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Rugby league is dying in the country.
Long gone are the days, those halcyon days, where families used to take their picnics to the footy game and cheer on the local team, making a day out of it.
I remember those days as well, as a young player back in the early 80s, loving the adoration of the crowd, the smell of hot chips and hot dogs, the cheering and the jeering.
I remember the muffled speakers saying something about someone’s car being broken into or a lost child (or drunken husband) is at the office to be picked up.
I remember seeing young players coming from Bush Footy and making it in Sydney but, alas, it’s dying.
Some teams, like the Mullumbimby Giants, last year couldn’t field a full A Grade team because no one could be bothered turning up. Some were lured away to union or to Byron Bay.
Now the NRL is scrapping the traditional Country versus City match. This was an opportunity for NRL stars to be seen in the bush, but now that’s over.
The NRL is making it hard for country teams to compete, to develop more future superstars. The next Greg Inglis, Mick Cronin, or even the next Peter Sterling could be out there, but instead the NRL is not pouring money into the bush.
Bush footy only survives on meat raffles or a sausage sizzle outside the local Bunnings.
That’s how Bush Footy survives, but for how much longer? How much longer will the NRL ignore the CRL?
It’s heartbreaking to see great clubs that were there from day one folding because NRL is too tight with their money – of which they have plenty.
We need to realise how important bush footy is, and find a way to support it.
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