With all the player movement going on this season, it reminded me of a funny Jerry Seinfeld skit.
He discusses how people can go from loving a player to absolutely hating them when they go to a different team.
“Loyalty to one sports team is pretty hard to justify. The players are always changing or moving to another city. You are actually rooting for the clothes. You are standing and cheering and yelling for your clothes to beat the clothes from another city. Fans will be so in love with a player but if he goes to another team, they boo him. This is the same human being in a different shirt, and they hate him now! Boo! Different shirt! BOOOO!”
It got me thinking – how many of us cheer for the shirt or the player?
We all know how much rivalry there is between certain clubs. For a lifetime when a Souths or Roosters player jumped the fence it would start a riot. But over time, did the fans learn to love their former foes, or was there still hatred regardless of the new shirt they were wearing?
Despite who you support, we all have a player that we just cannot stand and dread the thought of them ever playing for us. Or the hero at our club, if they ever left you, you just couldn’t see yourself ever getting out of bed again.
When rumours start to circulate over the possibility of a player moving, heated debate from fans quickly follows, arguing why he should or shouldn’t come to their team, or why they do or don’t want him to leave their team.
When the whispers started about Will Chambers moving across to the Shire, the Sharks fans were up in arms. They did not want to have their arch nemesis from Melbourne, with a history of heated battles with their beloved Paul Gallen, to come to their team.
But he signed with the club and moved into the neighbourhood. He seems to have settled in well and is doing pretty well on the field.
Is he still public enemy number one because of who is, or has he been accepted now that he is not wearing purple?
A quick trip down the highway takes us to the Dragons. Earlier in the year the club were looking at signing Israel Folau. The fans did not want a bar of it – and they let management know. Social media was in overdrive, petitions were getting signed, phones were running off the hook from members threatening to cancel memberships and burn their jerseys.
(Raymond Roig/AFP via Getty Images)
The board withdrew their interest in Folau and the fans rejoiced. But then you could just hear a few murmurs from supporters saying, ‘hang on, he is a good player though. He may have helped us’.
Had the club just made a decision from a business level rather then an emotional one, would the fans have accepted Folau after they saw him in the Red V scoring tries? Or do they support the shirt and not the player?
Because Josh McGuire – another player the Dragons fans weren’t too keen on – seems be getting a lot of love now.
The same hoo-hah that the red and white army made about Folau, the Knights’ fans were making about Matt Lodge. When there was a possibility that Lodge was going to join the ranks, there was a massive uproar.
Lodge’s off-field record has not been forgiven by all, and the fans were divided over whether they wanted him at the club.
It seemed that half were happy to have him, and half refused. The happy half were of the ‘forgive and forget’ mindset and were excited for a strong forward to join the ranks.
The other half did not want someone with Lodge’s past to join the team and said they would no longer support the club if they signed him.
In the end the latter’s voice was louder, and the board withdrew their interest in Lodge.
He has since signed with New Zealand. How does that sit, Warriors fans?
(Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
The Souths faithful have been left distraught after the club only offered local junior and captain Adam Reynolds a two-year contract to stay on, when he was looking for longer. Reynolds made it very clear that he did not want to leave, but an agreement could not be reached.
He has now booked his plane ticket to Brisbane for 2022. While many fans are directing their anger at the board for not throwing everything they could at Reynolds to get him to stay, others are saying he should have just taken what was on offer if he loved being at Redfern so much.
Will the Burrow still love him when they see him run out for the Broncos next year, or will seeing Reynolds in different colours be too much for them to bear?
And then we go to the next level – State of Origin.
Are Tigers fans who were left broken-hearted when James Tedesco left them cheering his name when he plays for the Blues? Or is he forever dead to them?
Do Broncos fans take down the dart board with David Fifita’s face on it when he runs out for Queensland? Or does the hatred live on no matter what?
Do most of us who hate Manly cheer for Tommy Trbojevic when he crosses over for another NSW try?
It’s an interesting thought.
Did Dragons fans ever forgive Gorden Tallis for ditching them to head to the Broncos?
Have Bulldogs fans let go of the anger towards Sonny Bill Williams when he left them in the dead of night?
Do Storm fans still have a soft spot for Cooper Cronk after he left them for the Roosters? Or Greg Inglis after he headed to Souths?
Do Knights fans still hold a grudge against Ben Kennedy and Adam Muir for joining Manly? And did Manly fans even support those two players since they came from Newcastle?
Will Cowboys fans welcome Chad Townsend with open arms, since the reaction to his signing has been below average?
Tell me Roarers, who left your club that you never forgave?
Who came to your club that you never thought you could cheer for, but you did?
Do you support the player or the shirt?
David
Guest
I honestly believe if Cronk didn’t leave the storm for the roosters that we’d be looking at a 5 peat this year. Will never forgive.
Watda
Guest
I have to admit....Cronk went from zero to hero once he joined the chooks
JGK
Roar Guru
I’m sure you all know the mid 90s version of the Smokie song.
JGK
Roar Guru
As we were singing after we best Norths to get into the 1996 GF: “Tallis, Tallis Who is Tallis” (With apologies to Alice)
Danielle Smith
Editor
Ha! Love it Eaglejack. Playing well and winning matches fixes everything!
Rob
Guest
I had a smile reading the culture assessment. Where would the Broncos be without Dowling, Sam Backo, Miles, Gavin Allen, Tallis, Thaiday all NQ culture boys. Then throw in Nat Myles, Dallas Johnson, Costigan the NQ soft defenders. Then mention Thurston the little bloke who averaged less tackles than Soward. Culture might be in the bottom of the Brown paper bag? If you enjoy Panthers but then don’t like the Cowboys or Tigers I don’t really understand what tickles your fancy.
