“Anybody who dares suggest that rugby league is not a culture to despise, then they are just as stupid and boorish as the offending players” – Patrick Smith, writing in The Australian newspaper.
Greg Inglis, a country boy, would have known days like these. Everyone would turn up from the town mayor to the town drunk. You see, the local footy team was in the finals.
It could have been any community, from Cairns to Cowra, from Port Stephens to Port Headland. But for the record, it was the Cooma Stallions playing a sudden death semi final against the reigning premiers, the Eden Tigers, last weekend,.
The highways to Cooma, the gateway to the mighty Snowies, wind through barren paddocks. Recent teasing rain had produced a cruel green pick that fooled none of the locals, especially the scrawny sheep.
The drought meant there wasn’t much money around.
“One’ll do ya, it’s not the bloody NRL grand final,” growled the gatekeeper at the Showground, refusing to take money for a young passenger in the car.
The ground was ringed by big-engined four wheel drives, the muddy kind, and utes. There wasn’t a Toyota Prius to be seen.
Thin lipped country blokes with ruddy cheeks and forearms like ships’ hawsers stood quietly, sipping on cans of beer despite the bitter westerly. Some of them coached the juniors earlier that day. Others helped set up the field or supported the club’s fundraisers when there wasn’t much to go around.
They looked at an announcement in the program and made a mental note to attend a benefit night for a family whose breadwinner had fallen ill.
“…a catalogue of incidents which indict rugby league as a sport infested by a culture of booze-fueled infatuation with manhood, manifest in the cowardly mistreatment of defenceless women” – Les Murray, writing on SBS World Game website
Wind-chapped women with more responsibilities than hours in the day gave up their Sunday afternoon to run the canteen. They refused to hand over a meat pie until it was warmed to perfection, and served with a smile and a “Thanks, luv.”
The Cooma fullback was a skinny blond kid who looked as if he should have been playing in the juniors. By the end of the match, he had saved two certain tries by standing his ground between rampaging Tigers’ forwards and the Stallions’ try line.
And yes, there was a bit of biff. The ref gave a penalty and quickly got the game going again, issuing stern warnings on the run. There was no wringing of hands, and the sky did not fall in.
As the day wore on, the graceful old grandstand was taken over by a riot of children chasing footballs and dreams Among them perhaps was an Aboriginal boy with a look of the happy, joyous kind.
Another Aboriginal boy had earlier that week stood outside a big city courthouse among a riot of media.
Greg Inglis had a look of the haunted, hunted kind. Commentators with thinly veiled agendas had already rendered their judgements. Guilty of all charges, your honour, especially the accusation that the dark culture of rugby league could produce no other outcome.
“There is a major cultural problem there, that can’t be disputed now” – The Roar forums.
Of course, someone could have asked the good folk on the wild Monaro about the culture of rugby league. But you see, they haven’t given it much thought.
They’re too busy living it.
POSTSCRIPT: The Cooma Stallions overcame a twelve point deficit to defeat the Eden Tigers and live to fight another day.
Brooksta
Guest
For the Record......... Stallions in Grand Final in 1st's and Reserves next Sunday and the Skinny blonde kid is still killin it. I wanna be a stallions player..................................
oikee
Guest
Fair point Tom, but with the amount of players and leagues soccer has i dont hold that against them. If any other sport had the same following as soccer, you would expect more garbage. The NFL in america has a simalar problem, and that game is followed by millions. You can only defend a sport for so long, then you have to admit its a problem with soceity as a whole.
Tom Alexander.
Guest
If we were to put together a list of the scandals involving the "the beautifull game," it would make for some pretty ugly reading. The shit that happens in Soccer makes RU and RL issues seem more suited to an episode of Jerry Springer than the national newspapers. Organised crime and match fixing in Italy, murder, kidnapping and extortion in South America, crowd violence and hooliganism require a whole volume on it's own. And that's just what happens off the field. A real Pandora's box.
Mick from Giralang
Guest
Good luck next week.
True Tah
Guest
“…a catalogue of incidents which indict rugby league as a sport infested by a culture of booze-fueled infatuation with manhood, manifest in the cowardly mistreatment of defenceless women” - Les Murray, writing on SBS World Game website" Forgive me if Im wrong, didnt an A-League player get charged with sexual intercourse with a minor, and wasnt Robinho alleged to have raped a defenceless woman? Im not aware of any NRL players having sex with underage girls, so does this mean that futbol players have problems too?? There is a lot of good work done by NRL players, Craig Wing with downs syndrome charities, a lot of the Islander boys involved in helping youths in Western Sydney, yet this is not reported at all. Les Murray would be best served to thing before writing these words down.
Cooma Stallion
Guest
I play 1st grade for the Cooma Stallions.. That was one of the best games in the clubs long history. Eden had one won the last 4 premierships and we are the 1st team in 4years to knock them out of the finals race. There is nothing better then a Cooma home crowd on a Sunday afternoon rain hail or shine. As for the skinny fullback one of the toughest little blokes i know and a definite Champion.
Tom Alexander.
Guest
The rugby league culture i remember is that of a small sugar town dominating much more well resourced/supported city teams on the sporting field. To literally see a town and the surrounding district turning up on a saturday afternoon week in week out to watch their Fathers, Sons and Brothers play with such immense pride in their small town and it's colours, is stuff that my memories are made of. Many times these teams played in tropical downpours that turned their fields into mudheaps. But the truly inspirational stuff happened after the game. And that was seeing some of these same players head off to the local suger mill to commence their nightshift work to feed their families, rather than head down to the local pub to piss their heads up when (especially after a win) they had every opportunity to.
