Doing an interview the other day, I kind of stumbled across a question that strikes at the heart of what we like about our preferred sport.
Actually, it’s probably specific to rugby league.
The question is: if rugby league merged with rugby union and was played 100 per cent under rugby league rules, would you still follow it?
Some people just can’t process this hypothetical. Outside Australia, it is almost unthinkable as rugby union is so much bigger. Those I ask want to know who the administration is, what channel it is on, etc, etc.
If you are asking me these questions in response to the hypothetical, you’ve already answered, really.
It means you don’t just follow rugby league for the thing that is rugby league, the 80 minutes of running, tackling, passing, scoring.
If the Melbourne Rebels were playing the North Queensland Cowboys or Brive were taking on London Broncos in a sport called ‘rugby’ under NRL rules, you’d have reservations about tuning in.
I wouldn’t watch at all, unless I was being paid to work in the industry. It would have no interest for me.
Because, as I’ve written before, I like the idea of rugby league more than rugby league itself. I grew up on swap cards and Rex Mossop. It’s the iconography, the colour, the vibe that got me in.
Then I bought into the class struggle of the late 19th century, the oppression of various authorities – including rugby union – around the world and the fact that outside the area I grew up, league was the underdog.
Born to lose.
Unrelated. (AAP Image/Warren Clarke)
That’s what really sold me. I liked the fact that our international scene was a pale imitation of that in bigger sports but trying to get better – that we were associated with certain areas and social classes and times in history but there was a core of people trying to overcome these stereotypes.
And others who held onto them grimly. There was an ideological struggling within this community that was already marginalised.
If rugby league became part of this amalgam called ‘rugby’, all that would disappear. The things that I like about the game would evaporate, even though what was left would be identical.
I’ve got the point in life where there’s not a single match I can’t live without seeing but the people I’ve met through the game, I cannot leave behind. I don’t like the thought of them being subsumed by a globally much larger community.
Which brings me to the outrage from some quarters about the ARL Commission mandating no tackling before the age of eight and no finals before 13.
Gold Coast hooker Nathan Peats tweeted, “What a joke. Just give everyone a trophy. That’s just the world we live in.”
Basketball’s Andrew Bogut agreed.
But here’s the thing: we don’t want kids put in other sports (actually the NRL now own touch, presumably for this reason; they saw the writing on the wall in regard to the future of body contact sport).
And it is the world we live in.
These are conclusive arguments for why the game is doing the right thing. If it’s becoming a world for wimps, the NRL has to appeal to wimps and attract wimps! If junior sport is becoming less competitive, then junior rugby league has to become less competitive.
Because I am more invested in the idea of rugby league than rugby league itself, I just want my sport to be on the right side of history. I want it to win.
I don’t care what it has to change about the ‘thing’ of rugby league in order to achieve that.
mushi
Roar Guru
I doubt there's much over lap on the ven diagram of pizza purists and Kriek lovers
bear54
Mascord takes swipes at rugby every chance he has. After saying league is the only game of running, tackling, passing and scoring here he offers a righteous element to the only game he loves: "Then I bought into the class struggle of the late 19th century, the oppression of various authorities – including rugby union – around the world and the fact that outside the area I grew up, league was the underdog."
Pickett
Roar Rookie
I cleaned my own boots for the game Puppy Serf. And they've got plenty of milage. But you'd know all about peeling oranges - your position was Left Right Out wasn't it? Lol..
Randy
Roar Rookie
ralph wiggum lost his shin guard, hack the bone!! hack the bone!!
Nick
Roar Guru
"If only they had pee wee hockey, when I was a lad. Ah well!"
Michael Richardson
Guest
They do this in junior soccer and it's ridiculous. Without being "back in my day ..." moaner, all of my junior soccer (U8's and up) was played on full fields, with points and finals AND I earnt the silverware we won. Particpation awards and no points competitions are stifling the hunger to compete and win. What's next, no counting goals?
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
So I take it that you are a Roosters supporter Allan?
KenW
Guest
hey, stop it. Conserve your precious hatred for the game!
