In the past, this correspondent has repeatedly extolled the virtues of rugby league as a ‘rebel sport’.
You can’t ban criticism in a game that itself was born out of discord and class struggle, right? Rugby league is a social movement as much as it’s a sport, as I’ve told you before.
All of which is well and good.
But rugby league’s combatative origins are often to its detriment, too. Only recently have its devotees taken on a missionary spirit, where its main rival has spread its tentacles through international business and diplomacy over the course of a century.
When you’re downtrodden, you’re too busy watching your back to worry about spreading the word.
Rugby league also seems especially prone to dissension. The missionaries I spoke of before don’t take long to start bickering with each other and we now have rival governing bodies in outposts as exotic as Italy and Thailand.
At its core, this has been a game about empowering the working class. And everyone wants power, don’t they?
Nothing in rugby league is accepted, off the table. You want to change the rules of the very game from one season to the next? Fine! It’s there to be tampered with because that’s what we’ve done from the very beginnings of the Northern Union.
The other aspect of rugby league’s unhealthily poor relationship with authority is the attitude to referees. It’s probably the least explored aspect, which is a pity.
But after Friday’s events at ANZ Stadium, it is probably time to rethink our pride at being a ‘rebel sport’. It’s probably time to acknowledge that feeling the need, and the right, to give it to ‘the man’ at every turn is ineffably stupid.
And when people say the NRL is losing touch with the man in the street – if that man wants shoulder charges, punch-ups and concussed players running about – then maybe rugby league can’t see the back of the man in the street quickly enough.
Maybe all of the problems listed above – the lack of geographical spread, the in-fighting, the intimidation of match officials – can be solved if the game just accepts it is going to lose a few thousand people by making a seismic cultural shift.
What if we were a sport that was not dictated to by the Sydney media? Not limited by the concerns of 16 teams in one competition? Not prone to change rules and forget traditions at the drop of a hat? Not willing to tolerate those whose moral compass is pointing permanently at the scoreboard?
Anthony O’Brien from Brothers Junior Rugby League Club in Brisbane contacted me to tell me about a program they are running with all their players called Back The Ref.
It’s a code of conduct that involves the kids remembering three principles: 1. Say “G’day Ref” 2. Accept decisions 3. Say ” Thanks for the game ref”.
The slogan is “no ref, no game”.
Brothers have taken the program to the QRL and are hoping it will spread throughout the state. They are to be congratulated.
The culture of rugby league is so aggressive, so in-the-moment, so … Sydney. We need more organisations and people like Brothers to extol the romance of the game, the winter Sundays that many of our lives have revolved around for as long as we can remember.
The AFL does it better than us. We need to remember that the sights, sounds and smells of a rugby league season stay with us long after we’ve forgotten a referee’s decision.
Sadly, so do scenes like those on Good Friday.
Pomoz
Roar Rookie
Johnno, you talk about martial arts like it is something that results in the biff and smashes you long for. I have studied karate and fought at national level. At my club, which had hundreds of members, you only had to fight competitively if you wanted to. 90% of members only want to spar and don't enter fight competitions. You are confusing training with competitive fighting. Any biff at my club and you would have been thrown out. Everybody I have met in martial arts, Judo, Kung Fu, Tae Kwondo and so on, say the same thing. Respect. Discipline. Biff and thuggery are exactly what they stand against. It was far harder to play a game of league at Blacktown under a hot West Sydney sun and get smashed in tackles on rock hard pitches, than any hiding I ever copped fighting in karate competitively. League is a tough, hard sport and doesn't need any thuggery to make it one of the hardest tests of a persons strength and courage.
Pomoz
Roar Rookie
Well said.
Sleemo
Guest
And the reason is that referees are empowered to punish those players who show any dissent to them. ANY dissent. Rugby league could go a long way towards getting dissent on any level out of the game by making dissent punishable by a mandatory 10m, obvious/serious/repetitive dissent punishable by a mandatory sin-bin and anything abusive/derogatory/insulting punishable by a mandatory send-off. Players will have to take responsibility because they know the consequences and they will soon learn. Will clean the game right up. Soccer should do something similar because the dissent shown to referees in that sport is the worst of the lot.
