Last week, the NRL celebrated Women in League Round.
As a round, it is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the varied contributions that women make across the game and it also gives our players the chance to thank and honour special women who have helped and assisted them along their rugby league journey.
For me, the round took on extra significance this year, particularly when thinking about how far we have progressed, especially when it comes to women playing the game. It’s worth reminding all of you that we are less than a month away from the beginning of the inaugural NRL women’s competition and another historic milestone in the history of our game.
The only thing that wasn’t perfect about this round for me was the inundation my Twitter timeline had on Friday night when Matt Lodge scored an eight-point try in the Brisbane Broncos’ loss to the North Queensland Cowboys. Since then, I have been asked several times how I feel about Lodge being able to play rugby league.
The truth is, it troubles me greatly and it is one of the hardest issues I find myself grappling with as a rugby league fan and, more importantly, as a feminist.
You’ll all recall the exceptionally confronting footage of Lodge in New York in 2015, breaking into a home and violently assaulting several people. After several attempts to come back to the NRL, the Broncos announced his signing at the start of the year, despite him owing $1.6 million dollars in compensation to his victims.
After much to-ing and fro-ing, the NRL intervened, ordered Lodge to enter into some sort of agreement with his victims and then it was announced that, in June this year, he reached a confidential settlement to compensate his victims.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
At various points through the year, it has made me deeply uncomfortable to see Lodge playing, particularly at the beginning of the year when I knew he was not paying compensation.
I struggled to understand how the Broncos rationalised this signature and, despite only being on a minimum wage, why Lodge had not been required to enter into an agreement with his victims before signing that dotted line with Brisbane at the start of the year.
But now that Lodge has entered into such an arrangement and his victims are being compensated, should he be able to play footy?
That all depends on what you think the NRL’s role is in punishing or rehabilitating players that have done the wrong thing.
When I was younger, I used to think it was black and white. It was simply a case of, if a player committed a serious offence the NRL should wipe its hands clean of them.
Part of being a player in the NRL is being a role model and if a player did not take that role seriously, it was easier to cut them loose.
However, my thinking has since changed.
I have come from a very privileged background. I am well educated. I wanted for nothing growing up. I have a loving and stable family and I was given many opportunities which have put me in an exceptionally fortunate position today.
Some of our players are not so privileged. Some of our players have come from very challenging backgrounds and some have seen things growing up that no child should. This does not excuse poor behaviour, but it helps put things in perspective.
For many of these men, rugby league is an opportunity for them to change their lives. And I have seen many players convicted of offences, who have done their time according to the law, come back and make positive changes in their clubs and at their communities.
Marina Go, chairwomen of the Wests Tigers, often puts Russell Packer in this category. After being very wary about his signing, Go and her board trusted their coach Ivan Cleary. Since returning to the Tigers, Packer has, by all accounts, taken the opportunity with both hands, is focused on his family and with the support of the club is also undertaking an MBA.
(AAP Image/Daniel Munoz)
I’m proud that rugby league has given this man a second chance and that he has taken it.
Should Lodge also be given this chance, particularly if he is genuinely remorseful and wants another opportunity to turn his life around? If not, what offences are serious enough to ban a player for life and who makes that decision on where that line is?
As footy fans, sometimes we forget what is important and how much we sacrifice in the name of being successful on the field. At the start of the year, Lodge was booed every time he touched the football. As the season has progressed, the crowd seems to have lost its fight.
Additionally, I heard people saying that, despite it being a ‘politically incorrect’ thing to say, Lodge should be in the running for signing of the year.
When incidents like Lodge’s happen, it is hard to defend the actions of the minority in the face of overwhelmingly positive behaviour of the majority.
The easy option would be to walk away. To be disgusted and to stop watching my sport.
But what does that achieve? Very little.
I want to be part of a force that helps to change our game for the better and to encourage and challenge the NRL to think about how it responds to incidents like these. They should be more up front in communicating to fans about the standards of acceptable behaviour for our players.
Walking away does not achieve anything. But continuing to support the game and challenging it to be better hopefully achieves a little bit more.
Tingo Tango
Guest
Your Kidding Nearly everyone does condone the behaviour but it is what the game should do is the issue. From what I am gathering your view is that if anyone commits a serious offence then they should be banned from the game? This would get rid of people from the game but then what becomes of them in our society? Isn't it better that RL can try to reabilitate these players rather than them continuing to act out their problems on the rest of us. Matt Lodge was not allowed to simply walk back into the NRL. He had to go through various programs and show he had indeed changed to be given another chance. If the NRL simply said - to hard we do not want you to every play RL again and then he continued to assault people would you be satisfied that the NRL has done it's job?
poles
Guest
Matthew Pearce, private companies are allowed to provide their own discipline on top of what the court has decided. Nothing wrong with lobbying for companies to impose sanctions, or are you happier if that's made illegal?
poles
Guest
Ah, the good old 'it's normal! everyone does it' argument
Lewl
Guest
whoops@vaughan
Lewl
Guest
I think Lodge might struggle to be considered the best prop signing of the year (Vaughan, Graham, Packer, Matulino), let alone the best overall (-->>Blake Green<<--, Kalyn Ponga etc). But that's nitpicking. The Lodge issue is boring to me now. The NRL probably shouldn't have let him play before he had at least set up an agreement/commitment as to how he was going to pay his victims. But it's done now, and that's been set up (I presume? Been reading headlines only for most of this... like I said, boring). If he messes up again, by all means throw him out for good. Otherwise, carry on I guess.
