The Sam Burgess coverage typifies rugby league's negative media portrayal

If you believe everything that you read in newspapers and the mainstream media and news then you have a big problem, if you can just allege Mr Burgess’s guilty from an opinionated newspaper report! All I’m saying is let the facts come out in court and not just jump on your keyboard and be a ‘keyboard warrior’. This is getting beyond belief as there are stories coming out left right and centre (which is typical of the news outlets) and it’s just becoming a soap opera “AGAIN” which is the usual thing(s) that are always associated and against Sam Burgess, it’s part of the course!

These allegations are designed to throw so much mud at Sam that the Family Law Court Judge awards Full Custody to Phoebe and that imposter of a Father-in-Law. That is what this is all about.

You don't know what you are crapping on about.

Every year at finals time a story like this is released. Ask Kenny Dowell and Reynolds how it feels to be judged by the media and for their manipulative false accusers never to face any punishment. In a week of at least half a dozen AFL players being caught doing various objectionable things the media just shuts up. Is Sam guilty? No idea. But be asured, whilst false accusers continue to be supported by the media and slimy lawyers these stories will keep happening and lives will be destroyed. Guilty or not. And the false accusers will never be held accountable.

Tom, I got so confused by the directions commentators to your article went stampeding off on that I had to read your article again. It seems to me that you're really talking about the poor media coverage RL gets in Old Blighty, and that sporting administrators need to get smarter about connecting with old and new fans. And you would like to see the WC being a good vehicle for your hopes. I hope I've got it right or the Roarers will crucify me. I got carried away with my reply to you as it is. It wasn't just your G&T in Sydney that led you to believe that there is good media coverage of RL in this country. You were quite right. There is a huge amount of coverage in newspapers and on pay and FTA TV in Oz, and on radio too. And don't forget New Guinea where they're mad for RL. But that coverage is only very good in New South Wales where you were, and Queensland, where most RL is played and where most of the clubs are located. There's a smidgen in Victoria and the ACT, but the coverage and promotion in other States and Territories is pretty ordinary. Oh, the NRL have tried a bit with State of Origins and tests played in other parts of Oz. And a visit to the NRL's web site shows that there are leagues in other parts of the country. But efforts to effectively spread the game throughout the country have not been too good, and haven't yielded any expansion worth two bob. RL is still largely concentrated in NSW and Queensland, just as it was when RL started up in Australia. In addition, crowd numbers at club games aren't what they once were although TV audiences are still respectable. However, pay TV penetration in Australia is not as high as you might think. While the actual numbers of subscribers have increased over time, only roughly 35% of potential TV viewers pay for sports coverage. This % isn't much different to what it was when pay TV started here. Also Foxtel has had to be bailed out here with some pretty significant money a little while back. It's highly likely that broadcasters pay far too much for the rights in comparison with what revenue they get. The real problem for RL in Oz aren't the fans. It's money, and this was the case well before COVID. Very few clubs make a profit in any year although membership figures are not too bad in many clubs. The game relies almost solely on income from broadcasting rights which is a very fragile financial model. Sponsorship certainly exists, but Australia's business world is very small by comparison with the UK, and clubs struggle to get and keep big sponsors. While the NRL has carried on about expansion occasionally, the game's biggest problem isn't maintaining contact with fans or promoting the game. It's how to get the amount of filthy lucre needed in an environment where it must be said that greed reigns both on and off the field. Despite all this, RL continues to forge on pretty well and has a loyal following. But it's highly likely that the COVID experience in the RL and the general community is going to have future negative impacts on salaries for administrators, coaches, and players. Some of us think thst this is long overdue. Greed has ruled, and greed is not good.

Unfortunately the old school brigade dominate the upper echelons of traditional media in the UK and their schools usually played rugby union and not rugby league. League on merit is probably the most exciting sport in the country, producing thrills and spills plus plenty of amazing skill and athleticism each week. It gets no great help from traditional media or rich sugar daddies but instead survives on something much stronger, community spirit and appreciation/love of the game in its heartlands. It deserves to be back page each nationally but as we continue to move away from felling trees for our daily news digest and use social channels and fair-minded digital media, League has a real chance of being appreciated on merit and building its profile to surpass union, which I am sure most neutrals would consider the lesser code, and the other leading sports.

Have you not just leveled an allegation that every story is fabricated and not sourced in the Australian. I trust that this is supported by a court determination and not just unsubstantiated hyperbole.