Nat
Roar Guru
"...until my throat is sore"
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
I don't think Steve is at all suggesting that. Just the appeal of league is tied into the history here, rather than the sport solely.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
It appears you've already exhausted the supply of those 3 bags
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
By my recollection we had Junior, Mod and then Mid or open equivalent league on the Gold Coast. Junior had no boots, not ladder, no finals. Every player got a trophy. Wasn't until mod that you played in boots, had finals and had trophies for best players only.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
But that's coaching. Coaches learn that you can't have all round players so they look for certain skills and combine them across the team.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
That's what I was about to say. Yes Union is moving more towards Rugby League, but Rugby League is moving a lot more towards NFL with the specialization and use of essentially lanes on the field.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Yeah it's definitely not a hit piece.
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
I agree with everything you have written mate, 100%. Re the whole "the axe" nickname and who came first? The chicken or the bronco?, see my reply to your above comment (when it goes up). And YES, I know that Gillmeister played for the Roosters prior to joining the Broncos but it would have killed my joke entirely. When I think of the biggest one on one tackles I have seen they are all from that era. And I'm talking about tackles not shoulder charges. My top two in reverse order are Souths Charlie Frith on the Dragons Tony Trudgett. Rex Mossop described it in the call as; "he went from running flat out forward to being slammed backwards by "a human projectile". classic Moose! But the one I always remember was Manly's Terry Randall on the Roosters BIG Bob "Bear" O'Reilly at the old Sydney Sports Ground. Randall lined up the charging O'Reilly from 10 metres back and drilled him. O'Reilly had a massive weight and height advantage but Randall's momentum, commitment and technique in the tackle caused the much bigger man to fly backwards and land with a thud is a cloud of dust that obscured both players. It was like watching a missile on impact! I remember Rex Mossop commenting on O'Reilly's reaction after losing the ball in the tackle. He sat up and thumped the ground in disappointment. Rex laughed and said something like; "O'Reilly's upset he lost the ball. Most men would have been killed by that tackle but all O'Reilly is thinking about is the dropped ball!" Rex was celebrating both men's toughness at that moment. No doubt O'Reilly felt that tackle but he didn't want Randall to know that. The game is too sanitised and commercialised now. It has lost it's soul. The buzz and tribal atmosphere we all used to experience at the smaller suburban grounds has been lost forever, sadly. Btw, I started following the game in 1970 when I was just 4 yrs old. Hence my original profile name SSTID_1970. ;-)
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
Boys, I know "Bunny" Reilly was called "the axe". But axe is easier to type and spell than Gillmeister and I didn't want to look that up. It's also easier to spell Reilly... except for Pickett Fence. He always leaves out one "L". :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: Still, I find it ironic that a man who was nicknamed "Bunny" never played for the Rabbitohs. Seems only fair that he should have done given that the chooks took Ron Coote, Elwyn Walters and Michael Cleary from Souths and Terry Fahey shortly after Reilly retired. ;-)
Alan Reid
Roar Rookie
Sorry, Pickett, I didn't see your reply to Papi about Bunny Reilly being nicknamed the axe otherwise I wouldn't have made the same point. It was a fair while my starting to write my comment and completing it. I'm not certain if there was another player nicknamed the Axe prior to Bunny Reilly but it's possible there was so I didn't call him the original.
Alan Reid
Roar Rookie
Papi, I agree with you about the wrestle, it absolutely stinks! It really makes me angry when I see a ball carrier dragging 3 or 4 defenders, none of them around the legs and continues to make more metres. It's a travesty that there is no reward for a tackle when the defender chops the legs from under a runner in full flight, the tackler is more likely to be penalised for holding down than get a few seconds reward for a great tackle. The referees and many in the NRL administration have no feel for the game these days Speaking of a chopping tackle I'd like to point out to younger readers that Bunny Reilly was known as "The Axe" many years before the great Trevor Gillmeister deservedly earned that nickname, both of them were great defensive players. If you can remember Bunny Reilly playing, like I do too Papi, you ain't no spring chicken and I know I have forgotten more than I remember so I'm not bagging you. I just wish the game was more like it was in past eras. There are many aspects of the modern game that are superior to the old days but they shouldn't kill off those elements of the way the game was played in days gone by that set rugby league apart from every other sport and made it the greatest game of all.
KenW
Guest
Youllgetitchy..... and Scratchy? I'm with spruce moose here. No-one's saying live your life by a cartoon but the social commentary that the Simpsons provided could be very sharp.