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Ever wanted to pen a letter to a sports administrator of your choice? Here is the first part of my series of letters to the NRL CEO David Smith. This letter focusses on the Indigenous All Stars clash.
Dear Dave Smith,
Davo mate, what have you gotten yourself into? And by that I mean, welcome to the wonderful world of rugby league – a magical land of fanatics complaining vociferously about dodgy refs, dodgy draws and dodgy future planning.
Now if you’re not exactly sure, your job is to shut us up.
To help you on your quest, I’m going to make things easier by going over each issue so you only have to deal with just one fanatic – me.
First things first, the NRL All Stars match.
My tip to you: ignore the whingers who want to wield the axe. They still think adding a Canberra team was too revolutionary. The All Stars is a sold concept. Basically, you hold an annual Indigenous match against strong opposition while engaging fans through the selection process. This is a win-win in my book.
But can it be improved? Well, look at the opposition. If you want to build the All Stars match into an Origin-style event then both sides need something to play for.
I’ve heard the argument “it’s a privilege to be selected as an NRL All Star…”.
Sure, but think of it this way – would a single player care if they could no longer be an NRL All Star?
At the end of the day there’s just far more meaning for those players when they pull on a state or national jersey. The All Stars is just another notch on their belt.
But compare that to the Indigenous side. Their selection is important to the very fabric of their soul. That’s the difference between the two teams and the passion involved.
My opinion is that the match should be played annually between the Indigenous All Stars and the Islander All Stars. These two groups represent the largest minority player backgrounds in the league and you would have an opposition team of players whose selection is just as sacred.
To players of Polynesian and Melanesian background, this could be the substitute for the big game experience that they’ve been lacking while sitting on the sideline during State of Origin.
When they take these skills back to their individual Test nations then the international game also benefits.
But I’d even go one step further. I understand the connection to February but the game is tossed into the end of the cricket window amid a poorly mapped out pre-season. If you’re going to have two Origin style teams playing in a big game, then play it where that experience benefits the international squads and maximises audience interest.
The All Stars match should be played on the Friday immediately before the Sunday of the NRL grand final. With the match building up over the four-week finals period, it means there’s an increased rugby league coverage during the September news cycle.
That exposure is good for the game. Coming off the preliminary finals the TV audience would be around the same mark nationally leading into the grand final.
Voting would begin during a Close The Gap/Indigenous/NAIDOC style round during the latter half of the season.
Rep camps would start first week of the finals so players would be promoting the match and working in their communities. Other players would then enter the camp as soon as they’re eliminated from the NRL finals.
The game would be hosted outside of Sydney – potentially places like Perth, Melbourne, Canberra, Newcastle, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Townsville, Auckland and Wellington, ideally regions with suitable stadia that have a strong link to Indigenous and/or Islander people.
At that time of year places like Townsville are better positioned to host than they are during the February wet season.
Finally the jerseys: predominantly Red for the Indigenous side representing the land and Blue for the Islanders representing the ocean, both integrated with artistic cultural imagery.
That’s not all, Dave. The next letter focuses on how to fix the pre-season.
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