … seems very apt for the Storm for the rest of the season…
You will never walk alone…
At the end of a storm
There’s a goldeen skyyy
And the sweeet silver song …. of a lark.
Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Tho your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk On AND YOU’LL NEEVEEERRR WALK ALONEE
YOUUUUU’LL NEEEVEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRR WALK ALONE !!!
April 27th 2010 @ 12:21am
AA said | April 27th 2010 @ 12:21am | Report comment
Liverpool rip off. But for the Storm I’ll let them do it as well.
April 26th 2010 @ 11:16am
Postie said | April 26th 2010 @ 11:16am | Report comment
I don’t understand how people can believe the players are innocent victims. They’ve been getting expensive free toys left, right and center, there have been constant questions asked for years. Can you seriously believe that not once they didn’t think something was not right? Of course they knew what was going on, of course they knew they were over the cap. Everyone in the entire club administration would have known.
They are playing the innocent card at the moment, but it will all come out eventually and the people they are taking for a ride RIGHT NOW will be extremely angry. The Storm are finished.
April 26th 2010 @ 11:20am
Marsh said | April 26th 2010 @ 11:20am | Report comment
Take for example the A-League Gold Coast situation. After the unpopular crowd cap was lifted crowds initially rebounded they then went downhill again quickly. Fans don’t let getting burnt and as it emerges that perhaps other people knew of the breach then more damage will be done and more will give up on the club. It’s all well and good blaming Waldron but I fear what will happen if players are found out to have known.
April 26th 2010 @ 11:57am
Richard said | April 26th 2010 @ 11:57am | Report comment
Lets face it, it’s going to be very hard to maintain interest in the Storm anywhere, but especially in Melbourne. They have had their very brief history taken away, they have nothing to play for this year other than pride, and soon they will begin to lose key players, further hobbling their ability to compete and make a name for Rugby League in Victoria. The NRL has done the right thing by standing by their principles, but have they been naive in their view of what it takes for a sole League team to succeed in the heart of AFL territory? Have they really be prepared to do enough to make sure that the code is successful in its expansion plans. And now, in coming to grips with the consequences of a lack of policy resourcing, have they finally shot themselves in the foot?
April 26th 2010 @ 9:46pm
JamesP said | April 26th 2010 @ 9:46pm | Report comment
Good points. Once the spectacle of the new stadium wears off and they loose all their best players and drop to mid table at best, It will be interesting to see who is still left. My guess is the core group of 15k or so.
April 26th 2010 @ 12:32pm
MattRusty said | April 26th 2010 @ 12:32pm | Report comment
Will the fans continue to turn out? They will if you keep throwing fuel on the fire Adrian. So please, keep it up. The more you keep insulting the Melbourne community by suggesting they only back winners, the easier you’re making our recovery.
We’ve been on the front page of the newspaper for the last 5 days; we didn’t get on the front page for winning the premiership!
All this talk about damage to our brand…I say “ha!”, we’re the most recognizable rugby league brand in the world now. Many will argue for the wrong reasons, but the hype, the attention, the drama. Right or wrong, our society loves it. The more you continue to write about it (you said it Adrian, there’s more to come), the more publicity, attention and press we get.
Where to from here? The club is (cliche warning) taking it one day at a time. Yesterday was a massive day for the club. Adrian, your ‘bookend’ comments illustrate the lack of resources journalists have these days when you have to report from your lounge room and cannot actually be inside the stadium.
Had you been there, your opinion may have been different. At the beginning of the coverage, as Fox panned across Etihad’s expansive stands, the faces in the crowd seemed particularly downcast, undoubtedly still reeling from the lost 2010 season and premierships….”, well actually Adrian, the Under 20′s (who won the premiership last year, just got beaten by the Warriors, it wasn’t a great performance. They were reeling from that loss, nice try though.
Fast forward to the end…mate, the players weren’t downcast they were in awe of the support they were getting from the fans. The noise and emotion was like nothing we’ve experienced before at a rugby league game. You are way off the mark here mate. You must have had a lemon in your mouth at the time of writing this piece of your article.
It’s going to be tough for the team to lift each week, but therein lies the challenge, the skepticism which many people seem to thrive on. So keep it coming, we love it.
As far as the salary cap goes, don’t be surprised if the Storm squad remains unchanged in 2011. They want revenge, and all they need to do to get it is stick together, work hard and accept a reduction in pay. There are many, many things more important in life than money and everyone at the stadium last night experienced it. It’s hard to experience it from your lounge room with a remote control in your hand.
We have our next game at the new stadium (AAMI Park) which is going to be massive. It is going to be deafening. Apparently no seat is more than 22 meters away from the field. The Melbourne Storm supporters have a big role to play for the rest of the year, to create the same fortress environment at AAMI Park that we had at Olympic Park (The Graveyard). I’m sure the marketing department will be working overtime to come up with our new nickname.
