Do the likes of Dave Taylor know what a privileged position they are in? Do NRL players realise they are role models to people in their community?
Are they aware they are in a job that is essentially a hobby?
Dave Taylor being stood down by the Gold Coast Titans just a month into the season after being released from Souths would suggest that he only cares about one person.
If he was serious about his career he would be the most damaging forward in the game.
The fact he was dropped from the Queensland side due to form and ‘falling out of bed’ shows he is playing for the money.
Michael Maguire is proving to be a good judge of character, and it didn’t take long for ‘Madge’ to boot him.
Surely his “desire to return to Queensland” would have resulted in him buckling down and busting his gut to get back into representative sides.
He has only played on the bench this season, while guys like Ben Ridge squeeze every ounce of talent they have in them through heart and courage.
It must be frustrating for his team mates who know how good he can be.
I also read Jamie Soward’s comments about “not being able to have an opinion because you didn’t play the game” with great interest over the past few weeks.
I am not a Jamie Soward fan.
I don’t know him personally so it would be wrong of me to judge his character but what I don’t like is the attitude.
He plays as if the whole world is against him. If you look at the likes of Darren Lockyer, Brad Fittler they were almost emotionless on a football field.
To be an elite player you need to have thick skin and be able to handle criticism.
Soward appears to be someone who is easy to get under the skin of.
Perhaps he needs to develop a thicker hide? It does him no favours when he carries on like a pork chop not only on the field but in the media.
Telling journalists or fans they don’t have an opinion because they didn’t play the game is just farcical.
Fans buy their tickets, merchandise, membership to support the clubs and that gives them the right their opinion.
Having sat in the press box at several games in the last year I have come to learn that sports journalists have some of the best minds in the business.
They follow the game for years and are fans themselves.
Journalists earn the right to have their opinion through spending years of training at a tertiary level and then even more years doing their ‘apprenticeship’.
They work hard to get to the top of their industry and by the time they get to a level where they can have their opinion they have an astute understanding of the game.
Keep in mind they also have the statistics and resources to back up any opinion they have.
As someone who played rugby league purely because he was addicted to it I hate seeing players who have talent but don’t work hard enough to utilise it.
Craig Bellamy sends any new players to his club to a construction site for two weeks for them to learn about ‘the real world’ and hard work.
You only need to look at how well the team plays every week when they know what the alternative is if you stuff up a professional football career.
I think that concept is something the NRL should adopt as a policy for all players coming into first grade, and possibly even for the likes of Josh Dugan and Todd Carney who have a stuff up along the way.
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