I know we’re only into the third week of the NRL season but honestly, I feel like it’s been going for months already.
And in my head at the moment, NRL stands for Not Really Likeable.
There have been only two weeks of on-field action but add to that the Souths end of season trip fallout, players charged with drug dealing, players signing contracts with clubs other than the one whose jersey they’re pulling on this week and, of course, the ref bashing, the interminable, relentless, boring, predictable and repetitive ref bashing.
Facing my first season in three years where I have no direct involvement in media coverage of the NRL I’m finding myself feeling quite oddly unburdened. I’ve realised my engagement with rugby league is now elective rather than compulsory – and, so far, given the option of watching a lot of rugby league or doing other things, I’m doing other things.
Released from the professional responsibility of spending hours every day thinking about the issues in rugby league, I’ve realised how sick of those issues I really am. Because they are the same old issues and they’ve been done, done, done.
Where is the joy and celebration in rugby league?
It’s a game that dominates the sports news cycle in NSW and Queensland for nearly ten months a year but the stories are overwhelmingly negative.
Why, when we’re trying to get enthused about one season, are we confronted with stories about which players will be going to what teams next season?
Perhaps there is a way the NRL administration can streamline recruitment and player trading procedures so that this craziness can be reined in, but why does it have to take on such all-consuming importance that it scuppers much of anticipation of the current new season?
Why have we obsessed so much about Jarryd Hayne and his bid to make it in American football?
Good luck to him, but I don’t need almost daily updates on his progress. He’s given himself a huge challenge and if he actually makes it onto the field in the NFL then that’s a big story. Get back to me when it happens.
Going gaga about him getting a foot in the door is a sporting version of the cultural cringe that I find almost embarrassing. It’s like we’re all hoping that Hayne might earn us a proxy endorsement of rugby league from the Americans. Essentially he’s decided he prefers another code of football to rugby league. If rugby league is such a great sport why is this defection supposed to be exciting?
The nightclub fracas in Arizona, details of which emerged on a slow drip over a number of days, and the arrest of Titans players on cocaine dealing and/or using charges are just par for the course. How many times have we swum around those buoys?
What I find even more depressing is that immediately we get the predictable a widespread reactions of: ‘Give them a break, they’re just young guys who’ve done what a lot of young guys do’.
‘There are lots of people in society who do recreational drugs.’ ‘Why do they have to be role models anyway?’ ‘Why doesn’t the media get off their case?’
The simple answer to all of the above is they are young men who are being paid handsomely to be in the media spotlight and represent corporate brands.
Whether or not they should be role models is debatable, but the fact is their money doesn’t come from fans paying at the gate, their money comes essentially from sponsorship dollars: their club’s sponsors, the NRL’s sponsors and the sponsors who funnel money into the TV and radio outlets who broadcast the game.
Most corporate brands don’t want to be associated with crime, drugs, violence and generally anti-social behaviour. Quite simply, there’s a responsibility that comes with the earn.
And what galls me even more is that a lot of the sympathy for players who transgress is driven by the saturation level of former players who are in the media. ‘He’s a good bloke.’ ‘He’s not that kind of guy usually.’ ‘He needs the game to stand by him.’ Blah, blah, blah.
Some years ago when I worked for a club one of the big hurdles to dealing with player misbehaviour was the attitude of former players who were on staff, or in the boardroom.
‘In my day that sort of thing, and worse, happened all the time. It’s no big deal.’
Players and ex-players tend to see situations from the point of view of the players and not from the point of view of the sponsors and the fringe fans. Rusted on fans will stick solid, but if you want to grow the game you need the money sponsors provide, you need parents wanting their kids to play and you need fans who aren’t totally committed to get more interested.
The problem with the prevalence of ex-player led perspectives is that if you’ve spent most of your life on the inside of the game, you usually lose the ability to see what it looks like from the outside. And on the outside is where the new fans, sponsors and players need to come from.
Still, for me, the number one turn-off factor in rugby league is the constant backdrop of wailing about the standard of refereeing and the way the game is being run.
Neither is perfect, but really, what in life is?
I’ve been going to rugby league games and following reporting of the game, or reporting on the game myself for five decades now and there have always been cries of ‘this is the worst standard of refereeing ever.’ ‘A refereeing error could decide the grand final!’ ‘Something has to be done.’
Over that time we’ve changed rules, added officials, added technology, increased the communication between officials and, guess what? The mistakes have continued.
