This morning, I woke up to The Sunday Telegraph’s cover story entitled ‘Women to fix rugby league’. In a week where we have really focused on the NRL and its image, it seems that this topic is also one the NRL administration has on its mind.
The article is about a series of reforms which the NRL will be introducing over the next couple of years. It looks to me like Dave Smith and the game’s administration is taking its first steps in attempting to engage corporate Australia and more females in its ranks. And it’s about time.
It seems that the administration is beginning to stop and think about why despite women being the biggest growing influence group in the NRL, more women attend AFL matches than NRL. They are beginning to think about why rugby union gets much better corporate sponsorship than rugby league.
They are beginning to think about why, despite other codes having players that disgrace themselves off the field, NRL is still seen as the code for ‘boofheads’.
What is most encouraging is that the NRL is not just thinking anymore, it’s about to act, in a major way.
Not only is the NRL intending on increasing female participation at a board level, but the other issues Dave Smith has his eyes on include player misbehaviour and management of the salary cap.
There are a series of reforms which are being pushed out and which will be applicable to all 16 clubs including:
• a seven member board with at least three independent directors;
• at least one female representative on each board;
• less tolerance of misbehaviour; and
• an independent chairman at every club.
These are a series of very brave reforms being put forward. Rest assured, not all of them will be widely embraced. For example, just in relation to player behaviour, we have seen many people come out this week and say that Todd Carney’s behaviour was dealt with too harshly.
If NRL wants to continue to grow and prosper, this sort of attitude is not good enough. With Todd Carney a very strong message has been sent. This message needs to continue to be sent until men like Andrew Johns realise that sort of behaviour is not acceptable.
It needs to continue to be sent until it is no longer the norm to see a player’s name in the headlines for domestic assault every few months and it needs to be continue to be sent until people in society associate rugby league with men like Alex McKinnon, Hazem el Masri, the Morris twins and Ben Smith.
Bad behaviour impacts sponsorship. It impacts and influences women who decide what game their kids play. It’s no longer good enough for players to pretend that they are not role models and don’t represent the game, because they are.
They need to learn that their behaviour has very real consequences for the way the game is perceived in society.
There’s not just going to be a crack down on player behaviour. There are also reforms focused on clubs and their boards and they are very much focused on introducing accountability, reducing conflicts of interest and seeing that professional people get involved with the administration of our clubs.
The reality is that clubs are businesses and so many of our clubs are facing financial difficulties. Today, more than ever, the NRL is like a business and the people at the top need to have the appropriate skills.
No longer is it simply appropriate to appoint former players or people who just love the game – the people appointed to boards need to have a range of diverse attributes.
Parramatta are a good example of a club where a lack of professionalism and in fighting has been rife. As a Parramatta supporter it has been extremely embarrassed to see my club governed like a circus. These reforms should prevent such infighting from happening again.
The reforms also seriously focus on getting more women involved in the game.
We all know there has also been much to celebrate in the last 12 months. Significant achievements include the appointment of Raelene Castle as CEO of the Bulldogs, the appointment of Corene Strauss as Men of League CEO, the appointment of Rebecca Frizelle as the Titans Board Chair and Linda Burney as the ARL Indigenous Council Chair.
The Jillaroos won the Women’s Rugby League World Cup for the first time, we won the Trans-Tasman series in all three divisions last month and Kasey Badger and Belinda Sleeman have become the first female referees to be included in the full-time elite match officials squad.
I have many female heroes who are involved in our game.
Just think of Raelene, Catharine Lumby, who advises the NRL on a pro bono basis in regard to gender issues, Maria Tsialis, journalist at Big League Magazine, Lara Pitt who work with Fox Sports, Debbie Spillane who runs the fabulous Hens FC and of course Catherine Harris, the only woman on the Australian rugby league Commission and the tremendous woman who declared that she wanted to see a woman on the board of every NRL club by 2014.
These women demonstrate that women have a lot to offer and can make a positive contribution to rugby league when given the opportunity.
The first step we need to take is to make women involved in rugby league more visible. While I have often blogged about the lack of women who are involved in the game at higher levels, there are a number of women who play a really important role in our game.
We should celebrate these women. Often, when females think of the NRL, the only women they can think of are the cheerleaders and the mums who operate the canteen.
While these women are crucial to our game, we need to celebrate all the women who contribute to NRL in a positive way. We also need to encourage women to be brave enough to put their hands up to be involved in NRL.
