Everyone has had their say over the Manly-Melbourne brawl last Friday night, but among all the mayhem of the game was an act of respect and care for an opposition player that deserves applause.
Billy Slater is no favourite of mine but last Friday my respect for Slater grew immeasurably when he cradled the head of a seriously injured David Williams.
The Manly winger who was later diagnosed with a fracture to a neck vertabrae, after effecting a try-saving tackle on the Sea Eagles flyer.
If it had been an NFL game, the tacklers would probably have danced some complicated jig and high-fived each other, while their opponent was fitted for a neck brace.
So kudos to Billy Slater for his attention to the plight of an injured opponent, even in this most fierce of rivalries.
Which brings me to Roy Masters. In his Sydney Morning Herald column, Masters made mention of the Slater incident as part of a wider flaying of rugby league administration.
And hidden in the article was his usual potshot at the Manly Sea Eagles, where he wrote:
“… the Brookvale crowd on Friday night bayed for blood, believing that Melbourne’s 2007 premiership was won via the chequebook.”
He then added, “Brookvale, as any observer of Manly’s spending powers circa late 1970s knows, continues to be rugby league’s last bastion of old-fashioned hypocrisy.”
When will Masters put this 30-year-old grudge to bed? For the uninitiated, it was Masters who coined the term ‘Fibros vs Silvertails’ in the late 70s as a way of introducing a class war to rugby league.
He did it ostensibly to motivate his team Western Suburbs, especially in their clashes with Manly, who signed three Wests players in 1979; John Dorahy, Les Boyd and Ray Brown.
It was a thinly disguised motivational tactic in a game where blood, fists and brawls were a common part of the game in that era.
Backed by a robust Leagues club, Manly had money to spend and rugby league was on the verge of entering a world of full-time professionalism.
However, it was a game that never strayed far from its working class roots in any area, no matter what Masters tried to make people believe.
Players still supplemented their incomes; Manly’s Max Krilich was a plumber, Terry Randall was a concreter, Balmain’s Olsen Filipana worked on a council garbage truck, Wests captain Tom Raudonikus ran a fruit market.
Supporters came from working and middle class demographics, and even Masters couldn’t have been blind enough to know that there were areas where Manly drew their support which were every bit as ‘working class’ as his ‘Fibro Brigade’ who ate up his every ignorant word in their support of the Magpies.
What Masters conveniently forgot to mention was that Manly’s attempts to recruit the best players were based on a model similar to a club from the 60s who became obsessed on unseating St George at the top of the premiership.
That club was Western Suburbs.
Did his motivation work? Well, given that it still resonates three decades later, he was very successful at the hype.
As a coach, he never won a premiership with either Wests or St George, who he went on to coach later in his career (a cashed-up St George who were building the “Taj Mahal” of Leagues clubs in Kogarah. Roy’s working class values were conveniently forgotten, obviously)
And so to the present, where Masters has decided that Melbourne’s salary cap cheating was no different to Manly’s spending powers of the 1970s.
Of course, there is no comparison, and any reasonably informed fan of the game would know this.
Melbourne have got on with the job this season after their punishment of 2010, and, barring a miraculous set of results in round 26, will win the minor premiership. They have got over it after 12 months.
33 years down the track, Roy Masters shows no signs of getting over his own twisted viewpoints. Frankly, it’s getting very boring.
Jaceman
Guest
I notice Wilson backed NRL after a cassidy comment on offsiders - funny CC you didnt mention that?
PaddyBoy
Guest
To be fair, Manly do it more than most.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
jaceman Try reference http://stats.rleague.com/rl/crowds/summary.html
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Well again Jaceman it pays to look at the stats provided by rugby league for the SL and ARL period compared to the date Gallop mentioned as per http://stats.rleague/rl/crowds/summary.html It in fact supports Gallop's comments and suggests being deceptive whatever,is nonsense. Gallop can only comment on info pertaining to AFL to hand.In any case the draft remains and players down the line can be drafted to Fremantle wherever. I just watched the Cronulla v tigers match ,and saw a large number of local juniors from both sides play in the respective teams,that is Gallop's argument. BTW read the nice fluff piece by Rebecca Wilson in Saturday's D.T.,and you call that outlet a rl promotional tool LOL. Watch the Offsiders this morning and listen to the one sided views on the Friday night brawl and the comments,including those of Caroline Wilson .Talk about a stacked deck. And that is good having tension between 9 and Fox,especially when it comes to bidding for a top rating product.
