Whingeing and rugby league go hand in hand. It’s a tradition that crosses club loyalties, international borders and sometimes even media outlets.
It’s no secret that the constant waves of negativity buffeting the game for years from both inside and out have had a lasting impact on the NRL.
A lot of people whose livelihoods depend on rugby league prefer the permanent ‘NRL in crisis’ narrative that actually bears zero resemblance to the state of things.
This year though, it’s ratcheted up like never before. The sheer weight of complaining about rugby league in 2018 is making the game and a lot of those working in it look like spoilt boarding school kids who have had their Fortnite privileges revoked.
There’s a massive library of people making idiots of themselves this year and I’ll get to them in due course, but for the sake of brevity let’s just look at the past fortnight.
We’d taken the natural progression from 2017’s ‘refs need to blow more penalties and the NRL is in crisis’ to this year’s ‘refs blow too many penalties and the NRL is in crisis’ and back again.
After the ferocious media campaign against players abiding by the rules of the game, State of Origin came along.
With a total of five penalties in Game 1, all was right with the world. Then came the inevitable backdown from the NRL on rule enforcement, and a return to ‘clever’ refereeing was celebrated by many.
Maybe not so celebrated by Queensland, though. After getting buried by a try from a forward pass in Melbourne, the opening try on Sunday night was scrubbed in a highly contentious bunker call.
The Roar
All up, Game 2 had 14 penalties, a penalty try, a sin bin, and that highly disputable disallowed effort. Those numbers were cause for mass bedwetting during the NRL season. What made it different with Origin? What would the coverage have been like if NSW had lost?
Early Sunday morning, we reached the culmination of months and months of well-directed destabilisation aimed at the New Zealand and England Test in Denver.
I’ve written previously about the sooking and doom bringing that accompanied this Test and, as predicted, none of the horrible scenarios used to bash the event happened.
The game was a great watch enjoyed by just under 20,000 people and, apart from an electrical storm delaying some players getting back to Australia, things went well in a market that’s absolutely critical to the future of rugby league.
It’s Wednesday and there’s plenty of water to pass under a few bridges, but I can guarantee there will be more Origin players missing this week than players who went to Denver, whether they got held up by the weather or not.
And before you whinge about how the Test wasn’t a ‘full on’ match, consider that as well as the higher altitude, it was 32 degrees and both sides held nothing back. New Zealand lock Marty Taupau called it “the toughest game I’ve ever played in rugby league”.
England coach Wayne Bennett’s post game presser was one for the ages, potting everyone who doubted the event and pushing the case for international rugby league.
Bennett has been a bit circumspect of late so it was fun to see him launch again. He sees through the sooking about taking games overseas because he understands that to survive, the game needs to be more than the sum of the NRL and Super League.
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We finish things at the women’s State of Origin on Friday night, a belter of a game that shattered a few misconceptions about quality and interest.
A good crowd got to North Sydney Oval and there were great TV ratings for the first women’s game under the official State of Origin banner. But it was also beset by whingers who wanted it played in front of 12 people and some stadium staff as a curtain raiser to the men’s game.
These folks meant well, but this thinking completely ran counter to the reasons for why the game was on Friday, and the wishes of the players themselves.
That was just the entree, though. After the game, NSW lock Vanessa Foliaki and Queensland’s captain, Karina Brown, who have been in a relationship since 2014, embraced and kissed on the field, their moment captured and posted everywhere.
Rolling down the hill came the Maude Flanders brigade, complaining that the NRL had no right to ‘force this down our throats’ and that basically the world would be ending shortly.
I’ve always thought that NRL fans were slightly ahead of other sports when it came to social issues like marriage equality, Indigenous participation and dealing with racism (there’s a lot of work they need to do around domestic violence, but that’s a column for a little later). Sometimes your faith can take a knock and this was one of those times.
I’m hardly a misty-eyed idealist who just wants everyone to get along. Creativity and new approaches grow from conflict and debate. I can sook with the best of them too – just a couple of weeks ago, on this very site, when the NRL yet again quit on its rules crackdown.
But there comes a time when you need to either move past your problems, or work to find some a workable solution.
Sadly, it doesn’t look like anyone wants to do that. And for those of us who want a thriving, sustainable platform for rugby league, it’s a real problem.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Not the laws of the game but the misuse of the video referee. We have the technology but we can't use it because the forward pass is a special law. It allows the referee to reward the team with the ball and make the game more entertaining. If in doubt let it go keeping the referee in charge and the video ref a subordinate.
Justin Kearney
Roar Rookie
Human error combined with the laws of the game can cause frustration. See above!