We have 8 eight games left this year versus the Broncos (2006 grand final replay), Bulldogs (Smith vs Ennis), Roosters (title contenders this year, plus someone at the Roosters has already been dragged into this scandal this week so the revenge card might be played), then Cowboys (Thurston vs Cronk), Panthers (2nd on the ladder right now), then Raiders (Bellamy’s old club), Rabbitohs (Russell might come to town), Sharks (okay, can’t spin anything here) and Knights (the game that his holiness Adrian Musolino will judge our future on).
It’s a new stadium, so many visitors to town as well as many residents will be keen to “check it out” at least once. Lots to be optimistic about, just don’t hang out with Adrian too much.
One last point, wouldn’t a true ANZAC clash be a combined team of Australia and NZ versus Turkey?
April 26th 2010 @ 12:36pm
Marsh said | April 26th 2010 @ 12:36pm | Report comment
The new stadium will help interest and retain the crowd, but that’s the only point I agree with you on
April 26th 2010 @ 9:48pm
JamesP said | April 26th 2010 @ 9:48pm | Report comment
Yep for this season anyway.
April 26th 2010 @ 3:13pm
Emperor Penguin said | April 26th 2010 @ 3:13pm | Report comment
interesting… maybe soccer Australia/New Zealand v Turkey.
April 26th 2010 @ 12:53pm
oikee said | April 26th 2010 @ 12:53pm | Report comment
This does not reflect so much on rugby league as a sport, it reflects more on Melbourne as a sporting capital, or so-called. Lets say, which it is, AFL is the number 1 aussie sport, and rugby league number 2. Why would a Melbourne public, Government or otherwise not want a presense of a major code.
This not only reflects badly for the Storm, to me it reflects how immature and insecure the vics really are. They are that biased they would see a sporting team that competes for there city die. ?
Mate, if the Storm fold, then Melbourne and its people are nothing more than 1 eyed fools.
Have alook at the Reds rugby union Brisbane, were propped up by shonky government funding for years. Nobody wants them to fold. Teams playing out of Suncorp would be greatly effected. The government knows this, in Melbourne, it seems like the AFL voice is the voice for all sport, you proved this with the FiFA Bid.
The Storm are a seriously scary well oiled team, to lose this in your city would be the most foolish mistake any city could ever make. What happens if this set-up is transplanted to Perth. They would start to enjoy the same success this team has created in Melbourne. .
I think Melbourne as a city really needs for the Storm to survive. If this team folds, it will be forever a blight on the Melbourne sporting scene. I for one will never let them live this down, and i am sure i would “never walk alone”.
If you lose this team, you lose half of Australia for ever showing any support to your city again. “we will never walk alone”.
This would be the equavilant of Brisbane losing the Lions. Someone down there had better wake up, and fast. Talk about Anzac spirit, Victoria had better show some or they will never live this down. Never.
April 26th 2010 @ 12:57pm
Dogs Of War said | April 26th 2010 @ 12:57pm | Report comment
Soccer would be number 2 in Melbourne, especially when the 2nd club is up and running. League a distant third, with a decent fight with the Rebels for that position when they arrive.
With News Ltd underwriting them, they have shown a commitment to growing the game, that is totally against the character of the company considering what they did to the game via Superleague.
April 26th 2010 @ 1:01pm
Richard said | April 26th 2010 @ 1:01pm | Report comment
Hey oikee. If indifference to the Storm in Melbourne makes vics one eyed and immature, as you suggest, then I guess you accept that indifference to the Swans in Sydney means the same thing for sydneysiders, eh what?
April 26th 2010 @ 3:09pm
oikee said | April 26th 2010 @ 3:09pm | Report comment
Brisbane fans can fill the Gabba for AFL in a city of 2 million, Melbourne People need to pull there heads in and support there team. 4 million people and they cant fill Etihad for 1 league game. Yeah right. No fasir dinkim, the more i see Melbourne for what this city really is, the more it sickens me. Now they want to change there AFL teams for the Anzac day clash. Now i dont know about you, but i thought it was about Anzac day, not who or how much AFL teams can make on this day out.
Mate, i am slowly seeing a underbelly, its dark and seedy. It respects no-one but itself, and it ain’t a good look.
Anyhow, as i said, Storm fold, thats the end of Melbourne for me. They can stick to there 1 sport. I will have no interest or respect for anything past Sydney.
Now, i am going to wait for our true Anzac day clash, between NZ and Australia, If soccer or union wish to play on the day between our countries, i will also show support for them also.
