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Some observations on the Ben Barba front now that the smoke has cleared a little from the initial explosion – starting with the possibility that he might be the most naturally brilliant player the game has ever seen.
Note that I said most naturally brilliant – not best. There is a difference.
What prompts me to suggest this is not the amazing season Barba had last year – although you could use that as the basis of a decent argument – but what he did in the recent All Stars game.
Barba was the man-of-the-match with three tries for the Indigenous team, at a time when he would have had to have been going through the thick of the personal dramas that have subsequently been revealed as the reason he is out of the game indefinitely.
Judging by the sheer joy on Barba’s face during the All Stars match, playing rugby league was a relief for him that night, unlike last weekend when he reportedly told a Canterbury trainer during a trial game that he didn’t want to keep playing.
And the fact he was able to turn the brilliance on like a tap in the All Stars game, despite the burden, shows that Barba is an even greater talent than what we thought. He’s beyond freakish.
Which brings me to my next observation, which is that Canterbury are, indeed, a club in crisis.
I don’t mean in the sort of context that they were in crisis as a result of the salary cap drama of 2002, but the statistics from last season that detail Barba’s ability to not only score tries but make them prove the team’s fortunes are inextricably linked to his form.
That’s great when he’s playing, but a cause for massive concern when he’s not, and the team has spent an entire off-season preparing with him as a focal point at fullback.
I guess it comes down to your assessment of what constitutes a crisis, which the dictionary defines as “an unstable situation of extreme danger or difficulty”, or “a crucial or turning point in the course of something”.
Bulldogs chief executive Todd Greenberg told the media at the club’s season launch on Tuesday that the club was not in crisis, saying: “Let’s be real, let’s be honest, we have got a player who is going through a difficult time and we’re supporting him. Our club’s got a lot of big plans for 2013 and tonight is the start of that.”
Greenberg also pointed out that, rather than getting nervous, club sponsors were backing the club and had congratulated it for its handling of the situation.
I’ve got no doubt all of that is true, and I get where Greenberg is coming from, but when your best player and last year’s Dally M player of the year is suddenly ruled out of the game indefinitely because of complex personal issues that’s a crisis for the club.
It doesn’t mean Canterbury have done anything wrong as a club, but it does mean they’re in a hell of a hole.
Still on Greenberg, and he’s been very impressive as the club leader in front of the cameras this week.
He has spoken with great clarity on the Barba situation, articulating the club’s deep concern for the player on one hand and acknowledging the need to bring in the treatment experts on the other.
Can the Bulldogs win the premiership without Barba? Well, it depends on what without him ends up meaning. Without him for a few weeks, a few months or the entire season?
If it ends up being the entire season, then even allowing for my appreciation of Des Hasler’s genius as a coach I would have to say no.
Barba’s brilliance helped make up for the fact the Bulldogs didn’t have a star halfback last season. Without him, they’re just not strong enough across the four key positions that constitute the “spine” to go all the way.
My final observation is that while the Barba story is obviously not a good news one, and that he deserves our very best wishes while he goes away to fight his demons, it’s another example of the perverse fact that any publicity is good publicity in rugby league.
It has got everyone talking, just like the previous bad news story did and the next one will. Everyone’s got an opinion, and the debate rages. Whether it’s good or bad news, the game keeps feeding off itself. You couldn’t kill rugby league with an axe.
Even the unfortunate gaffe by the ARLC’s new chief executive, David Smith, who referred to Barba as “Benji” at one point during his speech at the game’s season launch on Wednesday, is good publicity, because it will trigger discussion about the purpose for Smith being here.
Is he here to be a footy fan or is he here to run the game as a business?
The latter is obviously the case, although if he were to keep confusing the identity of players it might actually give the any publicity is good publicity theory a test.
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