Loyalty not dead, but increasingly a myth

For Parramatta Eels fans, the 1980s are still referred to as ‘the golden era’.

This golden era was the most successful time in the club’s long and proud history. It was a time where Parramatta truly were a powerhouse and, after winning four premierships in that decade Parramatta were the envy of almost every other rugby league team in the competition.

I was born in 1989, three years too late to have witnessed Parramatta’s last premiership in 1986. My dad is a Parramatta tragic though and when I was growing up he used to regale me with stories of the golden era.

The spectacular tries, the lifting of trophies and the moments of individual brilliance quickly became etched in my memory.

Parramatta’s heroes of the stories were always Bob O’Reilly, Mick Cronin, Ray Price, Eric Grothe, Peter Sterling and Brett Kenny. The other side was Greg Hartley, the Manly Sea Eagles and the Canterbury Bulldogs. But dad would only tell me stories with a happy ending and so in the stories, Parramatta were always the victors.

One of my favourite stories dad used to tell me was about Ray Price. The story goes that in the mid-80s, Manly tried to buy Peter Sterling, Brett Kenny and Steve Ella and lure them to the north.

Captain Price was to have none of this and went to each player individually and said something along the lines of, if you even think about going to Manly, any time that the Eels play the Sea Eagles, ‘I will belt the shit out of you’.

Rugby league was different back then, in more ways than one. Different sponsors were on the jerseys. The rules were not the same. The Newton Jets and North Sydney Bears were still fielding first grade teams. Peter Sterling still had hair! But for me, one of the most notable differences is that this was a time when loyalty meant something different in rugby league.

A favourite jibe of many a rugby league fan is ‘loyalty in rugby league is dead’. That’s not entirely fair, demonstrated by the existence of several one-club players like Corey Parker, Paul Gallen, Jarrod Mullen, Tim Mannah, Daly Cherry-Evans and Cameron Smith.

However, despite loyalty still existing in the NRL, we are now in a position where we cannot judge any player for putting their own self-interest ahead of their club.

In the last year we have seen the ‘loyalty’ debate flipped on its head.

At one point the debate was centred on a player’s loyalty to their club and fans questioning why players were prone to going after the cash instead of showing loyalty to the clubs that had nurtured and developed them.

Now we are increasingly seeing situations where a club’s loyalty to its players is being brought into question.

For example, last year it was the Wests Tigers that came under criticism when they offered Robbie Farah an early departure from the terms of his club contract (which still had two years before it was due to expire). His options, at the time, were either to depart the club or to play out the remainder of his contract in NSW Cup. Since then we have seen Farah return to first grade, but not before significant uncertainty about his playing future.

Club loyalty to a player again reared its ugly head last week when it was announced that Eels hooker Nathan Peats had signed an 18 month contract with the Gold Coast Titans. In the wake of the Eels salary cap saga, it was Nathan Peats that was made a sacrificial lamb. He was the one who took the fall for his team mates so that they could take the field on Friday night and play for points against the Rabbitohs.

2 weeks ago, Nathan Peats was videotaped in the dressing sheds following the Eels victory over the Bulldogs, doing the ‘Running Man’ with his team mates – overjoyed, confident and central to the success of the playing group. He now faces the reality of an interstate move for himself and his young family and beginning again with a new club away from the club and his mates that have been home since 2014.

Nathan Peats was a player who put himself on the line countless times for the blue and gold jersey. Last year when the Eels took on the Roosters, Peats sustained a broken neck but still managed to play on for the remaining 36 minutes of the game.

This was not the only time he played through injury. He was one of the most respected, inspirational, passionate and dare I say loyal players in the Eels squad, yet this counted for nothing, because his price was right.

And surely, in this context, a player would be foolish to think that the NRL is anything other than a big business with very harsh realities. Indeed, Peats made the comment late last week that he finally understood that footy was a business.

In an era where a club’s loyalty to its own players is increasingly coming into question, where players have short careers and absolutely must maximise their earning potential while they have the opportunity too, loyalty may not be dead, but it is increasingly becoming a myth.

This is @mary__kaye from @ladieswholeague.