ARU must learn from Kurtley Beale fiasco

“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” – Malcolm X.

Given reactions to the current ‘ARU scandal’ from media and amateur commentators alike, I for one see a remarkable truth in this statement from the well-known civil rights activists.

It is a strong statement, as we like to believe that we, as the ‘masses’, have freedom of thought and are not controlled in any way shape or form.

If there is some truth in this, “what do they want?” seems like a fairly natural question to be posed. This has a pretty simple answer.

The media companies want money through advertising revenue, driven by page views. Am I being a little cynical? Yes, I would suggest I am as there seem to be sites such as The Roar which provide an opportunity for all sides of a story, with a notable absence of Experts providing innuendo on the current saga (by innuendo I mean vague sources and hinted-at conclusions based upon these vague sources).

I acknowledge a level of cynicism as mentioned and this probably isn’t fair given that a sector of the media is just doing the job outlined above.

From an altruistic point of view it does not seem that this section of the media is acting in the best interest of rugby in Australia. Again, this isn’t their job. Given the level of knee-jerk reaction in the media (and dare I say it, here on The Roar at times) for any incident over the last few years, on or off the field, the event that a big story (such as the latest on Kurtley Beale) would explode to such soap operatic heights was obvious with 20/20 hindsight.

Using 20/20 vision, why does this keep happening? The names “Deans”, “JOC”, “Beale” and “Giteau” are enough to evoke turbulent memories of recent stories in Australian rugby, stories which have at times divided the Australian rugby community. There have been none more divisive than the recent text message fiasco.

Depending upon which conclusions you draw from which journalists and which shady “sources close to Wallabies management” or mystery “senior Wallaby players”, there have been all kinds of rumours, some bordering on libel and many with the potential to ruin people’s lives. Improper personal relationships, nepotism, chaos within the Wallaby team are but a few of the conclusions that can be drawn.

From an outsider looking in, without giving too much thought to the so called ‘facts’ of the latest scandal, there appears to be very little control by the ARU media unit or marketing department in providing an atmosphere that the team can concentrate on their job – after all we do have to play the All Blacks on Saturday!

There needs to be a clear media policy for the players and I would be surprised if there isn’t already. It needs to be enforced completely so that the entire focus of the players, on or off the field, is about the team. These so called “sources” need to be stopped and journalists that are happy to use these sources should not be given official status or sanctioned interviews with players.

Those players that have interviews should ensure that their messaging is simply 100% for the team and kept simple. Michael Hooper should not be second guessing ARU process or procedure or providing player support, he should be saying “I wish Kurtley the best as he works through the process and have no further comment. Our focus is to prepare for the weekend to defeat the All Blacks”.

Anything else creates division and is unworthy of the captain of the Australian rugby team (could you imagine McCaw or De Villiers commenting as Hooper has done?)

Much of this may appear to be an argument for a complete media ban. “We have a right to know what is happening!” I hear you shout.

This is not the case and, again, the media unit (or marketing department if they aren’t too busy avoiding assisting the NRC) needs to take a lead role in this. Bearing in mind that if there is a vacuum it will be filled with the conjecture indicative of rugby reporting in Australia, a front foot approach needs to be taken.

The Daily Telegraph‘s reporting of the correspondence between Kurtley Beale and Di Patston is perhaps finally starting to fill some gaps and hoses down some of the out of control inferno. Why was a complete media release not done earlier with key information that could have put this event to the side?

Overall, I have my own opinion as to who is to blame and ultimately there are many fingerprints on the evidence. Out of control journalists and players speaking out of school to fuel their speculation have clearly contributed however, the ARU must learn to manage the media themselves and give their employees the tools to do so as well.

The NRC will be crucial in providing depth in Australian rugby but until we can all, players and supporters alike, live and breathe a culture similar to the Force’s “Belong”, putting the team first and foremost, our talent will not matter a dot. It is a key difference between New Zealand and Australian rugby, and this weekend now scares me.