Jaceman
Guest
My point was that of course the figures are up since SL, he definitely included SL and ARL: tyeams when mentioning 8 different clubs winning the premiership in the last 10 years (in 2005) so I suggest he is being disingenuous. He also claimed that Brisabne kids could be drafted to Fremantle AFL without acknowledging the AFLs new draft policies for Qld and NSW players to be introduced shortly. So all in all a deceptive guy but he has a lot to deal with...
Jaceman
Guest
THe DT was on about live footy today which means there will be tension bettween Nine and Fox esp with no common ownership now...
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Jaceman Rothfield(despite being a Sharks supporter) has made some silly comments about the club over the years.So nothing surprises me. Campese was a junior rl player, at a young age.There was very strong talk at the time ,he may switch,such as there was strong talk that Mark Ella would do likewise.Rothfield and he is not my reference point was hardly Robinson Crusoe with that assessment.There was talk that Anasta would go to union.The papers are full of that.Craig wing just about every year . The same views were put on A Johns going to ru and boy was that a stuff up,and even Tana Umaga to rl. A lot of the sporting media uses rumour, innuendo and street talk to make suggestions out of left field. Yet there was little mention in the media of a young ru Sevens flyer ,who plays for Eastwood ,signing with the west tigers(john Grant). You show me a sporting journalist that has got it right on all occasions,and I will show your the living Elvis.
Jaceman
Guest
Rothfield was also known in his younger days for annually writing, without shame, the same article that David campese was going to RL
Jaceman
Guest
I will watch Haynes efforts with the whistle in the Souths game this Friday night. with interest..
stabpass
Guest
@ClipperWithChipsOnBoth, I totally agree with what nuts said, the article was not a put down of RL.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Jaceman Seymour incident,when drunk in Cronulla Mall,she made it out to be something it wasn't and was corrected. She made a point about crowds falling in the NRL in one segment,and was told crowds ATT were actually up. The emphasis on offield NRL incidents are given more airtime,similar incidents are dismissed with a few words on AFL.Then her famous words'how many hits can this game take". Both she and Masters get skewered at times,with silly comments. Please don't be an apologist for Wilson,she does little researchon rl,and relies on hearsay and the media. Then she made the comment about rl,stating she is not interested in the code,and little more so in SOO.Yet she is prepared to make assertions.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Jaceman. The fact Whately had to correct her on one at least occasion ,with an ignorant comment may have tempered her views.But old habits die hard,she is waiting for the right moment,years of habits are hard to break.Cassidy on the other hand,has that look of glee on his face,when something goes amiss in the NRL.Is that a Collingwood thing? I really am not interested in what Master's investigations may have found. Anycase the Burgess incident was investigated by Schubert ,as was the Inglis situation with Souths and attended to. He(Masters) spends as much time knocking the NRL adminn, some clubs(usually those Sl affiliated ones,Manly his pet hate as much as he does the AFL. Some times he is spot on.,sometime he is off target.It is called human nature.
Jaceman
Guest
OK name a half truth on Offsiders about NRL though they allow masters to comment on Union which he knows nothing about...
