Mad Monday has a place in our game, trashy journalists don't

It’s just another manic Monday. Or for some so-called ‘journalists’, another chance to bring our game into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Just under a month ago, I wrote about what the rise of the erosion of trust between players and journalists and the role that the manipulative media played in this.

That was after Tyrone Peachey was left stranded at a media opportunity when the entourage decided to swarm on 20-year-old halfback Nathan Cleary instead, who was innocently walking by.

That incident, however, pales in comparison to the one that was plastered on the front page of the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday.

I’m not going to bother going into any details, because chances are you already have a pretty graphic idea of what I am referring to. Besides, it would just give more power to the papers, which is exactly what they want.

It’s a pity because it’s at the detriment of the trust that future relationships between players and the media should be built on.

We might as well just bury that trust now.

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

And it’s a real shame, particularly for aspiring journos, such as myself.

There are those out there doing the right thing – Michael Chammas is a constant example of what real journalism looks like.

Thankfully, his work won’t be tarnished as the public know what he stands for – giving the players a chance to tell their stories in an environment that is safe and free of judgement.

He writes because he loves the game. I wish I could say the same for those who vilified the Canterbury players. But I can’t.

Rather, it seems like they are going out of their way to sabotage this year’s finals series, which is the closest and most intriguing in recent history, and sell papers with yet another scandal.

You may think that the onus is on the Bulldogs players – not to get naked, not to get on the drink. Or at the very least to do it in a private venue.

Yet do it in a private venue is exactly what they did. And still they couldn’t escape the prying eyes.

I would suggest that the NRL bans journalists, and I use that term loosely, from being anywhere near these end-of-year celebrations.

But that won’t work either. In 2012, then-Bulldogs CEO Raelene Castle prohibited the media from being within 200 metres of the players, who were privately celebrating at Belmore.

So what did the media decide to do in response? Well, what any normal person would do: send a helicopter flying over the venue.

What does this tell you? The Mad Monday celebrations aren’t the problem here. After all, in this instance, it was held in a private location.

Rather, the issue is the journalists who go out of their way to bring the players into disrepute, going as far as to ask members of the public for photographs.

With this in mind, it all comes down to the motivation.

Footage circulated earlier this week of a naked Trent Merrin, kicking a conversion at the Panthers’ finals launch for Fox League.

(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

It was shared across various media platforms as a humorous and cheeky display by one of the sport’s best personalities.

The motivation there was to give fans a laugh and nothing else.

This time, however, Adam Elliot has been slammed despite the fact he did what he did in a private venue. The shot looks like it was taken from a fair distance away and I’m pretty sure the 23-year-old wouldn’t have consented to the photo being shared.

After all, his 2018 season shouldn’t be defined by one photograph. It should be remembered as a breakout year where the youngster established himself as a starting forward off the back of drive and aggression similar to that of teammate Josh Jackson.

Continually we hear calls for players to be more honest and open in interviews, to ditch the cliches and say what they truly think.

And it’s no wonder that they refuse to do so, in fear that their words will be twisted and distorted to fit an external agenda.

Josh Morris summed it up perfectly in an Instagram post he put up on Tuesday, which has since been deleted.

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

The image appeared to be showing Prince William flipping the bird when in actual fact, he was simply lifting up three fingers to represent his three children.

What the Canterbury players did may appear distasteful – and, out of context, it certainly is. But they were under the impression that they were in a private setting.

Naive, perhaps, but they certainly shouldn’t have to deal with paparazzi following their every move.

It was a point shared by the Rugby League Players Association.

“We’re also concerned about the intrusive nature of the reporting involved here,” CEO Ian Prendergast said in a statement.

“While we accept players have stepped out of line on this occasion, they are entitled to let their hair down at the end of a tough year.

“I’m sure many of us have had night’s that we’re not proud of.”

However, out of all the controversy, there has been one pleasing outcome.

Rather than being met with a band of Helen Lovejoys, pleading for Canterbury officials to think of the children, the vast majority of online disgust has been directed towards the papers rather than the players.

The fans have had their say. They understand that players are human.

They also can see how this situation could further erode at the already dwindling trust between the media and players.

And we will continue to lose the personalities of our game because of it.