Refereeing mistakes will continue forever. Deal with it. Just like players making mistakes will always be part of the game no matter how sophisticated the training and analysis involved in the preparation is.
No matter how professional and dedicated and fulltime the players are it doesn’t stop them making mistakes. Why would it stop referees making mistakes? Where are the panicked cries of ‘A mistake from a player could cost a side a grand final?’ We don’t say that, because we know that’s just what the game is. What any game is.
I’m tired of ref bashing.
I was brought up to believe blaming the ref was the last refuge of a loser.
I don’t know if banning the coaches from making any reference to referees is the answer. My question is, why don’t the bitching comments of losing coaches about poor refereeing get taken with a grain of salt? It’s like the opposition disagreeing with the government. Of course that’s what they say, that’s what they always say. Who cares? But just a hint of dissent from a coach and the headlines and stories roll on, and on, and on.
Same goes for criticism of the people running the game. I’m tired of hearing that they make decisions that are inconsistent. They have too many people in middle management. They promote people from clubs who some believe believe might have screwed up on occasion at that club. Or they hire people who have committed the sin of having worked in ‘the outside world’.
Are there any reasonably big businesses that don’t attract the same kinds of criticisms? There’s nothing outrageously different going on in rugby league. If anything, I have more faith in the integrity of people runinng the game now than I had in some people who’ve run the game in the past.
I often wonder whether the anti-establishment, breakaway culture that was behind the very foundation of rugby league back in the mining towns of northern England in 1895 is what makes it by nature a sport where everyone’s happiest rebelling against authority.
It’s a sport where many seem to need to be outraged about something to keep them going. And, you know what, if I get to choose, I choose not to have that in my life.
I’m not saying rugby league doesn’t have problems. What I’m saying is it’s always had problems. Like a lot of people who love the game, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to think of solutions to those problems. But I don’t want to do that anymore.
This season, if I’m going to go to rugby league games, or spend hours of my weekend watching it on television, I’m doing it on my own time and I want it to be fun. I want entertainment. I want to appreciate skill. I want to watch a replay of a try so I can admire what made it happen, not so I can run a fine tooth comb over whether the officials missed something in allowing it.
I don’t want to hear all week about how angry and dissatified people are with the game, the administration, the rules, and what’s going on off the field. I don’t want to think about what’s happening next season, or be reminded about guys who’ve left the game to play in sports we otherwise wouldn’t give two hoots about.
I don’t want to feel sorry for guys who take all the advantages of having a public profile and then gripe when they stuff up and that profile bites them on the bum.
If I want issues to chew over, to rile me up, and make me want to demand change, I’ll read the front part of the paper. Or switch over to the news channels.
Or maybe I’ll watch a sport that has exhilaration as a by-product rather than aggravation and irritation.
81paling
Roar Rookie
Hang on, as you don't like reporting on Rugby League why don't you get a job where you don't have to report on Rugby League? The ABC has a great line up of Rugby League commentators but, the problem here is the same as we see all over the media and that is that there are reporters and commentators hanging onto the the game but, the game does not need them. If you earn your living from Rugby League but, you don't like it then find another job, don't bag the sport that gives you a living in the mean time. As for the ABC well they can just keep considering Rugby League fans "bogans" I could not care less, as long as they do not take Andrew Moore an Matthew Elliot off the radio.
Torchbearer
Guest
Great article Debbie. I come from a different angle, rarely interested in RL, I decided to give it a go and watch the Grand Final replay between Souths and the Bulldogs last weekend. I was pretty shocked, by the thinly veiled violence of much of the tackling and the abuse being dished out to the referee. What other sport can you shout expletives in a referees face - tennis? cricket? soccer? athletics? And the captain no less. Won't be rushing back to watch another games, I felt dirty for watching that one.
Jimmmy
Guest
I am with you brother, the game has never been better to watch. The other stuff has no bearing on my enjoyment of the game. What gets written and talked about just reflects badly on the media. It is The media and the journalists that blow everything up into a sanctimonious melodrama that are the ones who are Not Really likeable. The Great Game goes on.
Bigjohn
Guest
Personally I would be interested to see what would happen if a coach refused to pay a fine, imposed for being critical of a referee. It would be even more exciting if the club backed the caoch, and threatened to forfeit games. Woulld there be another breakaway movement, such as the one you mentioned with League and Union. It was also good to see that you refer to the NRL as a company. It has to be remembered that the NRL is a business, and rugby league is a sport, which the NRL is trying really hard to stuff up.
chris
Guest
Crowds are really dipping in the NRL and it doesn't look like a professional sport.