Worlds Biggest
Guest
That's a fair point mate, that element to NRL doesn't stop me from supporting the game either, I love the on field stuff. It's the off field stuff, while predictable and tiresome that I have issue with yet I still follow the game. Granted NRL and AFL dominate the sporting landscape from a media coverage perspective which is what your last point alludes to.
oikee
Guest
Sorry Worlds Biggest, i was not defending the Boof-head Culture , if you read my post correctly you would see that i admit to league having this culture,!! Its part and parcel to the game. My previous posts about league mention Big, Strong Fast and Ugly. Every-day life sort of people. Also in Union you have much simular types, Big, Fat slow and Very Ugly. All i am saying is Boof-heads wont stop me from supporting a sport. Weather or not some kid has a education or not makes no difference to sporting ability, you only need look no further than D.Beckham to realise this, "thick as 2 planks". No disrespect intended. League has 16 professional teams to contend with, AFL 16 and good cover from down south. Union has what, 4 pro clubs to control.
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Oikee - take your head out of the sand mate. If you don't think there is a " boofhead " element in League ( NRL ) then your living on a different planet. As I mentioned, I love the game ( have also played it ) but don't appreciate some aspects of it which I am entitled to outline. This is not league / class bashing so don't jump on your high horse with that clap trap rubbish. I openly criticise & praise any code if it is warranted so this is not a crusade against League.
PuntPal
Guest
Glen You make a fair point - that community minded citizens are involved in all sports and so we should not get too carried away with Mick's well written story about a country rugby league match. However, there are a few things that I think make Mick's example perfect for showing the true 'rugby league culture': 1) Notice the reference to economic hard times. This is an issue that affects the NRL more than any other code, as it is a working class sport played by people in the working class suburbs or in country areas where times have been tough. The willingness of clubs and communities to bond together to support each other is not monopolised by rguby league culture, but I think it is most prominent in rugby league. 2) Mick also pointed out the way the media lampooned Inglis without the full story being told. This is also something unique to NRL. Yes the media always try to beat up a story, but AFL, Soccer and Union have all escpaed their scandals without being dragged through the 6pm news for nights on end. Rugby league is a target (for various reasons) and this is something that makes its resilience even more impressive 3) Finally, I also loved that Mick picked up on the orgnaic nature of rugby league culture. Its not something that is manafactured through a focus group campaign (Union - Wallabies) or copied from other countries (A League soccer)...it is a self evolving, natural phenomenom that just comes hand in hand with the game. The point was that if you look around, the rugby league culture continues to thrive, despite snobs in the media constantly predicting the downfall of the NRL. When a sport has so much grass roots support, its culture should not be called into question so haphazardly by people like Pat Smith
The Link
Guest
Agree, I think I saw an article about him being involved with the Sharks again, not before time.
Lewie
Guest
Lewie
Guest
Rugby League fans are the hypocrites???????
Crosscoder
Guest
MichaelC Patrick Smith generalises in his tirade against so called rl low "boofhead"culture ,by having a direct shot at fans who believe otherwise,meaning moi and any fan worth his salt that follows the game and any decent player (and there are many) who plays the game.And gets space constantly in a national paper to do so. Masters has a shot at AFL the game itself(viz a viz Tv contracts ,and not the culture ,just as many journos and commentators in Vic have a go at Rugby league and the play/structure,which is done in a protective manner.I have not read Masters and I am not a fan of his deride the culture (as being low or boofhead)of any other sport when there have been anti social acts. If it is Ok to bag Masters ,it sure as hell is Ok to return serve on P.S.,who would it appears know as much about the majority of rugby league followers and players,as he does nuclear physics.
Mick from Giralang
Guest
Pippinu: No reasonable reading article could conclude that it's an exercise in proclaiming superiority over the other codes. On the other hand, I'm always up for a bit of inter-code biff, if you'd prefer.
GaryGnu
Guest
I see a recurring theme here in response to Mick article that Rugby League has an image problem. I really dislike this argument and the focus on it. Those who speak in defense of League agianst charges of a poor culture proudly cite the institutional steps taken at the elite level to eradicate unsavoury happenings and strong community base it has in towns and suburbs around its heartland. In reponse some have pointed out Leagues image problem. I would caution too much focus on the "image" as then all the colour, substance, variety and other charactersistics that make an institution worth having in our society just disappear. This is exactly the way that politics is evolving en masse today and we are a poorer place for it. I would hate to see sporting bodies go the way of political parties. The Darius Boyd interview was remarkable for what it wasn't rather than what it was. THere was no parroting of cliches, meaningless references to how great the crowd was (yes I know it was at training) or any other scripted lines read by nothing more than a trained actor that happens to be good at another skill. (Ian Thorpe anyone?) Bever Fever, I too love these sort of pieces, thanks for the tip about Paul Daffey.
Karl
Guest
While I am here, Rugby League can be proud of it's history of accepting all. While middle class self serving poict makers were destroyong Aboriginal culture, rugby league was there lending a hand and given Aboriginals positions of power and respect decades before any other sport. The fact that rugby league deals with these issues openly rather then sweeep it under the carpet with the help of the media is just another reason to be proud. Stand up Rugby League supporters. Darius Boyd treated the media s they should be treated. With contempt and no doubt he and Bennett are laughing about it know.
Karl
Guest
A great story and well written. Of course there is a media agenda against the NRL. It is not a perception. If there was no agenda the media would demand AFL players who are alleged to have assaulted a women are stood down like NRL players. They do not make these demands and they do not run the headlines for days, weeks months or years as they do with rugby league. What happened to the Carlton rape allegations? Gone. The media has made Hoppa and rugby league infamous for his finger antic in a game, but the fact that many AFL players were masterbating in the dressing rooms before games has been lost somehow.
one wise man
Guest
You lost me when you compared taking recreational drugs to assulting women There is no comparison between which is the worst one is a crime the other bad judgement