I was once someone who was fiercely against quotas or imposing minimum requirements for female inclusion on boards. However, over the past couple of months, my view has begun to change.
There are many barriers which prevent women from raising their hands and putting themselves forward for positions of influence. These revolve around confidence, believing that they don’t have all the necessary skills to fit the position and there still being a perception that in areas like rugby league, the arena is still very much dominated by men.
If we need to introduce quotas and minimum standards to make women a presence on our board – then it is time we did it. It is time that women start looking like the norm sitting in our NRL board rooms rather than the exception. With Dave Smith so passionate about seeing this happen, we will see dramatic change in the next couple of years.
There are reasons why we don’t have more females involved at a governance level in our game and I can assure you that those reasons aren’t skill based and it is to our game’s detriment because women bring a unique perspective.
They encourage diversity and in a game where almost 50 per cent of the fans are women, it’s time that the game, at an administrative level begins to reflect this, no matter how slow progress is.
I want my game to have a future and its time for some tough love. Congratulations to Dave Smith on these reforms – I look forward to the next 12 months.
Margaret M
Guest
What Fix Rugby League ? Rugby League maybe causing its own doom & gloom Maybe all above applies May be some May be none of the above Applies The cost to many to watch a game, could be one cause . Would be nice to enjoy & watch most games of Rugby League played In Brisbane (if living in Brisbane) .One thing that stops some going is The cost to Go to a N R L game at Suncorp. To many the S O O costs were way too high . Did I read $80.00 for the lowest cost for game 3 ? Did I hear for the Tri Nations $30.00 a ticket , to a double header, games, if so Interesting. Bring down the cost to Suncorp (& other sports) then may be more bums on seats males & females . Bring down the cost to families who do have children want to play This Sport. The cost of The Sporting gear & Club Gear !! . Sadly in some sports , some TV stations seem to have more of a say Then the game itself Common sense is a must to bring back the fans , males & females
Mars
Guest
Positive discrimination? Is that like sarcastic affirmation? What the hell does that even mean? We're all going to hell...
john badseed
Guest
Look- it's just the NRL that's gone mad. Forget the NRL it's become like Disneyland. Go watch NSW Cup or even park footy. No suits in corporate boxes, no opinionated "I know what's best for the game" bureaucrats trying to 'fix' a game they've never played. Just footy played as it should be, with the long lamented tinnies and sausage sangas as a bonus. and let's not forget, clubs run equally by men and women as it has always been.
daniel p
Guest
Lol thanks craig I needed that laugh on a cold Wednesday morning,
Cedric
Guest
it is about the numbers, in Auckland we got the Warriors playing Souths at Perth, kick off 11.30pm, game finished after 1am. Grand final, although we are a country of rugby nuts, I thought it would be showcased to 4.5 million people. No, instead kickoff 9.15pm, a few dads I know watch it. Sunday night, work tomorrow, 9.15 what time does it finish, can't have mates around to watch it, it's too late. You know league is being watched a bit more here, I thought they would use the Grand Final better, but the 7.30pm Sydney time slot is TV GOLD!!!! They talk about expanding the game, yeah whatever. They take a team to Melbourne, they play SOO there. About the same distance away in any part of NZ people would buying up tickets for SOO played here. We, generally speaking, watch rugby and league, we do not watch rules. I have been to test matches here, packed to the rafters. It is about the dollar, the biggest of all, the TV DOLLAR!!!
Storm Boy
Guest
The NRL took over touch football for a reason. They know the main game is dead as a junior sport and female friendly game to watch. They will have the NRL closer to touch. No one will want to play it but who cares as all that matter are the numbers.
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
"No class, no vision, no depth, no education…and no teeth…"is that the sign off of your family when you make comment?
Orville
Guest
You didn't include yesterdays puff piece about Hayne playing gridiron which the NRL lapdog press bring out every five years when they run out of stories - last one was Mason going all the way back to mark harris from easts who was touted as a gridiron possibility but ended up trying out as a kicker in Canadian football - sometimes the Hicksville xenophobia is ultra embarrassing
Mars
Guest
Did you not read what I wrote? The Game is what I'm wanting to preserve, the business interests me not a jot. I am against the knee-jerk reactions, the politicisation, the apparent need the bureaucrats in charge seem to feel to water the game down and clean up its non-pc image. I love the game, but not all the junk surrounding it. Go back, and read it again.
