Storm-gate isn’t the NRL’s biggest ever scandal

 
Davidde Corran Columnist

By , 27 Apr 2010 Davidde Corran is a Roar Expert

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Brett Stewart celebrates after he scoring his 73rd try for Manly - AAP Image/Action Photographics, Grant Trouville

I must say that I’m a bit bemused by the “biggest scandal to rock the NRL.” For starters, there’s something fascinating about why Melbourne Storm, a club whom the majority of Melbournian’s have never actually cared for, has garnered so much attention in its darkest hour.

In fact, with over 20,000 attending the first of many Storm “dead rubbers” on ANZAC day, it almost seems as if they are more popular than ever. At least the fans have been galvanised, albeit temporarily.

As Adrian Musolino wrote on this site yesterday: “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.”

While this response from the fans was both expected and intriguing, there is something much more important that seems to have been missed by the media.

Now, having a football writer waxing lyrical about league might seem strange, but please indulge me for a minute as my point goes beyond any single sporting code. In fact, it’s a problem for Australian society at large.

The words of a acquaintance of mine about the Storm’s self-inflicted plight have been echoing around my head since I heard them on Saturday. Her argument was essentially that the biggest scandal to have hit the NRL has been ongoing for the last six or so years and involves the constant degradation of women by players.

I agree wholeheartedly.

Not convinced? Remember the NRL has been confronted by a sexual assault allegation every year since 2004. Three of these accusations went as far as formal police charges.

In the past four years, three other players have also been convicted of assaulting women.

I’m not picking on league, either, here. And anyone who thinks “I’m not a League fan, so it’s not my problem” is gravely mistaken.

Whether it’s “partner swapping” in the AFL or the systemic infidelity I see all the time within the sport code I cover, the issue stretches right across the Australian sporting landscape.

I found myself torn between laughter and despair recently when I saw a leading Australian sportsmen showing off his “perfect family” on national television and talking about how important his wife and children are to him. My reaction was such because the tales of this player’s infidelity at a recent international tournament are famous within that sport’s circles.

The list of such cases is endless, and the way women are often and routinely viewed within sport shocks me. Journalists, sportsmen and administrators are all guilty of it.

If this issue is so widespread within Australian sport, then it is clearly an issue for the country at large.

I’m not asking that we go back over the history of league or any other code’s track record with women, but a bit of perspective when discussing Melbourne’s salary cap cheating would seem appropriate.

Storm fans have a right to feel aggrieved, NRL haters have more ammunition for their cannons, and sports lovers who believe in fair play should be disgusted.

But I hope everyone will take a moment to remember that there is a greater malaise lying beneath the surface of both our sporting culture and Australian society at large.

Most alarming of all: it’s one that goes beyond the white lines our games are played within.

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