Rugby league is abuzz for a Test match in Denver between England and New Zealand. It promises to be one of the biggest events in the game’s history, and I fully intend to play my role by ensuring it is a complete failure.
While my main task as an NRL CEO is to run an organisation and answer police enquiries, I am also bound to always prioritise the wider game’s best interests – i.e. mine.
Apparently, this also includes paying lip service to the international scene, and I say ‘apparently’ because apparently there is one.
After verifying its existence with a few colleagues, I acknowledge the appeal of the global game. It’s another source of cheap, exploitable talent, plus it can introduce the world to radiant personalities like Simon Mannering and Wayne Bennett.
It has also explained where one-third of my players disappear to every April, saving me the need to order a heap of ankle monitors.
As for England and New Zealand clashing in the USA, there’s no doubt it could generate some real positives.
There’s the potential for fresh commercial opportunities, which could finance other important projects in the long term, such as my children’s private school fees. And the junket should be ace.
But unfortunately, taking rugby league deeper abroad will only provide immeasurable growth for the game, and that’s why it cannot go ahead under any circumstances.
Don’t get me wrong; outside of meetings with Damian Keogh, representing your country is rugby league’s most prestigious honour. At our club, we always encourage our players to strive for the privilege, provided it’s for someone else.
In all other cases, I will champion player welfare until I’m blue in the face. That’s because I will do whatever it takes to protect my most precious asset, my agenda.
Transporting my players on a dangerous, business-class flight to play in a stadium 10,000 feet above the flight path is a more treacherous proposition than spending time inside Allianz Stadium. Has Denver’s Mile High Stadium been used for professional sport before, and if so, were there any survivors? The lack of numbers is damning.
Sure, let my players be bashed, wrestled and forced to play through concussion, but I’ll always draw the line at altitude.
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Frankly, if administrators wanted to stage a match in a freezing remote location with minimal interest in the game, they should’ve scheduled a Test match in Melbourne, or in my soul.
It’s about time dreamy administrators realised players are precious commodities. They need to be protected, mainly because the tax office has outlawed depreciation of humans as a business expense.
The game needs to wake up and regress.
Instead of pouring revenue into expanding the game globally, rugby league should be strengthening its own backyard. Why not target growth in markets like Fairfield, Camden, or somewhere else with record pokie usage that would nicely prop up a new leagues club?
I reckon there’s something in that for all us.
Sometimes the game is so short-sighted.
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