Does anyone else like how literally anyone in the media who is an NRL player that is caught doing something automatically becomes a ‘star’, even if they are fringe first graders?
I sure do just love it. Oh, and by ‘love it’ I mean I absolutely hate it.
Look at the reaction of journalists to Liam Knight’s DUI charge the other week. More or less every article stated ‘NRL star Liam Knight’ or ‘rising NRL star Liam Knight’, which just baffles me.
The guy hasn’t even played a single game of first grade. He might be a rising player, but he is years away from being an NRL star.
Then there was Myles Taueli, another drunk driver, with articles on him labelling him an NRL player. The problem is, he hasn’t played a first grade game yet, which means he isn’t an NRL player.
The equivalent would be labelling a second year education student as a teacher. It is ridiculous.
But as ridiculous as it is, we see this sort of stuff time and time again. Fringe first graders are charged with speeding or something, and all of a sudden according to journalists they are one of the biggest names in the game. If someone that you could actually argue is an NRL star is caught doing something illegal or irresponsible – like Mitchell Pearce or Greg Bird – they become ‘superstars’ or ‘megastars’, which is just a ridiculous title.
This crops up in more or less every article about an NRL player’s arrest, but why is it so prominent? Well it is a by-product of the trend where all journalism is slowly becoming ‘click-bait’ that preys on outrage culture, essentially just making the general public as angry as possible.
These NRL players are given the label of ‘star’ not because it will make NRL fans read it, but it will make people know nothing about the sport read the thing.
Calling Liam Knight a star will encourage Johnny, the Victorian AFL fan to read the article on his arrest to laugh at how ‘backwards’ the NRL is.
Calling Mitchell Pearce a superstar will make Archie the upper class loser chuckle at the barbarity of the players that play the sport for commoners.
Calling Myles Taueli an NRL player will make Mrs. Stevens feel validated that she doesn’t let her children play contact sports because they go and do dumb stuff like driving under the influence.
I want to say that I am not defending what these people did. Mitchell Pearce, Liam Knight and Myles Taueli are all stupid for what they did. But they are being used to make the game look worse than it actually is.
The sad thing is that this trend are perpetuated mostly by rugby league journalists, which is ridiculous. I could understand why non-NRL journalists would perpetuate these trends, but these are the people that are supposed to support the game. Yet they jump at any opportunity to make the players in it all look horrible.
I am sure this isn’t just an NRL issue, I am sure AFL and union journalists pull similar shenanigans. But I wouldn’t know, I don’t follow any other sports at all.
I appreciate that this is a very specific and niche complaint, but I think it is worth complaining about despite that. It is one of the more annoying faces of the outrage culture, anti-sports journalism that has appeared over the horizon recently.
Norad
Guest
Agreed. AFL atrocity one day, used as basis to write a NRL negative story the next. AFL drug problems are a warning to the NRL The Australian-25 Mar. 2016 The AFL's problems with illicit drugs have once again been laid bare. Don't laugh, rugby league fans. The problems could run just as deep in ..
Norad
Guest
Herald headline on the game today decided to revive a forgotten atrocity. "No need for bottle throwing this time" The league media are consistent. As if the AFL would ever have this as a headline.
Norad
Guest
The Telegraph is also past few weeks go full on AFL as Uncle Rupert promised. Their AFL coverage is getting closer to NRL amount. Even the AFL Footy Show soap opera story got high coverage which is ridiculous given how low tv ratings it gets in Sydney. Also now 2GB has a token AFL story at the end of sport in each news bulletin. As if anyone in Sydney cares about some Geelong footballers hammy for a match against Adelaide but 2GB have started covering it.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
The Collingwood drug tests are getting a different attention then if it was 11 NRL players at one club
GWSingapore
Guest
Good journalists ask questions. They don't support anything. That is for OpEd opinion writers. But what happens these days when a good rugby league journalist asks questions? Ask Ian Heads.