Von Neumann
Roar Guru
Great stuff steve. Theres always some kind of outcry/upheaval in voice when you shake things up from peoples habits they've become accustomed to. RL has this in spades to varying degrees over its lifetime. Its billowing to the fore now and in the past 15 years; its a separate issue, though influenced, from how inept some of the games decisions have been during that time. One thing I can see clearly along with many like yourself is this huge change of culture will be more dynamic, beneficial and stable in the long term. People may kick and scream at the moment, change is always hard, some may fade out, but more will enjoy the sport than ever before. I attribute things like flat crowds to this very thing. But the curve will go up again after a time of settling. __ See, I note you mentioned losing touch with the man in the street. I think the same thing as mentioned in the article - but with one caveat - it will lose touch with those deluded into supporting the game in the first place. But their support was a narrow and limited (even if committed) support in the first place. So if the price for these people to support the game was a shoulder charge, or concussion-inducing hits, or fighting, thats their delusion and own questions they need to answer in regards to the sport, as to why they support it. Those non-sporting aspects may have served the game but they can't be a part of it going forward. If they can't appreciate the other 99% of the time they watch the game, then they are best best behind. While its nice to have revolutionaries (who may be more likely to support such things as above) along for the ride - their time is done. The revolution happened. Step aside. In sporting terms, its time for an attitude change from them. The rugby league life cycle is one that should be allowed to mature. And sure, the sport was ahead of many for a long time (by chance alone) in being openly professional; but when you can say your one nonadministrative strength was arrived at by chance (before the ARLC, which is the next major advancement in terms of RL), then thats a major problem. Though the problem has been addressed there will still be those who think the sport still has a problem. Now is not the time I would say to people therefore to be narrow-minded about this great sweeping change in rugby league. Not everything the ARLC do is of liking to myself for instance, but I realize at the end of the day that hey I do like the sport and I get on with watching it and supporting my team. I see the wider perspective as it progresses cannot please everyone at every single point. But there is one defining characteristic of that -- im not going to abandon the sport just because of superfluous things. A corollary to the idea there, and by contrast in a sense (not to be confusing) is the way the narrative in the media has panned out. Some want to solder people onto that previous culture. Its most unfortunate this view has been allowed to fester. Let me give you an extreme example that should highlight this: If the Sharks had to wind down tomorrow so that RL was better placed, more popular and whatnot, I'd say do it. On the one hand it seems drastic to say that sitting here as we are in the situation we are in; but on the other hand it has a certain amount of open mindedness about it. Of course not everyone thinks the same way and it may not go down well with the public, and would require a massive PR campaign. Much of the underlying cause is that I think people live in a veil out there in the world - busy with other things, they may not appreciate the fact that losing the sharks may just make the international footprint of the sport better, and hence better for everything in the game. Of course with the previously mentioned media narrative - people feel they are entitled to keep their lump of coal and that they don't need the diamond. ___ That last sentence there is the biggest travesty this sport has been subjected to. Without fail. This culture change you speak of, of which I personally have also written about in my time on here and elsewhere, must happen; and it probably will happen. Against all odds, after-all, the ARLC came into being. While we should listen to one another opinions and take on board the things people say, out in the street, in the home, we can't let the collective limitations hold the sport down. The game itself could be played in front of 5 people at the top level to 2 small towns in new south wales, and it would still be largely the same as if it was played on the world stage. This comes full circle to when I said I like the game. It won't matter to me if that were the case, but it doesn't take a genius to work out (speaking to the man in the street) that a diamond is better than a lump of coal - especially in the modern, complex, developed market we live in. That diamond can be swapped for much, much more than warmth/fire - which is about the only thing you will get from coal. That, and soot. Which I liken to the effect of the rebellion attitude about the sport.
karlos
Guest
When I was playing it was 'Yes Sir' ' No Sir' Three bags full Sir'. Same as school. This problem with behaviour towards refs has crept in slowly and referees are partly to blame. Refs suddenly wanted to be buddies with the players and call them by their first name. 'Number 7 come here' turned into 'Andrew. Please could I talk to you about that' Society as a whole has gone the same soft path. Refs need to harden up and dish out some authority. The media too has undermined ref authority as has the video ref.
Kaks
Roar Guru
Bellator MMA is shown on FTA (Channel One) - For a new professional 'sport' it is doing very, very well. A lot of Australian's are also interested in it and the interest is gaining with the recent success of Australia's/New Zealand's Mark Hunt I have also seen a large increase of young kids taking up MMA/Jiu Jitsu training. There is also a lot of Amateur/Semi-Pro MMA fights popping up all around the country.
AR
Guest
I don't think referencing the concussion debate in American Football is going to help your cause Jeremy. The NFL recently paid out USD$765M to ex-players.
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Excellent piece Steve, the cultural change if it does take shape will take a heck of a long time. Ref bashing is so ingrained in the game of will take years to dissipate if at all. I love the game but I don't know any other sport where the refereeing is such a constant bain of contention. Now it's a two way street, both parties ( refs ) and ( players ) must come to the party and lift there games immeasurably. The refs must be more confident, firm and authoritive whilst the players must act like adults, treat the refs with respect and accept there decisions without recrimination. This is a big ask but it can be done if everyone buys in. I really like the iniative shown by the Junior Club in Brisbane, what a great idea. May all Junior Clubs follow.