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Tonight we saw a perfect example of Rugby League stupidity. The sharks score the game winning try from a forward pass. The referee missed it and the touch judge somehow missed it and the video referee saw it but couldn't rule on it. The NZ crowd booed the referee but why have a video referee who can't rule on forward passes? The commentators and everyone watching it could see it was a forward pass but it is a rule that can be ignored by the video referee so it was. Could there be a better example of Rugby League stupidity than this?
steveng
Roar Rookie
If you look at all those photos they are all passionate parts of winning in sport and your 'plus a bit of guy on guy action too' is only one, which wasn't on the field and/or by players, that was in the crowd and by two very well known comedians, who must have done it for a joke and/or publicity 'Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly kiss during the Lakers-Mavericks game at Staples Center in Los Angeles on May 2, 2011' if you know what Will Ferrell is all about.
What about?
Guest
“I’ve always thought that NRL fans were slightly ahead of other sports when it came to social issues like marriage equality, Indigenous participation and dealing with racism” That is your direct quote AJ, that infers that NRL fans are ahead of the curve on social issues in sport, what else do you expect the reader to take from that quote? And I’m not arguing you are using what aboutisms, you are actually using them one comment above. “why Adam Goodes doesn’t play in the AFL anymore” How is that anything but a what aboutism? The discussion is about the NRL and homophobia not AFL and racism but you feel it’s appropriate to bring in to the discussion for what reason? I can’t see any other reason than to deflect from the issue I have with your inference. NRL is a sport I care about, I’d love to see the AFL get there house in order and sort out the myriad of issues they have but I’d also love to see the whole AFL administration and their grounds burnt down with the wealth and land redistributed evenly to NRL and soccer, so I stick to the sports I like, that I want to see grows and the sports I’m a part of the supporter base and who not only do I identify with but who I have exposure to all year round. You mention nothing about future articles talking about homophobia, racism or sexism in the NRL until this comment so please don’t take me for a fool, all I’m doing is directly quoting you AJ. You said you would write a piece on the increased levels of domestic violence in Australia on major game days for NRL/AFL which is again a different situation which deserves a different discussion as it is linked to different causes and I commend you for that and will look forward to reading your conclusions on the study. (gambling, drinking culture, masculinity and socio economic situations being the main 4 as I’m sure you will find out when researching your article which I look forward to reading). I never dismissed the NRL winning the Pride in Sport award, I was unaware of the 2018 award having been awarded yet and when it was pointed out I said the organisation should be congratulated on their efforts especially after rating so bad in 2017 but that it doesn’t excuse the thousands of homophobic messages posted by NRL fans last Friday. What’s wrong with that statement? The fans are a seperate entity to the administration who are a seperate entity to the clubs who are seperate entitites to the fans again and let’s be honest both are a lot more rational than any sporting fan. (This goes for the AFL, CA, RA, FFA, hell even the AOC) But that doesn’t suit the picture you’re trying to paint here of me being some Melbournian trying to tear down the NRL via the internet does it? (The Code war mentality from journalists in Australia is ridiculous, let whoever watch whatever sport they want a growing population means the pies only going to get bigger) I am an NRL fan so stop trying to paint me as an outsider trying to attack the game, praise is given where it is due but I’m not going to bury my head in the sand and pretend NRL fans are suddenly this all accepting, all loving, socially equal fan base of the sport all of a sudden in spite of the evidence. It’s not a leap; the situation was simple, I asked why you thought NRL fans were ahead of other sports as you wrote in the article, you had no evidence to back it up so you resorted to what aboutisms and logical fallacies rather than discussing the issue or even easier just saying that your statement was badly worded and there is a lot of work all fans need to do still to make the game more accepting. It isn’t garbage logic either, this issue gave NRL writers a chance to call out the homophobia among NRL fans and is deserving of far more than being a two paragraph afterthought in a column concentrating on referees. It is a chance for journalists like yourself to call the homophobic fans out and let them know they aren’t welcome in the game anymore and you have the platform and vehicle to push the issue not me but if you’d rather sit here and argue semantics so be it.
Matt H
Roar Guru
Is he though? Where is the evidence for that? He generally has very little to say about the referees. He gives his opinion on the state of the game when asked, he has come out against wrestling on many occasions. He supports international expansion and has put his time where his mouth is, both for NZ and England.
AJ Mithen
Expert
I've never used the phrase 'ahead of the curve'. That means something completely different to what I actually wrote. But I can see you're not very interested in what I actually wrote. You brought up the Pride in Sport index, you were told the NRL was ranked #1 this year so now you dismiss it. You criticised my opinion, I told you some of my reasons for it. Now you're arguing that I'm saying 'whattabout'. Every sport's fandom contains measures of racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism and general bad attitudes to other humans. That's life. No one is denying it. I agree with you that there's wider conversations to have about how and why sports leagues handle these issues. If you look closely above, I even mention that I'm going to look further into it in the future. But your making the leap from what I've written to 'no one wants to address homophobia in sport' is just garbage logic, I'm sorry.
