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On Saturday, more than 44,000 people will pack-out Allianz Stadium for the Sydney derby.
It’s another chance to celebrate the rapid rise of football in Australia, and a clear sign that the game is gradually catching up with other codes.
Yet the Football Federation of Australia’s chief executive, David Gallop, has used the momentous occasion to take a petty swipe at the NRL, his former employees, as well as AFL, rugby and cricket.
“In terms of numbers, noise and fan engagement, we believe football’s derby has more to offer than the other match ups, like the Rabbitohs v Roosters, the Swans v GWS, the Waratahs v Brumbies or anything cricket has,” Gallop was quoted in the Daily Telegraph.
Firstly, why is it a momentous occasion? Because the sell-out will beat the NRL’s past five crowds at Allianz Stadium in matches featuring Sydney clubs.
It is indeed something the football community, particularly those hailing from Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers fan-bases, should feel infinitely proud of. The Sydney derby is fast becoming one of the hottest tickets in Australian sport.
Yet it shouldn’t be reason for our governing body’s head to gloat in the face of rivals. In fact, 10 years on from the inception of the A-League, it’s arguable that the NRL, AFL and rugby union are no longer even rivals.
Football has come to a point where it can viewed on a level playing field with the more established codes. No longer is there any need (if there was a need in the first place) to bad-mouth and degrade aspects of their games. It is not conducive to growing football in this country, and will do more harm than good.
When the masses of red, black and sky blue descend on Moore Park, there is no need to even think about rugby league, or any other sport. When fans are bouncing around in the euphoric atmosphere of the Sydney derby, the last thing on their minds should be that this is a massive ‘up yours’ to rugby league. Celebrate football, that’s all you need.
Football fans are better than that, and the game is definitely bigger than that. Gone are the days where you had to fight to be heard in Australia when discussing football. It’s now a staple of this country’s sporting landscape.
There will always be detractors, both in public life and in the media, but that’s part of the banter. What is not part of the banter are chief executives getting in on the act. The actions of our top brass should be respectful and mature.
And that goes for all codes. It was equally disappointing to see NRL head of commercial Paul Kind return fire.
“We aren’t in the business of comparing ourselves to other codes,” Kind said.
“We are confident that we are by far and away the best sport in Sydney by any measure.”
Well, Paul, you just did compare yourself to another code. Hook, line and sinker, you got caught. The NRL should have kept the moral high ground and let Gallop smirk at his own stupidity.
Though perhaps that’s what Gallop believes the fans want to hear. He made similar snipes in his State of the Game speech. Regardless, his viewpoints should be kept private, there is no advantage in bagging out rugby league, or any other sport for that matter. It’s also getting pretty worn out and old.
We don’t compete in similar seasons to the other codes, so there’s no reason to engage in petty arguments with them. As a result we are never going to need to steal fans from other codes, and the best way forward is inclusiveness – Gallop’s buzz word at the moment.
If Gallop is so intent on ensuring the ethnic minorities are not represented in the game, then why is he so intent on alienating fans of rival codes by having a go at their attendance records? It doesn’t make sense, and it’s out of order. We should be looking to share fans with other codes. It’s already happening, but it should continue.
Despite all his deficiencies, Nathan Tinkler’s offer of dual memberships for the Newcastle Knights and Newcastle Jets was a masterstroke. It resulted in the Jets reaching all-time high membership numbers.
Similarly, there are many Melbourne Victory fans out there that also hold memberships with AFL clubs. We’re no longer at the stage where it’s us versus them. We’re on the way to reaching their lofty heights, and are rising rapidly.
Football needs to shake the defensive stance, because it’s no longer necessary. We having a footing in the Australian sporting world, and we’re not going anywhere.
But if we truly want to grow to become the biggest sport in Australia, then vilifying other codes is not the answer. It won’t bring in new fans, and will only infuriate and repel them. We don’t have to act as the inferior brother anymore.
Enough of the petty scraps, each code is sticking around and we might as well get along. Football is at a huge advantage, because we have the summer largely to ourselves, and if anything more solid relationships should be built with the other major footy codes.
Where Newcastle has united, so too should Parramatta. It might be a wild thought, but could Melbourne City target a partnership with an AFL club, to further define their point of difference to Victory, or at least to tap into a large fan-base? That might be going a bit too far, but you get the drift.
We aren’t above partnerships with other codes. And it shouldn’t be seen as a blight on the game when we admit we have much to learn from them. We are able to coexist, and code wars should quickly become a thing of the past. They’re ugly for both sides, and should only be maintained in banter among fans.
We should be proud and we should congratulate ourselves, but we don’t need to tarnish our celebrations with vitriolic public snipes.
Gallop’s comments are unlikely to take anything away from the sell-out crowd on Saturday night, which will compete with the Adelaide versus Victory blockbuster on Friday, but they do leave a bad taste in the mouth. Let’s celebrate our game and celebrate how far we’ve come, but let’s leave out the unnecessary trash-talking, because code wars will never get us anywhere.
Follow Janek on Twitter @JanekSpeight
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