All intrepid extra-terrestrials landing in Sydney for the first time this week would’ve assumed the National Rugby League to be the most significant assemblage of barbaric reptilia this side of Roswell.
But I’m here to set straight those opinionated and nosey aliens.
Contrary to the crime pages and reality, such assumptions are unfair and inaccurate.
Sure, the Roosters may be operating like the fifth division of Silverwater Correctional, plus there’s been the game’s fair share of bad eggs along the journey. But not all professional rugby league players are pisswrecks, derelicts and yardbirds.
After a long week where the game copped quite the bum rap, I’m here to hose down this damaging stereotype by providing a platform for the voiceless good guys among the ripped and wealthy of rugby league.
So armed with a feeling of goodwill and some mace, I’ve been pounding the pavement to smoke out some of those good news stories that are so unfairly eclipsed by the nefarious actions of the small 97 per cent minority.
Initially, it was tough – a lot of the virtuous ones seemed to be unavailable while attending appointments like training, marketing opportunities and parole.
But after some gentle encouragement and chequebook baiting, eventually the unsung heroes began to surface.
What did I discover?
I met many, many modest professional footballers, all so humble and grounded that they pleaded to remain anonymous for this exercise, concerned it may be viewed as a selfish grab for exposure or used as evidence.
Here are their stories.
1. Did you know a large chunk of footballers selflessly opt for only one salary from their club?
Yep, you wouldn’t know it, but there’s guys out there who insist on signing only a solitary contract with their employer.
These heroes take one for the team by complying with all conditions of transaction, foregoing any deceitful duplication of income streams, and even going as far as declaring all of their free flights and speedboats. I know, right?
And even though they were reluctant to say for fear of appearing boastful, a lot of these guys also pay the appropriate amount of income tax.
The best of the lot is Player X from one Queensland club. Not only is he up-to-date with his child support payments, he once declared almost half of what he received in a bumbag full of $20s.
Why aren’t the piranha journalists clamouring to print this?
2. Did you know some footballers are active anti-drug campaigners in their spare time?
It’s one of the 56 biggest issues in rugby league, but thankfully a percentage of the playing community are fair dinkum serious about drugs in sport. Take for example one 200-gamer from a prominent Western Sydney club.
I won’t sugarcoat it; this guy used to do a lot of drugs. Heaps, as in, he was three orders away from having a suburb named after him in Bogota.
But after one 72-hour day of inappropriately utilising his mirror, he used it to take a long hard look at himself.
Here, he experienced a psychedelic epiphany and realised that drugs have no place at the forefront of professional sports, and from that day on he changed for the better.
So while he still does a lot of drugs, the difference is these days, he does it surreptitiously.
That’s right. Now it’s never in front of kids, the elderly, club suits or camera phones, he takes that stuff to hotel rooms and his dashboard at traffic lights.
Why? Because he’s a role model for the up-and-comers. He’s also on a good behaviour bond.
It’s a story that simply screams ‘positive’. More of it, please.
3. Did you know there’s players who devote their spare time to helping charitable organisations?
It’s hard to believe when someone works a gruelling 25-hour week that they could spare time to help the needy. But you know what? There’s plenty of them out there.
Some even perform up to 30 minutes of charity work bi-annually, sometimes even outside of a community service order.
Take this regular first-grader from one of the NRL’s expansion franchises. He courageously gives time to assisting local dog shelters, despite it being a hazardous choice of philanthropy given the current reputation league has earned itself in the canine community.
But no need to whip out your camera phone – this gentleman is no canine casanova. He takes in abandoned dogs and nurtures them with healthy diet and exercise before helping them settle in new homes.
Well, most of them anyway. He usually keeps the good ones for underground dog-fighting rings.
But under no circumstances does he try to date them. That’s because he’s serious about animal rights.
Don’t see that as the lead story on the nightly news, do you?
4. Did you know there are players who have rebounded from serious transgressions to enjoy fruitful careers?
Yes, you’re right. Sometimes the ‘R’ in ‘NRL’ could stand for recidivism. But not all offenders burn a path back and forth to the Integrity Unit. Some are even so well rehabilitated that they only choose to drink-drive in daylight hours.
Take Player X from one particular Sydney team. He was crippled by his own inability to understand the concept of social media.
That tricky ‘send’ button stumped him every time, resulting in a raft of abuse on various platforms towards the game’s CEO. It cost him dearly.
But after his club paid his $50,000 fine while he served a three-game suspension in the trials, the penny dropped on sensible mobile phone use.
Now he only uses his device strictly for emergencies or secretly filming colleagues at Australia Day parties.
Thoroughly deserving of a headline somewhere, in my opinion.
5. Did you know some footballers refuse to participate in Mad Monday?
This is mainly because they are elsewhere, probably in remand or sleeping with the wife of a teammate.
Nevertheless, they aren’t off-chops in Kings Cross, wearing a pink blouse and chatting up a street sign, are they?
C’mon, media types. Any danger of this seeing some decent column space?
A bit of balance in your reporting please.
Michael
Guest
The NRL won't sack him. What usually happens is, player does something bad, player is fined X amount of dollars, player apologises, player losses his privileges, player comes back in a big way later on his career, media applauds player for being outstanding role model convert. Everyone is happy in the end.
The Barry
Roar Guru
So sacked for good, never to play rugby league again?