Cedric
Guest
Mars; do you know what your saying.....I think you make alot of sense, the game aint broke, just some of the guys need a bit of guidence. Guys booze etc quite often becomes dramas. The game should stay with its core and not try to fit the game around what the next generation of fans want. Rugby has done that, and now they have a penalty fest and more added wrestling every game. I know you want the next generation of fans but the generation before them are not aliens. A team in Melbourne and winning over Ozzie rules fans because they are trying to do that to us!!! We need to get a grip of what this is! If people grow up with league or rules, 9 times out 10 that's what they stay with, if people are going to change codes cause we have a couple of players who stuff up each year or someone on field punches someone cause they did something bad to them on field, well I guess things stay even cause rules and rugby players do just what the league guys do. So many people want to be judges about everything about all codes, get a grip, there's is nothing wrong with any of the codes, just some of the guys get out of control, it's a fact of life haven't you noticed. Stop bashing the game, I love it!!!!
Mars
Guest
It's not even about women. It's about the business of RL; more women 'involved' means more women likely to watch the game which equals more revenue. I work in a largely female dominated field (publishing), and I have no qualms about it. I'm certainly not going to cry poor about how we need more men in managing positions to even the playing field. If you are good enough, you get the gig; I don't believe quotas do anything apart from cheapening the achievements of the person who was given their position based on gender (or race, politics or religion for that matter). It's about the NRL wanting to loosen the purse strings that mums control. The softening of the physical nature has the same aim, to convince mum that her little boys will be safe playing the game they want to play, instead of playing soccer or the trumpet (same thing really
Mars
Guest
Or one could just look at the usual, insipid generalisations that people with too much time seem to like posting on discussion boards. No style, no grace, no open minds, no value, no one cares...
AZ_RBB
Guest
Apologies if this has been posted already. But I thought I would link this excellent interview with Hayne - http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/state-of-origin/how-jarryd-hayne-would-bring-the-nrl-into-the-21st-century-20140707-zsyqx.html Nothing he says is completely revolutionary but it does carry a lot more weight coming from a current superstar.
Mars
Guest
Sorry, I'm not sure of the relevance of your comment. It must be all the tatts...
fiver
Guest
Meanwhile in world athletics an athlete is on trial for brutally murdering his girl friend, a high profile swimming coach in Australia is accused of molesting under age girls.... Rugby League players are just an easy target. They look like thugs, many are covered it tattoos and they can barely string more than 2 sentences together.
Mars
Guest
Sadly much of the physicality has already been taken out of the game, and I feel this has more to do with attracting new fans than player welfare. The players want the collisions and real scrums; this is a large part of why they play the game. It's not that what Tod did is wrong, it was stupid, but does it really deserve the coverage and outrage that it got? He might be an idiot (probably), but I watch him because of his football prowess, not what he does after hours. I don't care what he does after the game, so long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. It seems to me that the people who cry 'role model' don't understand that he was likely picked up as a kid, thrown a bunch of cash and put to training because of his sports ability, not his skills in raising (de facto) a generation of young men. Maybe parents need to not rely on others being role models for their children. I understand that historic leaders are falling short everywhere (politicians, police, lawyers,etc), but to blame a twenty-something man who is great at passing a football seems particularly pathetic...
Jim Jones
Guest
This subject sounds alot like the South African rugby union trying to make the sport racially "representative." Why should a sport or cultural activity be "representative"? A diverse society will naturally have certain activities that appeal to certain demographics more than others. In a free society, let people choose what to be interested in or participate in, that's real diversity.
Marco
Guest
Mars, no one wants to take the physicality out of the game. People like Mary and many,many others want the dickheads out of the game. Andrew Johns did not seem to get it that a high profile league star pissing in his own mouth is yet another bad look for the game. This sort of stuff really disgusts most women. I have seen a few women on tv who seem to be defending carneys behaviour for some strange reason. But this is rare. The games image is bad. Not to rusted on fans but to people who have a casual interest in sport or to people who follow other codes.
Christopher Wright
Guest
That is the same show (Offsiders) that has continued to suggest the Asada issue is far more widespread in NRL than AFL when everything is now pointing to a different conclusion.
JDB
Guest
I hope this helps: http://www.e-brochures.com.au/nrl/annualreport2013/PDF/NRL-Annual-Report-2013.pdf