Jackson Henry
Roar Guru
Well said. I still want to be able to watch this game in 4 decades time, not have it die because no one wanted their kids to play it...because it turned into a game for mugs, played by mugs. Toughness isn't about thuggery. It isn't about dog shots and squirrel grips. Rather, it's about being the smallest bloke in the field and having your opponents biggest players run at you 40 times a game...but you still make your tackles. It's about being tough enough not to be baited into penalties and grub acts...and being a liability to your teammates and fans. It's about not bringing the game into disrepute by being a decent human being on and off the field. That sort of thing.
Brin Paulsen
Roar Guru
Johnno for what it's worth the amount of fighting in NHL is on the decline (apparently it's at 0.3 fights per game this year compared with the peak of 1.31 in the 87-88 season). To use Mascord's terms, the NRL is certainly no 'rebel' in moving towards heightened player safety. Plenty of sporting administrators, including the NHL and NFL, have enacted rule changes to keep players safe and specifically limit head injuries, including greater penalties for the biff in ice hockey. Aside from better research and findings into the long-term impact of head injuries, in 2011 three ex-NHL pros were found dead, two apparently from suicide and one from an accidental overdose. The three ex-pros were known as being designated fighters within the league. Even if the public is baying for blood, the NRL has a duty of care to players it should rightly be focusing on.
Salvatore Not I
Guest
Bogans don't only live in Sydney. The game is proudly brought up on bogan ethic and therein lies the problem. Nothing wrong with bogans, I am one. Maybe not your classical mulleted type but a bogan nonetheless. League will never break from its traditional grounding, but Bohane need to learn to respect the ref. the big bucks crew lead by example and juniors follow. The league needs to make serious ongoing examples of punishing dissent aimed at refereeing otherwise league better start developing a refereeing drone coz no humans will do it.
Jeremy
Guest
High school boys in the USA get more head knocks in a week's NFL football training than a rugby league players gets in his whole career. Get over it. Global warming scaremongering has gold hold of the NRL.
MyGeneration
Roar Guru
Agreed.
MyGeneration
Roar Guru
What a dumb comment.
Christo the Daddyo
Guest
Back the Ref sounds brilliant - hopefully it can be expanded quickly.
Gyfox
Guest
AFL opening round crowds = 370,000 (almost a record). Game ave = 40,000 NRL 2015 season ave currently 16,277. Lowest since 2004 Not sure where Epi's good news story about NRL crowds came from!
The Link
Guest
Great stuff Steve, enjoyed this piece. Again you manage like no other writer to distill RL's essence into the fabric of your writing and form cogent arguments from there. One advantage of the Roar is it does have a range of voices and the contrast between your piece and David Lord's today could not be more stark.
pjm
Roar Rookie
Are you still buying that myth?
NRL shame
Guest
maybe they need another 20 refs on the field. The game is just full of, not only dumbasses playing it, but an army of idiot fans supporting it. As soon as I hear someone say they are a fanatical NRL fan I cant help but to put them in that bucket. the more dumbed down the game is the more dumb people follow it
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I'm sorry, but that simply doesn't fly. Any organisation that is happy for it's employees to cop brain injuries on a regular basis and just say "it's part of the game" is on it's last legs. In the US they've seen former NFL players dying young and having ongoing problems associated with multiple concussions throughout their career. As for punch-ups: Fighting is actually illegal, and in order to hold any sort of legal fight you need to have it officially sanctioned and bound by lots of rules. So to accept "punch-ups" as a part of Rugby League would likely mean that the games would need to seek out how they could be sanctioned as fights in the respective states in which the games are played. I don't necessarily have a problem with shoulder charges as such. I think they could tell the players they can do it, but if they miss and make any contact with the head they are going to spend a LONG time on the sidelines. In the '80s there were "high tackles" and "head-high tackles". A high tackle was one that started to get up around the neck and was an instant penalty, and the moment it became a head-high tackle a player would get sent-off. These days they are constantly saying things like "accidental" or "slipped up off the ball" and the like to excuse such things. And nobody is ever sent off, the worst they get is put on report. Sure, go for the ball and all tackle, but know that if your arm slips up off the ball and hits the guy in the head, you are going to get sent off, so you'd better make sure your technique is good enough to get it right! It's not a case of this is what Rugby League really is, it's a case of them being more worried about keeping games 13 v 13 than enforcing the rules, and in a game with the sort of mentality described above, a rule barely enforced may as well not be a rule. The issue isn't so much determining what is and isn't okay, it's about how it's enforced. Send-off's just never happen anymore, sin-bins are just as rare, and players regularly commit significant offences and then get off with an early guilty plea with little or no punishment.