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Dallas Johnson from the Storm is spear tackled in the NRL by Gold Coast Titans players AAP Image/Action Photographics/Jeff Crow
I don’t want to be the one who tells you that Santa Claus may not be who you think he is, but all this talk of code wars is about as close to reality as a bloke who breaks into your house and leaves you iPods instead of taking them. There I’ve said it.
I’ve read a lot about the apparent code wars that are occurring on my doorstep, but never heard a lot of concrete proof.
In fact, the only things I’ve heard which are apparently proof actually make me even more convinced it is a lot of hype, whipped up by media types who are fighting their own losing battle against dwindling ad revenues and circulations.
Sure, people are protective of their favourite codes. They don’t like them being bagged, or worse still, told they won’t be around in 30 years. But in the end, it is just an extension of the age old art of naval gazing.
Here’s why:
1. “People I know”
Surely the most commonly used phrase in the code war. One conversation with one particular punter is apparently enough to write the death certificate of any particular sport or confirm its dominance. That this particular punter may be wearing a Bulldogs, Waratahs, Mariners or Dockers jersey is rarely seen as any bias, as we agree with them.
Importantly, we see comments that reinforce our own bias as unheralded pieces of wisdom.
An opinion piece we agree with is ‘great journalism’ one that we don’t is ‘terrible, lazy journalism’. We ignore the fact that just because we don’t agree with something, doesn’t make it a good piece of writing.
Another example, a certain columnist attends a nameless charity lunch in Melbourne. He speaks with an unnamed member of the basketball world and apparently a number of unnamed people from AFL.
The columnist returns from his lunch convinced that others now share his view of the sporting world, because they may or may not have agreed with him over a few wines on a few points.
A compelling piece of social research? No. A piece of hype in a Sunday paper to get the blood boiling? Yes.
But let’s return to all that later.
2. Mutual exclusivity
The only time a “code war” actually exists is when you are forced to choose spending on one sport over another. In reality, this occurs very rarely.
The A-League shares largely a different calendar to the rest of the football codes, so is not really any form of direct competition.
A spectator who turns up in July to Energy Australia Stadium in Newcastle to watch the Knights is not then banned from doing so in February to watch the Jets.
Even when the time frames are shorter (in relation to the other football codes), people can still choose to spread their income across sports. The fact that matches are largely played across four days gives the organisers plenty to work with and they largely look to avoid a conflict which would harm their own gate.
3. The GFC
The Global Financial Crisis has added pressure to some household budgets and was meant to intensify the code war.
The reality was different.
Australia is apparently already on the road to recovery. Unemployment may have risen slightly, but people are hardly choosing the soup kitchen over attending a sporting match.
More than 90 percent of the workforce remains employed, their income unchanged. This is not the dire scenario predicted by our beloved media and therefore should not alter our sporting landscape in the slightest.
4. No code stands still
The biggest problem with people who espouse a code war is that they always do so from their own code’s development perspective. It’s naïve.
For argument’s sake, let’s take Craig Foster again.
Foster argues that in 20 years, football will be number one. This is by imagining his particular code with 20 years of development.
But Foster, like so many before, think that all other sports will, in 20 years, be in the same place they are today.
This is wrong
Every football code in this country will have made significant advances on where they are today. Of course, some may do it better than others. Which code does it best will be decided … in 20 years time.
5. The dual enemies
I’d argue that sporting codes have two real enemies: the concept of nothing and the enemy within.
First the concept of nothing.
The real enemy for footballing codes isn’t other footballing codes. It’s things like shopping, dining and other forms of entertainment.
Hen pecked ‘men’ choosing to spend their weekends wandering around large shopping malls with their partners looking for cushions and crockery and the many variations of the Stepford Husband is what will kill sporting clubs.
Rugby League hasn’t been blown away by AFL on the box, AFL hasn’t been blown away by the NRL. They were both slammed dunked by shows like Australian Masterchef, Packed to the Rafters and The Biggest Loser.
Live sport is up against shows that play on people’s competitive instincts (like sport) but also their vanity, greed … or stupidity.
It is similar with the battle for juniors.
Turn away from the sports pages and you don’t get stories about Australian society being filled with exhausted kids who have been flat out playing four different football codes in an effort to make one final grand decision.
No, you hear about Australian children, playing less sport and being some of the fattest in the world.
If there is a war going on for the hearts and minds, the football codes are getting hammered by PlayStations and junk food (another industry which seems content with multiple providers).
The other enemy is within themselves: The fair-weather fan.
The codes’ biggest battle is not converting others to follow their game, but convincing those who already do to get out to grounds and support their side.
The A-League provides the best example of this, but it affects every sport.
Quickly again to Foster who argued that every goal by Lyon convinces an Australian that football was a beautiful game. Maybe, but Australians watching Ligue One is the last thing the FFA wants.
They want people being convinced that football is the beautiful game, but by watching Sydney FC or anyone else in the A-League. There are enough football fans in Australia to fill most grounds a number of times over.
But A-League crowds suffer because people follow teams from European towns they have never visited and look down their noses at the local product.
Perhaps the best question for Foster is: How many Lyon backheels and scissor kicks will it take to fill Dairy Farmers Stadium?
But if every goal by Lyon or Barcelona convinces people of value in the beautiful game, wouldn’t every mark from Buddy Franklin do the same for AFL? Wouldn’t a Jaryd Hayne chip ‘n chase do it for the greatest game of all?
Wouldn’t a flick pass from Berrick Barnes do it for the game they play in heaven?
6. Population
How can the Gold Coast support three football codes when they previously couldn’t support one? That is a question I’ve heard many times. The answer is simple, it can because it has changed.
The Gold Coast is no longer just some tourist strip and a few hungover schoolies. It is the fastest growing area of Australia, in terms of population.
Codes are flocking there, not because they are looking for a fight, but they see a market that can support professional sport. Sure they will have to work hard to get people to back their team, but more to get them to turn off the plasma rather than turn up because they already own one type of jersey.
Public Enemy were right all those years ago. Don’t believe the hype.
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