I love rugby league with a passion, and have done for many decades. It is the singular most exciting, brutal, skillful and exhilarating sport on the planet.
Particularly, I love the Rabbitohs. However, there are a couple of other clubs I admire such as the Storm and the Broncos – both for their style of play and their ability to continue to unearth young and exciting players.
Conversely, there are a couple of clubs I love to hate, because it fosters such great rivalry and traditions. Prime examples are the Roosters and Dragons.
Do I really “hate” them? Of course not, but I do hate seeing them win and particularly hate losing to either of them.
So my bias, dislikes and preferences are out in the open for all to see.
Having stated my love of league, I find myself for the first time in my life wondering why I bother to follow a sport that is more and more often serving to confuse and frustrate me with it’s lack of logic and consistency.
My intention in this article is to outline what I think are some blatant instances of inconsistency, then throw it open for anyone to discuss, agree or disagree with or whatever your perception might be.
Okay, let’s go back to 2012. At that time, the shoulder charge was a legal tackle, the NRL even used clips of some of the most brutal shoulder charges in their promo clips.
In a game against St George, Greg Inglis made one of the best fullback tackles you would ever hope to see on a runaway Dean Young.
The photos of the tackle afterwards clearly showed the initial point of contact to be the chest, but accidental contact was made with Young’s head. There was an outrage in the media, particularly from one journalist who said it was the most violent incident he had ever seen.
After the media witchhunt and hysteria, Inglis was subsequently suspended for three weeks.
It’s important to understand Young was not hurt and played the following week.
Fast forward to 2015 and the annual All Stars Game.
Cronulla skipper Paul Gallen hit Souths rookie Kyle Turner in the jaw with his shoulder, a tackle deemed illegal and he was penalised for it. After Turner went down, Gallen flopped on him and delivered two elbows to the head of player Turner.
Turner was carried off, found to have major neck damage, has undergone neck surgery and could possibly miss the entire season.
The penalty for Gallen? Nothing, nada and zip. No case to answer.
The media uproar? Nothing, particularly silent was the journalist who was up in arms about Greg Inglis’ only a few years ago.
Apparently a tackle which causes no damage and allows the player to play the following week is far far worse than one in which a deliberate elbow was used, threatens a player’s career and makes him miss possibly an entire season.
Okay, maybe it’s me, but can someone explain this to me? Because honestly I don’t get it.
Does NRL stand for No Real Logic?
It’s an issue, and it’s an issue a lot of league fans are discussing and becoming more and more disillusioned with. All we want is consistency.
Want some more?
In 2013 against Manly, Greg Inglis was spear tackled three times in the one game. Not once, just by accident. No, nor was it twice due to bad luck, there was three different attempts to bury his head in the sandy turf of Brookie.
Did we see an outrage in the media or from the NRL about such grubby activity possibly ending the career of one of our greatest ever players?
No.
However, to make matters worse, it was even suggested by some media experts that GI was to blame and needed to examine and possibly change his running style.
Really? Okay, let’s assume for the sake of argument that these ‘experts’ were right, which they most certainly were not, and Inglis needs to examine his running style because GI’s ambition was not to win a comp or become the greatest ever fullback, rather, his intent was to bury his own head and spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
Let’s now move forward to the grand final in 2014.
The Bulldogs captain and prop James Graham knocks both Sam Burgess and Dave Tyrrell into the next cosmos, to the point Tyrrell was carried off on a stretcher and played no further part in the game.
How did Graham accomplish this? With a David Gillespie style rib rattler? No. With a Terry ‘Igor’ Randall style bone cruncher? No.
In both instances he led with his head and made contact to the head of the opposing player.
Was there a call for Graham to examine or change his running style? Don’t be silly, of course not. He’s a “character” and “adds colour” to our sport, according to the media and NRL associates.
So, Inglis get’s spear tackled three times in one game and it’s his fault and he needs to change, despite the fact he was the victim, but James Graham can knock people out with his head without a single question being asked of him or his style.
It’s a wonderful sport with the potential to be popular worldwide. However until we remove the inconsistencies and perceived bias towards certain clubs and players, we will always come across as an amateur sport appealing only to a few yobbos based in some colonial outpost.
Such a pity for such a great game.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Despite a poor season by his own high standards, Latrell Mitchell is still a chance to force his way into the NSW team for…
You wouldn’t have to look back too far to remember a time when the Roosters had too many good backs to fit into the…
Queensland are quietly facing a heavy injury toll as debate cranks up about Origin selections but they will happily deal with it in their…
Refusing to be drawn on who will wear the NSW State of Origin No.6 jersey, incoming Blues coach Michael Maguire says he won't rule…
Penrith have opted to give Nathan Cleary another week on the sidelines to recover from his hamstring injury, with the world's best player to…
Joseph Manu is to leave the Sydney Roosters at the end of the 2024 NRL season after the club confirmed his move to Japanese…