Darren
Guest
Clickbait is the virus that is killing journalism in all its forms
Dean - Surry Hills
Guest
Turbo - What are you trying to say - that people who've served time must find a new path of employment upon their return? Are you saying that if Packer was a cleaner before his jail time, then he shouldn't be allowed to return to work as a cleaner? What if he was a professional boxer? Ban him from that sport as well? He's done his time, he's returned to the workforce, and he's learnt his lesson. This is what the process of rehabilitation is supposed to achieve. Your fight should be with alcohol Turbo - it is the drug that rears its ugly head at the centre of every NRL attrocity.
turbodewd
Guest
Keith, who cares if the media doesn't know NRL player X from NRL player Y. This is not thread worthy bro! Seriously. Id rather you focus on the actual behaviour of players which is consistently bad. Russell Packer is one example...and yet the code welcomes this creature back with open arms. That is the joke here.
Upfromdown
Guest
Not saying it is wrong or right Peeko and I prefer NRL over AFL. But like the media circus with the recent Lyon and Brownless affair issue, the game builds them up and when they do alright out of it anything they do is news and over exaggerated and analysed.
peeeko
Roar Guru
and other sports dont? didnt the AFL CEO describe AFL fans as the best in the world on the weekend?
Upfromdown
Guest
RL hypes itself up eg. Geatest game of all, Phil Gould's SOO speeches, it's continual comparison (tv ratings, broadcast deals, toughest game in the planet etc) with every other sport. It does this to remain relevant and it reaps what it sows.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Any good fullback would have caught that bomb and Radradra wouldn't have scored, Will Hopoate was out of position (as he was all night under the bombs) to catch that bomb and Radradra made him look silly with the catch and the offload for Michael Jennings to score that try.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Oh I agree. A shame though that responsibility is often only ever applied to one side.
Sylvester
Guest
There's a fairly simple solution to rugby league staying out of the headlines for the wrong reasons.
Agent11
Guest
Its possible. Rugby League doesn't represent what is in fashion in society at the moment so It's an easy target. The media should be more ethical and judge incidents on their own accord, not by who was involved.
East Bound & Down
Guest
Disappointing Pepper , I expected a much better bite than that .
$Bill
Guest
Just like when an AFL player grabs someone and the AFL commentators scream about "that being an incredible tackle".....
Pepper Jack
Guest
*YAWN*
Hoy
Roar Guru
I agree with this, and will go one further the other way... though this might hijack the premise of the article... The self love that NRL commentators put onto the game and the players should stop. The Eels try the other weekend is a perfect example. Radradra leapt, took a good catch, offloaded in an awkward position, and the Eels scored a good try. The plaudits that followed out of John's mouth at halftime were just ludicrous, they really were. It was just completely over the top what he was saying. He was saying it was a freak thing etc etc... If league commentators were not pandering to the lowest common denominator, John's might have known those catches and even more amazing ones are taken by big, mobile men in the ALF all the time... and they kick too Andrew!! The offload happens in rugby all the time, when players pop the ball up under attention, in awkward positions all the time... "the awareness" should be there because he is playing at the highest level... to say the ordinary person wouldn't have that awareness is silly... I played club footy... I was aware of who was supporting my runs and where they were at all times... That is what a football player should be doing... Anyway, I agree with the article, and I also think the absolute love in the other way should tone it down a bit as well. It is pretty embarrassing to hear sometimes....
Dean - Surry Hills
Guest
Keith,your quote "The guy hasn’t even played a single game of first grade. He might be a rising player, but he is years away from being an NRL star" is not entirely accurate. Besides The Telstra Premiership, The NRL is also responsible for the Australian Kangaroos and Jillaroos teams, the Holden State of Origin series, the Dick Smith Auckland Nines, the under 20's Holden Cup competition, and the Harvey Norman Touch Football affiliation. Liam Knight was considered to be star in the NRL under 20's Holden Cup competition by many, and a number of clubs were chasing his signature.