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Apparently Super League's biggest problem is bad language

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Roar Rookie
2nd May, 2019
7

Last week, Ralph Rimmer said that swearing during televised games was one of Super League’s problems.

In a year in which the RFL have had to handle further expansion to North America, packed schedules and the Widnes Vikings going into administration, how does foul language even enter the discussion?

A lot of players swear – are you going to discipline every team or all players with fines? Suspensions after the warnings? I hope not.

In the NBA and Canadian Football League, the games are either shown on a five or seven-second delay so that the foul language can be censored – or there is an advisory similar to this shown:

“The following is a live event and with live television, we can not control the language of all involved. Viewer discretion is advised.”

You’re giving the viewers notice in sports, sometimes there’s foul language – you’re now aware and it’s your choice to continue watching.

I could assume that the vast majority of viewers do not care about the amount of swearing during Super League games or even notice it enough to complain.

There is also another way to avoid all this: do not show close-ups of the coaches or players, and take away mics from pitch-side.

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Problem solved.

As someone who has played sports (at nowhere near a professional level), I know emotions run high and not every player will restrain themselves from uttering four-letter words.

Rugby league is a great game, but language should not be a pressing issue for the RFL when there are so many other things to tackle.

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