Blue Stephen
Guest
Bob, You are 'spot on' with your comment.There seems to be a recurring pattern in all sporting media coverage. The higher you are in the 'pecking order' the more 'wriggle room' you get and more favourable press coverage. I presume you are alluding to alleged events that occurred in Coffs Harbour a decade ago. Thankfully, there are more strict protocols in place now. Players need to concentrate on their behaviour on and off the field.
Glen
Guest
The Folau one was interesting. I think many fans didn't care. But they cared that others would care and put the club in difficulty due to sponsor withdrawal etc. Much of the noise was by people outside the fan base.
Rellum
Roar Guru
"Do Broncos fans take down the dart board with David Fifita’s face on it when he runs out for Queensland? Or does the hatred live on no matter what?" Just so you know, QLDers put State above club in general, Fifita gets the whole State behind him when he runs out. I think DCE a few years ago is the only player I have seen somehow loose that support for a bit.
thomas c
Guest
If someone leaves my club because they're forced out the door or we were doing them career damage, then I have sympathies and want them to do well. If they leave us in the lurch, then it's a bit of a different story. Lodge has played hard for us when fit. As far as I'm concerned, he has some good will. Jack Bird. When Ben Barba left us, I understood that it because we were ruining him as a player. Same applies with milford.
JVGO
Guest
The technical term for this is 'reification' or how a material object is mistakenly identified with what is in fact an abstract concept or a social relation. It is sort of central to the analysis of how contemporary capitalism commodifies pretty much everything, particularly our social reality and our sense of self.
Albo
Roar Rookie
For me, its always been the Club first. But it does not mean a lack of respect or appreciation for those great players at other clubs. As a youngster, I first got infected with the Club rugby league addiction in 1964 when I adopted the Balmain Tigers ( my mum's birthplace) as my team and I cheered long and loud for Keith Barnes, Artie Beetson, Laurie Fagan & Bobby Boland as they battled in a couple of Grand Finals against the might of the St George dynasty. I loved going to Leichhardt Oval with my dad, when it was still an oval running east / west. But then in 1967 my local team the Penrith Panthers were admitted into the competition ! What a terrible quandary that was for me ! All my family adopted the Panthers straight away and we all went to the Panther home games and plenty of away games as well, but when it came to Penrith v Balmain matches I always found myself barracking for the Tigers. I just couldn't change allegiances . I went with some school mates to the 1969 grand final to see the Tigers upset the mighty Souths side. What memories of that day ! It took me a good decade or so before I could completely transition my full support for the Panthers. Now its all Panthers and I hate to see Panther players moved on to other Clubs ( well except for a few annoying duds ) . I will still take an interest in the ex-Panthers and other Club players that grab my attention. Since starting to play Supercoach a few years back, I find an even closer observation & appreciation of opposition clubs' players. I have now plenty of favourites outside my own Panther players and I love the game even more.
Duggsy
Guest
Two rules in life 1. You always back your team 2. You never cross a picket line
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
Some of the modern day fans follow the team that their father or relatives followed . Nothing wrong with that as it probably interesting conversations around the dinner table. I've even experienced family break ups because some family members have followed different teams.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
The Warriors have now signed AFB and Lodge. That makes them terrible people according to the herd philosophy.
Aiden
Guest
Likable. Not liable. The liable player is Munster.
Walter Black
Guest
One interesting point along these lines is Membership. The whole idea of membership is that it taps into and enhances that idea that the club comes first. If it didn't none of us would ever take out membership (unless there was some financial benefit), buy a shirt or any other memorabilia. People simply would not do this unless the club meant a very great deal. The converse of this is when a great player such as Greg Inglis goes and plays for Warrington, many people will follow his exploits over there. George Williams even had a diary published on the BBC website about his exploits with Canberra (before they turned sour) because the Poms continued to follow him. Soccor in the UK particularly in the 90's was notorious for the violence that used to take place before, during and after a match. That was said to be all about certain groups of fans being so fanatical about their club that they hated every other club to the point of violence. Personally I reckoned it was because soccor was so boring that it was only the fisticuffs that provided the entertainment. Even today, if you go to a soccor ground in Europe, you will find that fans are corralled like cattle into different segments of the ground with different sets of fans placed in the different segments. Purely Rugby grounds by contrast are relatively unrestricted and it is not unusual for opposition fans to sit side by side. I reckon someone could write a thesis on the behaviours of fans and sport.
Aiden
Guest
I just go for the club I’ve always barracked for since I was a kid. Second, the club where I have lived for a long time (as long as they have some likable attributes) and then I always have a third team just due to how they play. So … sigh … Broncos. And then Melbourne as I have lived here for decades. Then, at the moment, Penrith. Not just due to them being on top, but they are always fun to watch, throwing it around from everywhere. And Luai and To’o are amusing with their deep and obvious displays of love towards each other. Is there are more liable player than To’o at the moment. The whole thing is refreshing. I could never go for the Bulldogs or the Manly due their awful fans. In terms of the Cowboys, Tigers and the Warriors, I can’t warm to those clubs (even when Thurston was there) as they always seemed to have a defensive frailty, which is cultural in my opinion. There is something culturally wrong at the club when they don’t turn up in defense. Of course … I’m wearing the same defensive frailty with Broncs now, but you have to stick fast with your team , horrible as they are.
Tony Harper
Editor
Great comment. I reckon that sums up being a fan. And we're usually more than happy to let everyone know which of our players we despise but super cautious about revealing our forbidden loves.
Nat
Roar Guru
It's perfectly ok to appreciate a good player without supporting, liking or even respect the club they play for. I used to have a soft spot for the Sharks through 80s and 90s. Good player, good blokes and a courageous club that made Saturday night at Shark Park their fortress. Then they became the Oakland Raiders.