Tom G
Guest
Strange article from someone who follows a team that has had its fair share of issues relating to women in recent times.. Hayne, Radradra, Norman come immediately to mind. No one could excuse Lodge for his NY exploits but the same indignation seems to be spared anyone in a blue and yellow jersey.
Big daddy
Guest
A job is getting paid. A career is getting long service leave at centrelink.
Major Bumsore
Guest
Like planning to moider hundreds of people in a terrrorist plot ? Oh no , they let them stay as well ...Don’t they?
Major Bumsore
Guest
So true Birdy , but that is the exact reason the media makes such a kerfuffle about these kinds of incidents. It’s to wind up the social justice warriors into a lather , and bore the thinking people to tears . The screaming minority’s will always bleat about what is the appropriate colour for a baby to wear , whilst defending the rights of someone they’ve never met who’s only goal on this planet is to obey the fanciful destructive will of of an imaginary entity . But let’s get all hot under the collar about what some kid did 4 or 5 years ago.
Your kidding
Guest
Lodge attacked his girlfriend, and in a seperate case, terrorised a family in their home after threatening some girls in the street. Domestic violence against his girlfriend was committed. How anyone can excuse this behaviour or believe the NRL is doing the right thing for women is beyond me.
Chris Love
Roar Guru
Sorry Marry, we simply do not need to be there talking about Matt Lodge again. Unless you have something new for us. This has been done to death. Just click bait. Well done.
Bunney
Roar Rookie
Hi Mary, Thanks for this write-up. You walk us through the change that has occurred in your reasoning over time, and respectfully asked us all to think about our own individual reaction(s). I think it's a quality piece. I felt uncomfortable about my team signing Lodge earlier in the year, but as the year has worn on, more and more stories have come out about who he is now, and it's clear he's a different guy. What you wrote about your privileged upbringing compared to some footy players whose may have been less fortunate is bang on. Too often we see the actions of others through our own lenses and miss vital information. What Lodge did was wrong, but he is now proving that it didn't occur because he's a crazed lunatic, but because he had some serious issues and needed help. Unfortunately, he hurt other people before he got to a point where he realised he needed to take action and get that help. Without forgiveness, the world is an ugly place. I think the NRL is missing a trick with this stuff. They've been missing it for years. There are so many good stories that involve NRL players, and unless you're an avid footy fan, reading multiple sources for your sports news, you never hear about it. Russell Packer's head stomping trick was big news, it was big news when he signed with the Dragons, all negative. The NRL takes a beating and it eventually dies down, but his progress since - winning academic awards for his high grades at university and his community work with kids with disabilities - isn't reported with anywhere near the same cut-through as the first two negative stories. Where is their marketing manager? It should be part of their media deal that TV stations have to show a couple of NRL specials that focus on NRL good news stories, and they could be heavily advertised during state of origin when the audience is at its greatest. The NRL should also be on the front foot with the next Packer or Lodge. When the contract is approved, make sure it's tied to a stack of "do good" proviso's and bl**dy advertise it!! Advertise how the game is helping make role models out of troubled young men. Troubled kids don't/can't relate to a goody-two-shoes, but they'll relate to Packer, Lodge et al. Turfing bad boys out on their own isn't helpful, but allowing them back in as if nothing happened is equally stupid. The NRL made sure that both Packer and Lodge jumped through some hoops, but their lack of marketing nous turned a potentially good story into a negative one. So instead of celebrating that 3/4 through the season Lodge is going good and appears a new man (Hooray! Success!), we're still talking about the negative side. Total bummer. Next time Greenburg is on your podcast, maybe you could bring it up with him.
Craig
Guest
Ordinary clickbait article. You’re better than this Mary.
Short Memory
Roar Rookie
Pretty sure the ongoing psychological treatment for the kid counts as medical treatment mate.
Brian
Guest
At Work - you are the one making a positive claim meaning the burden of proof is on you. He is simply rejecting your evidence as insufficient to prove your claim - that’s a position that doesn’t require evidence of the opposing position.
Matt P
Roar Rookie
Sure. Or you could just admit most people were (and still are) generally ambivalent. So only 800 people ever came across it, and 15K just couldn't get there in time? Sure thing. I think it far more likely that most of the 15K simply didn't care enough to state their opinions.
Gray-Hand
Guest
Stupid phones. Much as I think there has been an overreaction to what Lodge did ( none of the victims even required medical treatment) I don’t think alcohol was the active ingredient in causing that rampage. Alcohol doesn’t trigger pscychotic breaks like that.
Gray-Hand
Guest
Much as I think there has been a
At work
Roar Rookie
So MP I’ll take it that you’ve conceded then. Cheers
At work
Roar Rookie
Gray-Hand twitter polls are only open for a period of time and followers don’t receive a notification, it’s like Facebook they only see what is on their feed until it’s refeshed and more content pops up based on who you’re following. So the other 15k more likely didn’t come across it.