Dr Yes
Guest
Interesting read Debbie, thanks for sharing. Thought I'd reply to agree with some it, but to stick up for the NRL, also. One can get carried away with the froth 'n' bubble of the tabloids. Sometimes the same-old chronic coverage or screaming headlines don't carry much weight in the scheme of things. That the media's in love with covering every minute detail of the sport speaks beyond the 'attention grabbers'. There are significant issues that need addressing, especially: 1. ridiculously high intrusion from the gambling industry, 2. serious injuries to young men working a job to entertain, 3. a very small & unrepresentative minority of much older fans and journalists, stuck 40 or 50 years in the past, occupying all of the thought space with endless whinging re referrees, administrators, use of technology, the need to revert to older rules, and the apparent problems with crowds and audiences. Whilst the following easily grab the headlines, I don't think there's depth to them. Yes, these issues definitely warrant coverage. But the 'sports shock jocks' take things to an extreme, feeding the hungry beast and distorting the true state of things for self-interest : 4. bad boys using drink and drugs, or acting lewdly in public 5. players committing acts of violence in public, 6. doping, 7. player contract negotiations; disloyal players chasing the biggest dollar. The trends and statistics go against these latter points. The use of alcohol by players has been reducing for 2 or 3 decades - there are still incidents, but less so than in the past, where imbibing large quantities regularly and misbehaving was part-and-parcel. Of course, there are still idiots, but the situation continues to improve. Occasional violent acts also do occur, but are met with much greater disapproval and action than ever. Acts on-field and away appear to be reducing. A few players have committed terrible acts of DV in the last decade - they've rightly been charged by the police and the game. For all the headlines coming from ASADA, it's primarily been about stepping over a boundary that was somewhat blurry, with few clear doping cases of significance (Howe, McDougall, O'Davis and Maitua stand out). I don't think the last point even rates as minor- it's a furphy. The loyalty between players & club at the Storm, Sea Eagles, Roosters, Broncos, Souths, Knights, Bulldogs, Panthers over the past decade or two has been remarkable. Clubmen like Minichiello, Hindmarsh, Hornby, Lockyer, Buderus, El-Masri and Merrit are common. There's a secondary trend for fringe 'journeymen' to visit 4 or 5 clubs, but top level players are staying put moreso than in the 70's, 80's and 90's. E.g. Beetson played at 3 clubs, Coote at 2, Goodwin at 3, Dorahy at 4, Phil Gould at 4, Peard had 4 stints across 3 clubs, Schubert had 5 stints across 3 clubs. As I said, these issues warrant attention. But the media loves to be apocalyptic - the tabloids, commercial tv newsbites and even sometimes the broadsheets and ABC. The blanket coverage of gambling outlets is indefensible and sickening. They're making an almighty dollar through 'voluntary taxation' and many football followers are battlers who don't really understand the staggering odds against them. Not to mention hundreds of thousands of primary school kids who love watching their athletic idols on the tele. The 'concussion debate' has gained much attention. As has risk of spinal injury and general injury from more violent play. Rightly so. Banning of the shoulder charge, lifting tackles and head-shots were all big positives. The game is still every bit as tough and challenging. All this will and should continue for the long-term good. Re the 'whingers'. They nearly all hark back to the 70s and much earlier (I myself watched in the 70s as a young kid). They're nearly always working off false memories and 'facts'. The biases of human memory project a very rosy tint (try watching full 80 minute games from the past: appear slug-like with far less skill and athleticism). And they're completely wrong on just about every point. The referrees / administration / technology / rules / crowds / audiences are not the problem with the game at all. Au contraire. Each one of these areas is clearly performing very well, at all-time highest levels. Backed by even the most rudimentary investion of facts. In comparison the refs/admin/rules/crowds of say the 70s and 80s were way below par. Comments on crowd issues are pretty silly. The crowd graph over the decades is a straight line heading upwards with a trough superimposed by super league. NRL dominates the top 10 most viewed tv programmes every year, grounds are twice or thrice as big (check Lidcombe, Leichhardt, Henson Park). Sponsorship contracts and player salaries have followed suit. It's a myth that there's a "rusted-on" core of fans and the rest are barely engaged and moving to other sports. Hayne, Inglis, Farah, Johnston, and Mansour have generated as much excitement with young kids as Fulton, Grothe, Renouf or Fittler did. In the heartland (NSW, QLD and ACT), the game gets 6 times the bums-on-seats, eyeballs on screens and revenue of the A-League, Super Rugby and AFL. Why do I bother to write all of this? I'm no NRL stooge, have no part in the game at all. Just a bit of a sport's nut. I find nothing matches the speed, strength, endurance, skill, toughness, athleticism and flashy team tactics of the modern game, try as I might look at other sports around the world. I like that the teams running onto the field look more like Commonwealth Games athletes than the footy players of old. I like the on-field product much more than I ever have. The rabid headlines? Not so much...
