God bless government bureaucracy! Until now, there was rarely any good news coming from the pen pushers and red tape merchants that patrolled our nation’s capital, but suddenly they are resembling the super heroes that reside in the Hall of Justice.
Fresh from writing us all cheques to save us from the perilous state the world’s bankers drove us into, it now seems that next in line for a treat is the National Rugby League.
Previously the game’s governing body could do little more than offer silent prayer in resistance to players leaving to ply their trade in the northern hemisphere.
But they seem to have found an ally in the British government, who suddenly seem less than keen to hand out visas to every player looking to up sticks and move to the land of warm beers and tanning salons.
Recently Todd Carney and Michael Crocker have found their pasts have again caught up with them with their applications for work permits being rejected on the grounds of criminal convictions.
There is something ironic about the British suddenly rejecting our convicts, but without going into the historical trends of migration of those on the wrong side of the law, it may have been the biggest assistance to the NRL as it attempts to crack down on player misbehaviour with the golden escape route of the English Super League suddenly in jeopardy.
However, the threat of bad publicity didn’t stop Bradford signing G. Bird (Gaol Bird?) on the line.
But it is not just the game’s bad boys feeling the pinch. The clean skins are also getting stung.
Despite the season already beginning, the Leeds Rhino’s new recruit Greg Eastwood is still waiting on his British passport (his dad was born in Huddersfield), while many clubs have been hit after their antipodean players went home for Christmas or the World Cup, or both, and suddenly found a once simple process getting very complex.
The talk around rugby league circles in England is that it may scare clubs off looking at high priced Australian talent. After all, there is nothing worse than if you have dedicated a large chunk of your salary to a player and they can’t get through the front door, which was, of course, a former intelligence test for prop forwards.
Those words must be music to the ears of Davis Gallop.
Maybe it is a centenary birthday present from the public service. After all, though it would be a year late, in Canberra that counts as being on time.
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.
The Raiders started with a bang. Xavier Savage capitalised on a horror Connor Tracey error.
"He's a winner, his side's on top of the table - where's Parra?"
Nicho Hynes is on track to get his first No.7 jersey for NSW with new coach Michael Maguire set to ignore a late push…
Park for a minute that most rugby league fans think that the Roosters losing out on a player is hilarious. Park again that most…
As AFL players retire in numbers, is the reality being made clear to their NRL counterparts?
The Maroons are lucky the women’s State of Origin series has been extended to three matches otherwise the shield would be close to being…
