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The cold and often ferocious media glare has been fixed on Chris Sandow and stragglers Parramatta all season.
Fair enough, in my opinion, as the little playmaker was lured to the club on mega bucks to be its chief playmaker and he has produced only glimmers of his skills set in an Eels jumper.
What isn’t fair is the lack of spotlight on the vastly under-performing Darius Boyd at Newcastle.
Is this guy a protected species, or what? He is supposed to be a Knight, not a koala.
Rated one of the world’s premier rugby league players just a season ago, Boyd has been little more than a spectator in his debut season for the Knights. He did not come cheaply either.
One would think that nine games would be enough for him to settle in and adjust to his new team-mates and playing environment at Tinksville.
Almost half the premiership season is over and Boyd has not scored a try for Newcastle. Nor has he made a single line break and he has been credited with just two offloads. Admittedly, he has kept his game almost error-free since the move from St George-Illawarra, but his attacking stats are best described as woeful.
I cannot put my finger on the reason why Boyd has escaped serious and proper examination from the media.
Boyd’s lack of form has been strangely avoided by our rugby league newspapers and magazines. Is it the fact that he can be a prickly character at times that makes our papers a No-Boyd Zone? Does the Wayne Bennett factor override any level of criticism by our football reporters and columnists?
Darius Boyd has scored a few mentions from ex-Newcastle man Matt Johns on Triple M radio but Johns hasn’t exactly gone in boots and all.
“I think the pressure of the (big money) situation and the expectation, and the fact he has had a slow start is really weighing on him,” Johns said after Sunday’s feeble loss to the Sydney Roosters. “It appears he now has a crisis in confidence because he has just disappeared out of the contest.”
Channel 9’s locker room camera caught what appeared to be a distraught Boyd weeping into a towel during the half time break against the Roosters. Coach Bennett, his biggest fan, was close at hand trying to do his best to shake him from his mental crisis.
Sure, that curious little cameo got widely reported but media members were told was that “Darius was fine” and he would be out there on the pitch this week.
Perhaps the player is ultra-frustrated at Newcastle’s high propensity for errors and silly penalties. Added to this, he might be seriously troubled by his lack of attacking form. Have the demands of the league-mad Newcastle fans got under his skin?
I guess there is also a chance there is some deep, dark problem in his personal life but we are all pretty much in the dark about D.Boyd, the former number one, No 1.
Queensland’s Origin selectors would have noted that Boyd has been a mere shadow of the player that turned games in a twinkling at his former clubs.
They will probably find a place for him in their Origin 1 squad but he certainly won’t be picked on form. The unspoken ‘Services Rendered’ clause carries plenty of weight when Queensland calls.
For whatever reason, Boyd can thank his lucky stars for escaping a deserved grilling from our rugby league media in season 2012. Sandow, Parra’s current whipping boy, would gladly trade places.
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