Originally from Australia, I live in East London at present. And if there is one thing you realise when you live in London, it is that football dominates the newspapers.
In general, the back six pages of the newspapers are filled with football news.
I mean, I wouldn’t even know the London Broncos existed unless I knew about them before I got here. And it’s not even football season. The Broncos are part of (to my knowledge) the only professional sporting competition currently underway in England.
We are currently in the off season of the EPL, England are out of the Euros, Wimbledon started yesterday and the Olympics is in less than a month. You would think that the papers would have something else to focus on right?
Wrong! I still read four pages of football in the London Evening Standard today.
What could they possible have to talk about? Player transfers and coach movements.
It doesn’t matter what time of the year or what is happening in the world, football always has something to talk about.
Every year around this time, before the 30 June deadline, there is a frantic rush of player movements in the NRL. There is speculation and media interest and I, for one, read every article.
So why can’t we have designated transfer windows? And why can’t we organise player contracts at the end of the season?
Did anyone like the fact that before the start of the season James Maloney signed with another club? I certainly wasn’t impressed.
Two week, mid-season transfer windows would be ideal. The first could be between rounds 8 and 10 and the second between rounds 18 and 20.
Then, once the grand final is over, players would be able to negotiate and sign contracts until the new season commenced.
I am also a fan of a player transfer fee but that is a topic for another article.
What do you think, Roarers? Am I flogging a dead horse or will the ARLC finally wake up and implement something similar?
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