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
I like this.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Haters gonna hate, Debbie. Ye gads I hate haters.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
A pox on them.
Bob
Guest
I actually know part of the answer to this from a study I did a couple of years back - The distance covered varies according to the level being refereed by quite a way (a World Cup, SOO, National Keague all the way down - a ref runs more at the top than the bottom). On average soccer referees run 20Km in a single game, that's 40% more than a players average. Surprisingly Union referees "only" ran 7Km - the difference being the amount of times a game switched ends and the frequency of switching (soccer switched ends in 10-30 seconds and with high frequency while Union switches were measured in minutes and switches were of lower frequency). AFL and NRL weren't included, as I say - only part of the answer
JB
Guest
Afl fans can't cop this the difference in numbers watching league vs afl is enormous
JB
Guest
They were kickers, they are viewed as second tier athletes and not really part of a team
planko
Guest
Try reading more than the headlines. These figures only included the TOP 5 Captial Cities. In regionals NRL Smashed all comers. Over 4 Million viewers to both SOO 1 and 2. The NRL GF 3.9 mil and AFL 3.5. Relax mate reality post Super League war is coming. NRL's TV deals in 2018 moving forward will likely be better than AFL cause it is a better product. Channel Nine no longer has the NRL over a barrel like it did the ARL.
FreddyF
Guest
The NRL were not the top 3 rated programs of 2014 TOP TV EVENTS 2014 1 SEVEN’S AFL: GRAND FINAL: SYDNEY V HAWTHORN (7) 2,828,000 2 MY KITCHEN RULES — WINNER ANNOUNCED (7) 2,712,000 3 THE BLOCK GLASSHOUSE — WINNER ANNOUNCED (9) 2,687,000 4 RUGBY LEAGUE GRAND FINAL (9) 2,621,000 5 STATE OF ORIGIN RUGBY LEAGUE NSW V QLD 2ND — MATCH (9) 2,600,000 6 SEVEN’S AFL: GRAND FINAL: PRESENTATIONS (7) 2,565,000 7 STATE OF ORIGIN RUGBY LEAGUE QLD V NSW 1ST — MATCH (9) 2,530,000
silvertail19
Guest
When players go to schools and advise kids how to live healthy lives etc they become role models. End of story re role models.
Alan
Roar Guru
Nice article Debbie. I share your concerns.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Debbie, please include the "referees" as one of the main things why the NRL stands for Not Really Likeable, as they have allot to add to some aspects of the game being so, with their unanswerable above everything protection from the game and any criticism made upon them.
jimmyChoox
Guest
Mike im with you there. I attend newtown jets games where I can $10 in and I can smell the grass from where I sit. Quality Rugby League with great people sitting by me.#JetsInSydney
Birdy
Guest
Debbie, Debbie Debbie, you sound like your using the NRL as a cover for a relationship breakup. After 5 decades of professional involvement with RL ( romance) you suddenly turn around and write an article tryin to convince yourself that you are right and just in your opinions. Sounds familiar doesn't it. Just like that disgusting habit of smoking and that wonderful god given past time of alcohol abuse , there is only one way to stop, cold turkey. So my little Debbie if RL is really your demon try and walk away. Bet ya can't . LOL
Ed J
Guest
There comes a moment in every sports fans life, when they realise that it is not all that important. It is footy, and the papers, and websites that need the game to generate their revenue make everything a life and death issue, when at the end of the day it is a game played by people for other people to watch. The story of King Canute comes in here, where to prove to his people that there were limitations to his power, he commanded the tide to go back in, and it didn't. Fifty years ago Russians and Americans played roulette with real lives, and fifty years ago St. George won a premiership, what was important? As Freud said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.