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Once again a big-name player has threatened to defect to a rival code, but rugby league has shown again and again that no single player is bigger than the sport itself.
As a league fan I hope and pray that the Parramatta board don’t make any hesitant offers to Semi Radradra. The man has not only disgraced himself, but the game of rugby league.
He does not deserve to play in the best rugby league competition in the world.
For a man who made such a fuss about being eligible to play for the Australian national team, Radradra doesn’t seem to want to have anything to do with the place anymore. By making a getaway ala Sonny Bill Williams in the middle of the season is one of the worst things you can do in sport.
Let’s not forget that like Williams, Semi’s team aren’t doing so well at the moment. After all their salary cap dramas and injuries, most players would want to leave. However, most of them have stuck around (if not because of the salary cap pressures), but now he has just committed one of the most cowardly acts in sports.
No one has been protesting that the likes of Karmichael Hunt, Israel Folau or Williams return to the NRL.
Rugby league continues to produce athletes that are the envy of most sports. When do you ever hear of the game poaching first grade rugby union players anymoreS? Very rarely does this occur, and even then most can’t even crack it into reserve grade.
Don’t forget Wendell Sailor, Benji Marshall, Sam Burgess, Mat Rogers, Timana Tahu and Lote Tuqiri all returned to league after their union stints. Meanwhile, there have been cases of average league players breaking into the Wallabies’ squad, with names such as Joe Tomane and Cooper Vuna.
If there is one player I’d like to see the Eels return from a rival code, it’s Jarryd Hayne, who belongs in the NRL. His stop-gap solution to play for the Fiji Sevens team seems like a forced move and he would be more than welcome back in rugby league.
While rugby league remains one of the smaller sports in the world, it definitely has a production line that oozes talent. No matter how high calibre a player is, if they do choose to leave, another young talent will fill the void.
If you want to leave our great game, go for it Semi. Just don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
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