Rugby league: the dinosaur mentality must go

The taken out of context argument,is well worn,politicians and shock jocks are experts with the excuse. Give people some nouse in having the ability, to sort the wheat from the chaff.

John, Why is it that if anyone has opinion on Sport v Thuggery, someone always wants to tell them to "Go Watch Soccer/Netyball/Tennis?. have we come to the stage where if we object about certain aspects of what we enjoy, we shoulkd leave and find something else?. I came from Soccer to Rugby League (Wigan) to (Collingwood), back to Rugby league with the birth of The Storm, Yup I like to see a hard tackling game, NO I don't like thuggery. I AM a RL ssupporter and I dislike the other two codes now, both because of the acting and shirt pulling negativity of their games. I will continue to comment on any subject that I feel strongly about, but I WILL stay with RL. So, please stop telling us that we should be watching other sports (Although Netballers are prettier to look at than our Forward packs).

That is a misquote. Read my actual post in the context of the whole content of this blog stream and it is a completely valid comment. You just don't like the truth of it perhaps?

There is more public interest alright, but your not getting the point. This is not just about a punch by Gallen, that was a blatent thug act. This is also about players being drunk, assualts and wilful damage to property, and drink driving , not to mention being rewarded for doing this. Well the integrity unit is their to say no, no more, These players have a well paid job, yes it is a business, and they repay their employees by thumbing their noses and bringing the game into disrepute week-in, week-out. This is not just about a punch, its about the out of control employee's. Time for change, you want fights then go watch the NFC or NFL or whatever has fights, our game is rugby league, not boxing or revenge ball, it has never been about fighting, and as i have said, useing the game to get revenge is not on. Gallen is a rat thug bully who assualted Myles, nothing more. He should have been outed for the rest of the year. Nobody would miss him Dugan or Ferguson, i have had a gutful of them.

The game has been evolving for 30 years. Look, you cant protect or cheer for what Gallen did. You just cant, it is inexcuseable and a very bad look for the game. Are you trying to say we dont evolve past that, past Gallens pathetic attempt to potray himself as some some or hero. Mate i knew she was coming, but go read R.Wilsons piece in the paper today. She summed it up for the rest of Australians with any common decency and sense. I have told yo many times on these blogs, i am not buying what those dills are trying to sell, i never will, nor will the parents or their kids, if you think otherwise you cant be thinking straight. The socceroos, even the wallabies are killing us in the image stakes, while our drunken hoard keep making fools of the game and themselves. Go read these stories by Gus, Kent, Patty Smith and now Wilson, they can all see the writing on the wall, somehow you cant. is that what your saying. Mate change has to happen, or this code is dead.

The shoulder charge, while I love the front on collisions I loathe the blindside whiplash action on receiving players as why I agree it should of been tinkered with, not banned!! The biff is way over re-acted, WHERE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED !! Leagues attractions are being replaced with political correctness, the game has always steadily progressed for what it was.

Like that bit: ' a good blue makes the patrons drink quicker.' Very true.

Other major sports allow fighting, such as the NHL. What empirical evidence is there that crowds would increase if the game is further emasculated?

Calling people "dinosaurs" because they don't agree with this or that point of view is a form of ideological hate speech. The fact is, in the 21st century, League needs more fights not less. Why is MMA so popular all of a sudden? More fights = more public interest. There's always soccer for those who don't like it.

Of course there are bogans in the game as there is in society. Let me tell you a story NF. My dad owned pubs when I was a kid. His secret to success was that he went into the poorest or in your words bogan areas. His view was that these people spent every last cent they had and where not worried about paying for private school fees, BMW cars or 500k mortgages. It is the same with the advertisers and sponsors that support RL. They are fully aware that of this and will keep supporting the game for the same reason. As far as fights go the old man use to say that a good blue at the pub was ok as people drank quicker. Whether anyone likes to admit it or not violence is part of our society and RL just needs to control it better to make the sport a great spectacle as well as the what a lot of people like in a contest between real men

So let me get this straight . The game that was more violent and had more thugs 20-30 years ago you are happy with but the one today that has a punch from a NSW players is now no good. Which one is it oikee? Just show how much of a dill you are.

don't ya just love this guys rants... I DO!

