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At what point is the NRL going to get serious about player behaviour? Two recent examples leave this rugby league fan shaking his head.
First Blake Ferguson was cleared to train with the Roosters. Then Kirisome Auva’a was given a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to a domestic violence charge.
The NRL operates in a very competitive entertainment market and priority one for rugby league administrators is to attract new fans to the game.
New fans might attend attend matches. They might buy jerseys. Just by ‘following’ rugby league they add value to the product. Any money new fans invest in the sport is added revenue for administrators. The product itself grows in this way.
Every new fan the NRL manages to attract gives the sport a competitive advantage for every dollar that fan spends on the game.
Applying a business mindset to the day-to-day operation of sport is not a precise science, yet two things are abundantly clear:
1) The revenues that rugby league is able to generate requires that administrators run the game like they would a business; and
2) If the game is not effectively managed it will lose revenue over time and the product will likely suffer as a result.
In this context the NRL must change its approach.
The fact that players continue to step out of line shows that they do not value the privileged position they occupy as participants in the NRL. This is a professional competition that rewards them with very high salaries which can set an individual up for life.
The game’s administrators do not recognise that being invited to play rugby league in the NRL competition is a privilege and not a right. Many young men play rugby league but a very small proportion are good enough to play the game professionally. The competition for spots on a given club’s 25 man roster is intense.
If Ferguson or Auva’a were banned, many other well-behaved young blokes who would make the most of the opportunity. They might make a positive enough contribution to attract new fans. This is the alternative to giving repeat offenders second chances over and over again.
Do the NRL administrators think to engage sponsors before they issue registration to someone like Blake Ferguson? Would the Roosters sponsor, Steggles, be happy about having this guy promoting its products over 26 rounds?
The NRL operates an Integrity Unit and every year promotes a Women in League round. These concepts are undermined by their decision to dish up minor punishments to these players who have a negative impact on the profile of our sport.
That is right – rugby league is our sport. Anyone who supports the game and who invests their time and money in the NRL is a stakeholder. The interests of these stakeholders are threatened the longer Rugby League Central sits on its hands.
Critics will say the game owes a reformed wrong-doer the chance to rehabilitate by playing. This is not the case, the game owes these guys nothing. The NRL must create a culture of privileged participation by harshly responding to anyone who does the wrong thing.
Furthermore this issue should not become a discussion on what society’s response to domestic violence or criminal conduct should be – that is a distinctly separate point. The discussion is about whether these bad boys effect the game in a positive or negative way.
The answer is overwhelming the latter and the game should game must get serious in its response.
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