Jaceman
Guest
Actually I think Wilson has eased off on the NRL compared to what she used to be over the top - it may be coincidental but so has her employer and maybe after she joined Nine on the Monday night show. Gerard Whately toned down the anti-NRL rhetoric after he joined Fox as a presenter in mid last year soon after the Storm salary cap saga. BTW what happened to Masters (keen to follow non Storm clubs salary issues) investigation of the Rabbits Burgess signing where he found a discrepancy between visa application and Rabbits salary (lower)
mushi
Guest
Please don't confuse popularity with quality. it is a tactic of many writers/"news" sites (including this one) to put out poorly formed controversial peices to get a recation and increase circiualtion/hits etc.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Boydy. Agree Slater has done a few silly and uncalled for things on the football field.I looked at the tackle involved on the Wolfman,and saw no twisting of the neck,but the simple act of his head slamming into another body at full speed. Maybe you should take the matter up with Harrigan,he stated he has no problem with the Storm's tackling style. .I could dissect just about every game,and see the use of the elbow on the head in tackle by the usual suspects. Is Stewart under instructions from Hasler to use this method in his tackling,or has that one gone though to the keeper.The less said about Watmough the better.Harry highshot. Just as Blairs style is thuggish. And I have also played the game,as my honk will attest.I know each tackle you make is to ensure the attacker feels i and knows you are around.. Yes I am rating him on one act,just as I would rate anyone who performs an act that saves someone from either serious injury or worst of all death.Slater's act was a spur of the moment decision,hardly examining what has preceeded the past Wolfman's parents thought it exceptional.,that will do me..
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Jaceman.. Super league comp finished in 1997,after 1 year.from 1998 to 2010 is 13 years inclusive for NRl comps that is my point. Secondly there approx 22 teams in both the SL and ARL comps Thirdly statistics provided by the NRL are formulated by David Middleton Statistics,who has been doing the job as official stats provider to the code for decades. I put his experiece ,his accuracy and his voluminous quantity of facts,against anything an outsdier or for that matter ayone else within the code can provide. . If you are trying to suggest that Gallop is trying to pull the wool over people's eyes,then he is a lot smarter than that.You and others spend alot of time on thsee threads calling Masters dishonest,now Gallop,Rothfield,Gould.Ever thought that now and again ,you may have got the bull by the horns,and are in fact incorrect yourself on occasions. You acccuse Gallop of dishonesty publicly,then it behoves you to provide factual evidence on the same public forum,or forever hold your peace.@ that he got it wrong and b) he delvberately mislead the public. I heard what Williams stated,I watched the press conference and read his quotes.It was a shot at rugby league as an excuse to deflect the monies paid.At the same time offfield incidents occurred in the other code,which he completely ignored.He is covering his A,for justification purposes. I stated Masters is not my ideal and I cringe at times to some of his views,on other occasions he is right on the money.When you guys have the intestinal fortitude to agree the Offsiders do similar such things ,then we may be getting somewhere.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
jaceman. I suggest you read a lot more of Rothfield's articles,becuase that view is not sharedf by many in the rl community for someone supposedly a rl journo. Ask the Sharks player ,after a few too many walking up the Cronulla Mal,achieved front page on the D.T. as if he was someone out of Underbelly.. Masters writes in his neanderthal style.Many consider his views on most occasions to be close to the mark.Conversely the recipients of his cynicism ,tend to believe he is wrong all the time,yet quote him when the occasion suits.I am bemused to put it nicely.Cake and eat it them is alive and well. I am not a fan of Masters,Ii just find hypocrisy flourishing. And it appears the producers (Melbourne domiciled)of the Offsiders(AFL dominated) allow the half truths and plain ignorance against rl,to continue.
Boydy
Guest
Again I say Crossover: I can’t help but feeling that there may have been a little bit of guilt associated with it. When you’re coached to tackle the opposition in a manner that requires you to try and twist their heads like opening a stubbie then when you finally hear the crack that goes with a neck injury reality might just hit home a little and cause you to be a little more compassionate than usual. Remember this is the same bloke who used to try and kick the football like a Beckham free kick when an opposition player was scoring a try even though the tryscorer’s head was never more than a few centimetres away. You are rating him on one act. I've played the game mate and seriously, you're out to hurt the opposition, otherwise don't play the game, that's part of it. Sometimes though you realise you've taken it to far.
Todd Slater
Guest
Totally agree Mark. Warren Ryan & Roy are still arguably the best minds in the game, not coaching, along with the professor Ron Massey. Gallop could have taken a different tack as could have the media on this. First by praising what a wonderful act of sportsmanship Billy Slater showed with David Williams - made that the focus first then highlighting what a great rivalry these two clubs enjoy, then got to the brawl. I mean Billy Slater basically saved David Williams from becoming a possible paraplegic right there. I'm with Roy all the way. The bloke who wrote the article above should stick to writing about his favourite team - the Socceroos.