Storm, Warriors showed real potential, they got flogged the warriors, but i can say this, the rematch next year will be something special.
And i am not thinking, lets get rid of the warriors and put Brisbane in, i want to see the warriors again next year, no matter what.
April 26th 2010 @ 1:45pm
HawksLiverpool said | April 26th 2010 @ 1:45pm | Report comment
Does the Victorian government building a rectangular feild stadium with $268 million of taxpayers money count as showing support?
April 26th 2010 @ 3:21pm
oikee said | April 26th 2010 @ 3:21pm | Report comment
The government built the feild for 3 codes who are better served with rectangle feilds.
Same as Queensland government up-graded the Gabba for Cricket and AFL.
It has taken along time for Melbourne to catch up with QLD. And even then, a 31 stadium really is to small for big games.
I still think Perth has the opportunity to build a 60 thousand seat world class stadium and start to eat into Melbournes events list.
I know that rugby league would love to take games to Perth, but they have not got any facilities for the 3 codes.
Even Aderlaide is spending another motza on round feilds. ? Are these governments stupid or something. Build a rectangle world class feild you pillacks, “if you build it , they will come”..
April 26th 2010 @ 10:01pm
JamesP said | April 26th 2010 @ 10:01pm | Report comment
The QLD government upgraded the Gabba stadium beaucse of Aussie Rules, not cricket…it was upgraded becuase the Lions were filling it every week.
The rectangular stadium was originally proposed for Melbourne to get a Super 14 team and was dropped when it went to Perth. Soon after the Victory started pulling in monster crowds (well compared to the 13k at the Storm anyway) and they decided to build the stadium anyway. So the Storm is a poor third in the code race in Victoria….we’ll see if the Rebels relegate them to forth.
Now that I have corrected all you innacurate and inept dribble, I can respond to Perth and Adelaide like this: The new Adelaide Oval is being build thanks to the economy of Aussie Rules. Not for cricket, not for soccer, and certainly not for either Rugby code. Perth will be next. The West Coast eagles have had a waiting list on their membership for decades. Frmantle this year have had sellouts due to the popularity. Hopefully Perth will get a new oval soonI with at least a 60k capacity. The refurbished members equity stadium in Perth (at 20k) is big enough for the Western Force as they have moved their from Subiaco due to pathetic attendances, and way too big for any future Perth Rugby League side should a misguided decision be made to base a team there.
April 27th 2010 @ 11:09am
Michael C said | April 27th 2010 @ 11:09am | Report comment
Oikee – “If you build it, they will come”……
who are they???
what the WA Govt has is clubs with 40 and 50K members and people on waiting lists for reserved seats and venues that at already too small.
Build it because they are already waiting in line!!!!! Leave the ‘hypotheticals’ for another day.
April 26th 2010 @ 1:10pm
ac said | April 26th 2010 @ 1:10pm | Report comment
Actually, this is all so interesting. The Storm who have never had any publicity really even though they been in Melbourne for a decade. The media is shameful in its bias towards AFL. Look the AFL is a well oiled machine it just is and it deserves to be reconised as the #1 code in Austraiia as a whole. But it has a lot of problems called NSW and QLD. The Swans are on top of the table yet the crowds they are experiencing are 40% down on the glory days of the mid 90′s. TV ratings for the AFL in Sydney and Brisbane are not all that good – poor to say the least. The Storm who get a few lines in the Herald Sun can still draw a following and on Pay TV rate pretty okay. Rugby league is a better product on tv than AFL. Tho the experience of an AFL game live has to be experienced. I dont know what will happen to the Stom i do know they have not been treated very well by the Melbourne Media who are just AFL centric. AFL is such a force to reckon with it really is, as an organisation i am constantly amazed what they can and do achieve. With the Stom they need to continue to try and keep the momentum going, wont be easy i feel and i am not so confident they will continue to be there in Melbourne. Melbourne will be poorer because of it though.
April 26th 2010 @ 3:25pm
Emperor Penguin said | April 26th 2010 @ 3:25pm | Report comment
The Storm will be fine. This is the most publicity they have had ever. Everything was starting to go very very nicely for RL in Victoria before this event, and it will ironically give RL more of a boost in Victoria than the Premierships did.
How important are past wrongs, rivalries, evening the score, et cetera to fans and sports? Everyone with a purple jersey will be shocked and hurt by this at first, then eventually they will be wanting vengence/blood. Things might trail off at the back end of the season, no stadiums to open and weak oposition (sharks, knights).
Fans – will be a bit up and down this year as emotions are raw, but they will be counting the days to round 1, 2011.
Spnsors – this is where they will hurt. But News Corp will step up to the plate, and they will find new sponsors by years end
Owners – have already said they will commit no matter what the cost for 5 years to rebuild.