Matt H
Roar Guru
Brilliantly written, but you realise this article will probably cause the death of Rugby League and maybe of the entire World.
What about me
Guest
You sound like Shannon Noel, “what about AFL, it isn’t fair!”. When did anyone deny that AFL has a problem with racism, quick tip, so does the NRL. One of its star players was racially abused a mere 3 months ago. But that is besides the point here. It is a seperate issue that deserves its own discussion. As does homophobia, sexism and domestic violence in AFL. As does crowd violence at soccer, as does the drinking culture and team culture around cricket. All I am asking is how you substantiate your rationale behind thinking that NRL fans are ahead of the curve with homophobia when there is no evidence to support that. What is so dangerous about wanting to have this conversation or you admitting that NRL fans are no less homophobic than any other sports fans? Over the past 6 months on this site we have had Rugby Union slammed for the Folau fiasco, CA slammed for the ball tampering episode and soccer slammed for diving, yet any time anyone tries to bring up problems in NRL or AFL the respective pitchfork mobs backed by “experts” like yourself spring to arms screaming “what about sport X/Y/Z”
adam smith
Guest
I’s say the test in Denver wasn’t a complete success, the “butchering” of the New Zealand national anthem was a disgrace, (so was some of the “play” by my countrymen, mind).
Paul
Roar Guru
nope, this is what happens in the NFL
AJ Mithen
Expert
I know you’re just keen to grind an axe, but I’ll leave one last comment. You seem to think that I’ve excused all rugby league fans of homophobia and ignored the people who abused Brown & Foliaki. I suggest you read that part of the column again. As for your objection to my opinion about league fans and tolerance, that’s what this site is all about. You can say whatever you like and you don’t even have to put your name to it. But If you want some of the rationale behind why I think that, ask yourself why Adam Goodes doesn’t play in the AFL any more, which athletes have had bananas thrown at them and maybe have a look at the reaction from the public and the media to Adelaide’s Erin Phillips kissing her wife Tracy after winning the AFLW’s MVP award. That’s plenty enough from me. Thanks for commenting.
What about, what about, what about!
Guest
So the majority of those comments were by people just wanting to slander the NRL and SSC who follow the NRL just for the purpose of being homophobic. I mean even if that was true it shows a huge cultural issue with the game where people think it’s a platform they will be agreed with on. Also; who said I don’t like NRL? This is one of the huge problems with the game, people bring up a serious issue that’s prevalent in the game and the pitchfork mob start shouting “what about” or “you’re not a NRL fan” It is possible to be a fan of the sport and want it to grow and be critical of the culture of other fans you realise?
The Barry
Roar Guru
Not everyone that reacts on an NRL platform is an NRL fan. Here you are on a rugby league page on social media commenting on league issues...
Let’s not rewrite history
Guest
Firstly plenty of female atheltes have come out at their peak in cricket, netball and soccer but that fact clearly doesn’t suit your agenda. Nor does the fact Ian Roberts came out as homosexual at the end of his career (not to diminish or question his bravery in doing so). But why let facts get in the way of your story? Let’s stick to actual facts; last week the NRL posted a picture of a SSC kissing, thousands of NRL fans reacted with homophobic statements on the NRL’s platform, NRL fans are no further ahead of anyone else.
Big daddy
Guest
While not necessarily agreeing with what the press pump out we can't shut them out of the equation or muzzle them there is a thing called freedom of speech which the journos live by and if we do that we are probably no better than them. Some journos write good stuff and others after only "headliners"
Fans and organisation
Guest
Literally thousands of NRL fans made homophobic remarks about an on field kiss between two partners of the same sex a week ago. I’m all for comending the NRL organisation itself for its progress but the fans clearly haven’t progressed as seen by last weeks reactions so It is highly disingenuous of the author to claim NRL fans are ahead of the curb.
Larry1950
Guest
I reckon the nrl needs to start a media accreditation system like the afl who seem to stifle negative press about their game really well. Sydney press in particular are always searching for a scandal, seems good news stories don't sell papers or get ratings. If the clubs kill off england v NZ, where will the raiders find their new recruits?
The Barry
Roar Guru
...and there were thousands of homophobic comments from non NRL fans regarding a kiss between a same sex couple in a league game.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Is that why the NRL won "Highest Ranking National Sporting Organisation" at the Pride in Sports Awards last week, beating AFL, FFA and RA?