It has everything to do with it. The court of public opinion predates the legal process - that’s why we have a legal process. Mr Burgess’ entire life has been carved out of profiting from the monetisation of that public opinion via mass media. Did you admonish him for attempting to trial the NRL by media during his career? Now I want everyone to have a fair legal trial, and many a high-profile person has beaten the public view in the past. But if you want public opinion to not exist, though seemingly where inconvenient for your team, then trying to express that view via an opinion website has more than a dash of irony.

Not sure they really can though, if those mid tier guys slip up they still get thrust into the lime light. Not to the same extent mind you.

Yeah, his wife (who stuck by him until a certain point), his father-in-law, his mistress and the dozens and dozens of text messages etc they've found are all lies. He's a selfish, egotistical, moronic footy player, Tom - nothing more, nothing less. He's the sort of guy who blames other people for his mistakes or short comings. He blamed everyone else for his rugby debacle, when the truth of the matter was that he just wasn't very good - he wasn't SBW. No shoulder charge, no Burgess.

Spot on John. I was only a kid at the time and went with some school mates and we slept outside the general admission gates on the Friday night before the GF. It was freezing and uncomfortable and scary , but we got first grab of the front seats in that little stand that was between the old Bob Stand & the Hill. Great position with uninterrupted view. Got sunburnt, lost my voice from cheering for the underdog Tigers for hours, but then had the great fun of walking down Foveaux St to Central Station with Laurie Nicholls ( also a good friend of Sid Williams) and caught the train home to the mountains with him and a bunch of celebrating Tigers fans. What a memorable day !

Green much?

If you swap the codes and the countries you will find rugby union coverage in Australia is equally as dire as league coverage in the UK..

It is a pity RL's profile continues to decline in England and Wales, as it was more prominent and has a long and proud tradition. Unfortunately it can no longer rely on its past as the population keeps increasing and demographics change, thus falling further behind. There was a time, over half a century ago when RL was more prominent, but two waves of immigration firstly from Pakistan and India and then from Eastern Europe meant that support for RL was diluted. RU had the advantage of University and the demographics it appealed to wasn't as diluted. The other problem was in those days people more so accepted their fate. A few great RL themed films from that era like 'This Sporting Life' illustrate that point. The general population is so much more aspirational - even if there is no hope of moving up, they don't like to be reminded that they belong to the working class by supporting a working class game. How RL will reverse this trend is the hard part - how do you try to increase media exposure when interest and participation are declining. Of course they're not the only sport in this position, RU in Australia is in a similar decline here, but internationally have a far greater footprint so can at least leverage off that.

Yes, very well put. It makes me a bit uncomfortable when people say 'let's just focus on the footy' and and so on when the charges are so serious. It reeks of sweeping beneath the carpet, which rugby league did with domestic violence for so long.

Randy soccer is a working class sport to but you don't hear the soccer fans sook and play the Working class discrimination card. Its just a Rugby League thing. Always the Victim

There is no general law against discussing a case that is before the Courts unless a Court has made a specific order against it which is very rare and would not be made in this case. This story is exceptional because the allegations have been substantiated by documents which can be easily authenticated. And unlike the normal trashy he said/she said stories we have become accustomed to, this one gives detailed accounts of exactly who was present at particular times. Many of the allegations are supported by (verifiable) text message records, including from Burgess himself. The club doctor has not denied the allegations. If the allegations are untrue, it will be easy for Burgess to prove them false. He can obtain statements from the neutral witnesses named in the article and produce his telephone records to show any inconsistencies. An innocent man would be expected to do that. A broad denial is sufficient when allegations are vague or general, but not when they are particularised in the detail that these allegations have been.

Yep, if its all false, then SB will own and run The Australian by the end of the year. The lawyers have been over it.

I think all 9 are already incorporated into a NRL game - some slightly different interpretations, but there none the same ????

I know the rules about legal cases before a court but, the Australian should have never ever taken sides and or published this, the only reason they did this is because of their usual sensationalism and to fill up their empty pages (that no one reads) with their usual nonsense. These newspapers don’t verify and/or substantiate their stories, this sound like an opportunistic, vindictive headline about a controversial player (that they always vilified in heir usual sports headlined) and they went with it. Sam Burgess totally denies all allegations and accusations which should have also been part of their story.