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NRL CEO David Gallop launched an attack on Melbourne Storm supporters that no person in such a position should ever have muttered.
At a Crocmedia radio show, Gallop said: “I never really go for that whole passion line. I mean, terrorists are passionate about what they do and, you know, that doesn’t make it right.
“I obviously didn’t enjoy it, but I’m absolutely confident we made the right decision.
“They were involved in cheating and those people who booed me yesterday, well, they obviously support the cheating that was going on.
“Passion is a bad excuse and it gets used too much in sport… Passion isn’t something that is an excuse for poor behaviour.”
Yes, the club cheated. Yes, the club and its supporters have accepted that without supporting it one bit. No, they won’t stop blaming you for making the damage much worse than necessary. That is why the boos rang through AAMI Park on Sunday.
Gallop, as the ‘leader’ of a ‘national’ competition, needs to stand up and make decisions for the good of the code. However, on April 22, 2010, he failed the administrative process, he failed the hardworking coaches and players of the Storm and he failed the supporters.
Single-handedly deciding to strip the club of their 2007 and 2009 premierships and effectively the 2010 season, Gallop killed so much more than that.
Announcing the penalties and admitting that he took the decision into his own hands was the first in a long line of mistakes. While the full reports took months to surface, the quickfire reaction was the reason why so many supporters drowned out Gallop’s presentation on Sunday.
It may not have worked for the NRL to announce that they have uncovered the rort alone that morning, but surely the entire situation could have been handled much, much better.
The simple fact that the Melbourne versus Manly game was the first match involving the Storm he had attended since that April day was one major mistake. Not appearing at a home game in the Victorian capital until Sunday for the minor premiership was another.
Without such a significant and rash penalty, Gallop could have appeared at the ANZAC Day match against the Warriors last year and addressed the crowd. The bias against Melbourne that he has always shown would have disappeared had he felt for the supporters and promised that the right people would be punished.
He may not have been able to promise that the club wouldn’t lose the premierships or the 2010 season, but there is a reason he is the one who is attacked so easily.
An apology on Tuesday morning, an attempt at backtracking his words, will do little to mute the issue.
“We’ve seen poor decisions around breaching salary caps and that kind of thing because people say, ‘oh yeah, because he’s passionate about the club.’ Well, that’s not a good excuse for poor decisions,” Gallop said today.
What was his excuse for the poor decisions he has made over the years? Judging by all of the comments he has made, he must not be passionate about his job then.
The fact is his knee-jerk reaction last year was over the top, and his knee-jerk reaction to Sunday was deplorable. Just because the Storm aren’t in a rugby league heartland, it does not make the supporters any less important, let alone their passion for the club.
Gallop has seen the NRL through a period of change and expansion, but if he doesn’t understand the backlash then it seems the NRL needs more change than he can offer.
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