Once upon a time, when I was a full-time rugby league reporter with the Sydney Morning Herald, there was a big storm and I was late to work.
I’d been in Melbourne the night before, watching a band called Eric Singer Project, featuring two former members of KISS. My flight had been delayed.
The sports editor, the late Rod Allen, gave me a bollocking.
“What was I supposed to do about an act of nature?” I argued.
“Don’t go interstate on your day off,” Rod said.
I was pretty indignant. He can’t dictate what I do on my day off!
These days, I don’t work in an office and don’t have a boss (perhaps it was incidents such as this that encouraged me to take that path).
But I think it works like this: he can’t tell me what to do on my day off but it’s my duty to be at work on time and he doesn’t have to give a rat’s why I wasn’t. If I worked at McDonald’s, I could have been sacked.
Which brings us to the Kiwis being stranded in Denver and the probable reaction of NRL clubs – chalking it up as another reason why the game should not be held next year.
Jesse Bromwich and teammate Kevin Proctor walk on the field (NRL Photos)
There seems to be a Murphy’s Law at work here.
England players headed off right after the game, some going straight the airport from Mile High Stadium.
A decade and a half ago, when an NFL game was played at ANZ Stadium, the teams did something similar. We all marvelled at just how serious these teams were – couldn’t the boys have a few beers and check the city out?
Whoever made the decision for New Zealand to hang around an extra day probably thought it was reasonable to give the players a ‘life experience’.
But in these tense circumstances, if something can go wrong, it will. It was a literal lightning strike.
[latest_videos_strip category=”league” name=”League”]
If you’re going to be an international sport and have an international window, you need to travel internationally. And as anyone who travels internationally can tell you, when you do it you are bound to have delays.
As I write this, no one is likely to miss their NRL game this weekend as a result of the delays. Next year, the Rugby League Football International Challenge is likely to be on a Friday, making it even harder for the delays to impact on the following round.
Funny, isn’t it? If the clubs actually do use this as an argument against the fixture, they are actually acting upon the possibility of lightning striking twice in the same place.
Who dares wins. A day off without a rock concert in Melbourne just doesn’t bear thinking about.
What to look out for in week two of the Pacific Championships
Brad Fittler claims widening State of Origin eligibility rules to include Australian-raised New Zealand and England players will benefit both the domestic and international game.
If you followed the recent Rugby League World Cup, you’ll probably have noted that the tournament has both passionate supporters and vocal detractors.
Since the Super League War, Rugby League has failed to cement an international calendar. The historical tours disappeared – in part due to the war but also since the English game transferred to a summer season.
With many spruiking that the pinnacle of our beloved sport is State of Origin, surely it’s time to make yet another amendment to the playbook and finally let New Zealand and English players in on the fun?
With the World Cup final just days away, I thought I’d reflect on some of the key moments and memories of the past ten…