Quote from article: "Culturally, league has no problem taking back repeat offenders and in fact rewarding them, which, as a result has created the negative culture that the league currently has in any other aspect of society". Great sentiment, but it appears that this mode of Operation is alive and kicking whenever a 'Big Name' is involved, I just watched the AFL CEO asking that leniency be showed to Meesta Milne for his four charges of Rape, saying that it is unfair to interfere with his career by something that may take up to two years to sort out in the courts. This guy has been playing for many years AFTER the initial charges were mysteriously forgotten about and reopened by a concerned detective who was earlier told to "Put it away and forget it"..; (Or something similar). then discovered that all the facts were prevented from reaching the courts!.. yupo, NRL has a BIG problem, but at least our CEO has the balls to see when something needs to be acted upon!.. Once again Thanks to David Smith and his Integrity unit! we are showing the AFL and the rest of Australian Sports administrations that we are serious in our protection of Women!. Something a bit Smelly in AFL and the St Kilda Camp though!.

NF, if i was a youth, say i was 18 again, would i rather folow a world game, play a world game, go around the world folowing this code, maybe follow the rugby code, get to play sevens, maybe try out for the Olympics, or if i was any good, go to Japan Frnce or England, or would i just say no, i want my head punched in and all i have to do is play in NSW or QLD. Rugby league has got to grow up ,,,, fast. We have a world cup in England we can grow off the back off, and we can make minor changes to move the code forward and start growing the game outside the 2 states. While we have dinosaurs with shirts saying bring back the biff, and while we allow ex-players to dictate right from wrong while most of us have been taught right from wrong which looks nothing like what they are trying to sell us. I say Sydney rugby league all the time, i say this because they all thought what Gallen did was OK, and they all got behind him and thought the rest of Australia would buy this crap. They got caught out when nobody was buying it. even the NSW junior coaches were not buying it, and the drinking on national TV all turned to mush when Tamou, Ferguson and George Burgess made headlines caused from drinking. The point is , it was never the right thing to do in the first place, and the more Gallen and NSW media tried to sell it to the rest of Australia, the bigger hole they dug. In other words they got caught out, Big Time as Tom would say, amen. I am like Gus Gopuld, we both love the game, but you can only defend the game for so long before it wears you out, and you then have to question weather the game is taking the right path. I think the game is in better hands now, the ingerity unit is brilliant. Other things are happening, it will take 2 years for change, but it is on the right track.

No, i and many others know and have known for along time that Sydney is a bubble, they believe their own dont stink. Well they quickly came undone when the your know what hit the fan and coaches, junior coaches, parents groups, and i am sure government groups questioned the sanity of the game with the tripe Gallen and daley were trying to dish out. The Johns brothers get on the bandwagon, we even had a filth piece by some dill which got Blocker Roach to make a disgusting comment. This game cant survive with such a inward looking code. Growth can only come from outside Sydney, even without Queensland this code is nothing more than a sydney comp dead in the water. Now Queensland has been supporting this code now for over 100 years, to be honest, i think even people in Queensland must be close to asking the question, have we made the wrong bet. ? I am not going to be dragged through the mud with ex-players trying to tell me wrong is right. Go you know what yourself. I am not lowering my standards, nor are Queenslanders lowering their stadards to gutter level I refuse and many others will follow, and i am a diehard. You can only cop so many times getting sand and mud kicked into your face. I would not be surprised to see alot more players move to Union if this is the rubbish dished out by our code. amen,

They are behind the AFL who are up with the most highly supported code in the world per capita. What other sports are you talking about? My comments stand that this is a poorly written piece. Do some proper research before you make outlandish statements. For example if memberships are poor how do they really compared to the AFL and how have they grown or gone backwards in the last few years? Not real hard is it. Instead you make statements that leave yourself open to this criticism. In regards to Dinosaur values these should be directed at individuals for the "Biff" not the NRL who I presume that you support in their stance. Yet your article reads they are to blame for this and then you lump in a whole lot of other issues and how they are failing compared to some KPI's that you have no idea about.

Let me make it clear I am in no way condoning Gallen's actions. What I am on about is your belief that somehow it is the worst that has happened to RL and somehow it is because NSW people are in charge of the game. And you have the hide to say NSW people are moron's. The valley of death - for heaven sake what are you on man??