Media – well, they have very little presence in one eyed Victoria before, so this isn’t an issue. In fact its probably good for the team
April 26th 2010 @ 5:15pm
zach said | April 26th 2010 @ 5:15pm | Report comment
What city do you live in? Do you realise that News Ltd which owns the Storm also owns the Herald Sun? If you want to see media bias against a code, look no further than Sydney. Did you know Sydney are on top of the AFL ladder? Or that they won against West Coast last Saturday? Or that there is a top of the table clash between Sydney and Brisbane at the SCG this weekend? You won’t read any of that in the Sydney papers, because they deliberately ignore AFL.
Storm have had a great run in the Melbourne media, and this rubbish about media bias down here is just spin.
April 26th 2010 @ 5:23pm
Dogs Of War said | April 26th 2010 @ 5:23pm | Report comment
You obviously don’t get the Sydney papers then. I dare say their is a lot more AFL in the Sydney newspapers than their is NRL in the Melbourne newspapers.
April 26th 2010 @ 10:09pm
JamesP said | April 26th 2010 @ 10:09pm | Report comment
Thats because the Swans average more than double the attendance of the Storm, have 3 times as many members, and obviously heaps more TV viewers due the fact that the Storm is not shown in Melbourne till midnight (due to the fact that Nine would get slaugthered if it did). So lets just agree that the Swans are much bigger in Sydney then the Storm in Melbourne (comensurate with media exposure, crowds etc.), and that the Brisbane Lions are certainly even bigger again in Brisbane, due to a combination of ex pat Southerners, but also the fact the QLD’ers dont hate Melbournians as much as Sydney Siders and are prepared to give AFL a chance at least.
April 26th 2010 @ 1:20pm
Redb said | April 26th 2010 @ 1:20pm | Report comment
Bellamy’s rhetoric Is still mercenary like . He loves the players, the club, the Storm fans, growing rugby league in Victoria, but Melbourne itself?
Nothing about the city the club represents, it sounds very fortress like from Bellamy. Of course it’s not the first time.
Storm fans ringing up SEN attacking the AFL for past salary cap breached have been unprovoked by AFL fans.
They will be copping it from other nrl fans, but the anti AFL mentality still permeates this corporate club.
They still don’t know what makes Melbourne tick.
Turning up at the MCG before going to their game would show they get it.
To maintain a siege mentality against our footy won’t win them universal appeal.
April 26th 2010 @ 1:25pm
M1tch said | April 26th 2010 @ 1:25pm | Report comment
‘Storm fans ringing up SEN attacking the AFL for past salary cap breached have been unprovoked by AFL fans.’
maybe thats because come thrusday night, flick over to afl teams and there they are saying oh, Billy Slater or Greg Inglis at your club olala
Ricky Nixon’s comments of Slater and finishing RL in Vic
So really AFL types do start alot of this stuff – media and also through here.
April 26th 2010 @ 10:14pm
JamesP said | April 26th 2010 @ 10:14pm | Report comment
All player agent Ricky Nixon said was that he is very impressed with Slater and Inglis and has many a time thought about bringing them to the AFL, and now with this saga, they could be a good opportunity to do it. And that if the Storm loose their 2 best and most expensive players, that will send them mid table at best next year and the Storm may really struggle. At least thats howI read it…whats wrong with that?
April 26th 2010 @ 1:26pm
zach said | April 26th 2010 @ 1:26pm | Report comment
Bellamy is quoted as saying “‘They can cross our names out of the record books but they can’t take from our heart that we know that we deserved those grand final wins and that is not going to change.” Either he just doesn’t understand, or he is completely amoral about it.
April 26th 2010 @ 1:36pm
Dogs Of War said | April 26th 2010 @ 1:36pm | Report comment
As Carlton showed, it takes more than paying people over the Salary Cap to win a comp.
April 26th 2010 @ 2:26pm
MattRusty said | April 26th 2010 @ 2:26pm | Report comment
Redb, you seem to be getting very sensitive about Storm fans “attacking the AFL”.
Many Storm supporters also support an AFL side. In fact, many Storm players also support an AFL side. I don’t think you should put a lot of weight on the opinions of one-eyed supporters.
What fascinates me is how much the public (including the Melbourne community) loves drama. I’ve been wearing my Storm polo shirts with pride for the last 3 days and it’s extraordinary the number of people who shake your hand and want to know the result or how the game was. I was expecting to get called a cheat when I walked into a pub with it on. Nothing but handshakes from AFL supporters there to watch the Pies v Dons game.
Rugby league seems to thrive on drama. SEN puts those callers through cause it creates drama. Drama is very entertaining and popular. Could rugby league survive without this drama???