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It may seem like I’m drawing a preposterously long bow here but if the NRL is serious about cleaning up its disesteemed public image, one clubsmen such as Cooper Cronk, Robbie Farah, Mitchell Pearce and Corey Parker will be the pin-up boys of the 2014 season.
Listing these players in now way equates to them being my favourites but having non-corrupt, consistent achievers shoved down kids’ throats instead of party boys under police investigation can only be good for the code.
At a time when the NRL is being more scrutinised than I ever thought possible, serious (and sudden) changes need to be made to the way the game is broadcast and advertised.
At the risk of being told off for a ‘follow-the-ball’/’wiser in hindsight’ style of opinion, suddenly brilliant players shouldn’t be elevated immediately to be the face of the game (i.e. Ben Barba, Brett Stewart and Greg Inglis).
With all of these players, just after their elevation they became embroiled in some kind of scandal.
In my opinion the answer to gaining support from undecided sports fans is to produce a controversy-free image of the game through the promotion of loyal, solid, go-about-their-business footballers like the aforementioned players.
Those exact four players don’t need to be the faces of the game but my point is the same no matter which one clubsman you pick.
There was talk at the start of the season that Sonny Bill Williams should be the face of 2013.
He has successfully gained the position in an unofficial capacity and I think this will only serve as a further detriment to the image of the game.
Although little Timmy the Roosters supporter doesn’t yet understand that Sonny Bill Williams – or Benji Marshall, or Israel Folau, or Karmichael Hunt – doesn’t care about his beloved game, at the start of next season he’ll be asking his folks ‘where has he gone, mummy?’
That would be a hard question to answer in any way other than: ‘he’s chasing money’, or ‘he’s got no loyalty’, or ‘he’s gone to AFL/rugby’.
It may not be intentional from the NRL but kids these days look up with more intense adoration to flashy overnight superstars like Blake Ferguson, Josh Dugan, and Ben Barba rather than week in week out well-behaved performers like Andrew McCullough or John Sutton.
While the players that do receive most of the attention and recognition are unmistakably talented, they are more often than not the ones that make the headlines for the wrong reasons.
As a result, undecided sports fans are turned away from the game and kids are desensitised to poor behaviour.
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