Michael
Guest
It's also easy for the media to scutinise Rugby League players for their off field transgressions partly because the sport is catered to such a large demographic that includes children and families. At least this was the plan from then acting CEO Dave Smith to make the game more family oriented. Families would be interested to learn about NRL, their players and whether it's a sport that parents would allow their children to watch.
Charles NSW
Guest
Time to say goodbye Mitchell Pearce!
The Barry
Roar Guru
What are you actually saying? That Pearce's career should be over because he kissed someone and peed his pants? We all says he needs to have a rest. I don't think I've read a single post saying that he shouldn't be punished or suspended.
hutch
Guest
Don't really see the point in this humourless article. I also don't see other sports cop this much negative press or attacks on their 'culture' for off field incidents. IMO the media has held an agenda against rugby league for years and either it is continuing or we have bred a bunch of hack journalists who know no better than to attack rugby league. Idiot players deserve their punishment, but some fair and unbiased reporting is needed without the snobbish attitude we have currently.
Charles NSW
Guest
Mitchell Pearce is a captain of a team and also a representative of our very best of Rugby League in SOO. His father also has gone down the same track and shows a fine example of what represents Rugby League Mitchell Pearce has had plenty of experience and had many lectures of what to expect and how to behave He thumbed his nose up doing whatever he likes when he likes! Now he has suffered the consequences of his actions and people like me says enough is enough! I have followed league for far too long and am I sick of players not treating the public with respect This is different because the player in question does not give a razoo of what others think Time to say have a rest for him to get his act together
Elton
Guest
I think this is the issue. When an NRL player stuffs up it seems to be reported as a NRL culture problem. When an AFL or Rugby player stuffs up it is a personal issue or societies problem. Sadly a lot of the public has been conditioned into believing this is the case.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Certainly fits your modus operandi Clipper ,else we wouldn't sight you on the occasional rugby league thread. NB See the comparison newswise and length of discussion and time spent re Proud in the Vic media by comparison with Pearce here.And on this very sport site.
clipper
Guest
Time to start adding to the discussion clipper, or looking for another website to be a pain. Mods
The Barry
Roar Guru
I can't speak for everyone here but I wasn't suggesting AFL players get away with more than NRL players do. My take on this is that when an AFL player transgresses it's seen as the stupid actions of an individual and treated as such and everyone moves on. When a league player stuffs up, the reaction is very different. There's a thousand articles about problems with the culture of the whole game. This Pearce incident has demonstrated that perfectly. Up until now this has been an incident free pre season, meaning that the other 399 first grade squad members have behaved as they should. But there's a ton of articles and posts about the code being in crisis because of the actions of one idiot. That's the difference for mine - hopefully you's can understand that.
Will Sinclair
Roar Guru
You can expect those stories to ease now, Richard. News was NOT HAPPY when the NRL tried to maximise its TV revenue instead of selling to Foxtel at a knock-down price, and they started a concerted campaign to bring down Dave Smith. They have succeeded, and Foxtel has the rights again, so the campaign will start to wind back now.
Big J
Guest
Well said lets not forget the poor old Essendon players, first found not guilty then suspended for a year and they want to kick Pearce out for nothing more than acting like a dickhead. It is really sad
East Bound and Down
Guest
Your ignorance is bliss im sure ..
KingKongBundy
Guest
What a load of rubbish that NRL players cop it more than AFL players im assuming you's live in sydney where they don't care about AFL.If you were in melbourne you would no that AFL stars cop there fair wack when they do something stupid.like richmond player Dustin Martin recently,everyone in the media were calling for his head over a allegation he threaten'd a woman ,then he was found to have no case to answer to after a investigation,a former great of the game called for him to be suspended for a year before the guy was even proven guilty so to say AFL players get away with things is just bulldust
The Barry
Roar Guru
Jack Russell - It's interesting that you would compare Pearce to Ben Cousins. Cousins failed drug tests, had known substance abuse problems, hung out with criminals, did a runner at a booze bus, bashed a team mate and was busted a number of times for possession of marijuana, illegal prescription drugs, meth and cocaine. Pearce p!ssed his pants and tried to kiss a girl.
a
Guest
Yes I agree here
eagleJack
Roar Guru
Well I guess I would think actual footage of criminal activity involving professional athletes in a code known for its drug issues, would cause a stir. Jake Carlisle was a highly trumpeted St Kilda recruit for 2016. Certainly not little known. Yes, Pearce is high profile. But even a rookie NRL player caught on tape doing lines would cause a disproportionate stir. And what exactly did Pearce do except show that he is a goose while drinking? I didn't see anything illegal going on. The NRL need to take the lead from the ARU and AFL and start treating their players as a vital commodity. And protect them from the media. Make deals in the background. The rumours surrounding Buddy Franklin were quite serious. Yet the media ran with the gentle story. Is Dustin Martin also a low profile player? Well I can't imagine the reaction if an NRL player drunkenly abused and physically threatened a female patron in a restaurant. Certainly a no suspension result and suspended $5k fine would not suffice. This is just another area where the AFL, as a professional organisation, do things better than the NRL.
Pepper Jack
Guest
don't forget the 2 Collingwood players last year whose excuse for testing positive for PED's was that their cocaine was spiked
scrum
Roar Rookie
Hey Eastbound- Been on any grassy knolls lately- seriously mate are you serious ? Always somebody else's fault & the old fallback- shoot the messenger