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In a sad day for rugby league another blockbuster NRL match is set to be over shadowed this weekend by poor player behaviour and dodgy backroom deals as yet again a high profile star waltzes away with a slap on the wrist from the NRL judiciary.
Upon seeing Sam Thaiday’s attack on NRL referee Adam Devcich last Friday night most of us average footy fans immediately came to the logical conclusion: six weeks, with a broadcast public apology and an intensive fortnight stay in rehab centre Pullers Anonymous to boot.
Imagine our shock then when Thaiday sauntered out from the ‘J’ with a smirk on his dial and no punishment, other than a week to nurse niggling injuries and the best seat in the house at Skilled Park.
I’ll repeat that, one week.
Has the judiciary lost all touch with what fans demand from the game?!? All of a sudden a blatant and flagrant grade three pull has been lumped in with lesser offences like accidental forearms to the face and flying knockout shoulder charges.
The powers that be need to know that when Samuel went the pull on Devcich it was not just a brightly coloured piece of sports apparel that came undone, but part of the very fabric of our game.
To date young Adam has put on a brave face in wake of the unpleasant incident, however he has the right to be apprehensive about his future …how many other pullers are there out there in rugby league?
And what about the young kids, too scared to go to school lest a larger child pulls their shirt and films the entire degrading experience only for it to go viral on Youspace and Facetube?
It’s disgraceful, and I’ve come to the completely irrational conclusion that something more…unseemly is afoot.
Next week is one of the biggest NRL clashes of the season when Brisbane host North Queensland.
It is a game that an entire state stops to watch, and one that includes an entire week of promotion.
Hence, smooth talking Sam making Johnathan Thurston laugh at press conferences is pivotal to the code’s coffers, and through a series of complex political power plays a nominal-week suspension was given to appease the masses but still assure Thaiday plays next week.
So who in actual fact is behind this devious skulduggery?
Is it the Scientologists? The Illuminati? The Stonecutters?
Even worse…it’s the Queenslanders!
Yes, in addition to pulling our shirts they’ve pulled the wool over our eyes, again, by clouding the Thaiday case with grainy and circumstantial footage of the gentlemanly Luke Bailey and Daniel Buderus caught at unflattering footy angles.
John Grant in head office. Seven Origin series in a row. XXXX Gold on tap. Ben Ikin…just everywhere.
The only pulling that should be occurring in rugby league is us fans pulling our head out of the sand and having a good look at what’s really going on, lest we continue to get played like chumps from those crafty buggers up North.
That is, of course, they’re all just pulling our leg…
(NB: Chris Chard occasionally moonlights in heavy disguise as a match reporter for the Queensland Rugby League).
Follow Chris on Twitter @Vic_Arious
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