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After listening to David Gallop talk about the Manly versus Melbourne brawl on NRL on Fox last night, I started to think about whether or not fights like the one between Stewart and Blair were really damaging the game.
There is always a lot of talk about cleaning up the game so that parents will encourage their kids to play rugby league, but what about the people that love watching rugby league because of it’s brutality and the odd stink?
Has anyone ever stopped to consider the number of people attracted to the game who are drawn to the anticipation of a potential blow up?
State of Origin is a great example of this. The big fights over the years including Lewis vs Geyer, Beetson vs Cronin, Harragon vs Bella, Hopoate vs Moore to name a few have made it what it is today.
It seems to me that the NRL, NSWRL, QRL and sponsors have been happy to cash in on the brutality of State of Origin over the years, so what makes this incident any different?
I’m not agreeing with two blokes punching the life out of each on the sideline, and agree it’s not a good look for the game. However, I would like to question those who make it seem like the sky is falling every time something like this happens.
Are there double standards? And are we being a bit precious?
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