We find ourselves in a time where everything is out in the open for everyone to see.
Anything we want to know is just a click, swipe, or button press away.
The NRL have most certainly become part of that era.
We are always wanting to know the latest news on the game. Or any information from our team. Or what kind of TikTok dance Nathan Cleary is doing today.
And it seems that the NRL and everyone on the payroll have accepted that this, and they are giving the fans what they want.
Cheeky player interviews after a match. Press conferences with angry coaches getting fined for speaking the truth. Live crosses from lounge rooms during NRL 360 and 100% Footy. Instagram videos of Brandon Smith filling up Craig Bellamy’s bag full of rocks.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
And as fans, we just lap it up.
From the footy side of things, it makes us feel like we are part of our team. Hearing the game plan, seeing how training has been going, finding out any news and whispers – we are right there with them.
From the social media side, it makes us feel like our heroes are just like us, and it’s like we are mates with them.
I personally think this is great. This is what the fans want to see. Making us feel a part of the NRL world.
The one ‘access all areas’ section that I still can’t get on board with, though, is the dressing room.
This should be a place just for the teams. For the coach to get angry and drop as many colourful words as he wants. For the players to walk around in their undies and do their stretches. To drink their post-match beers. To scoff their post-match pizza.
To celebrate and bang out the team song. To commiserate and dissect what went wrong.
I have felt this way about the dressing room for a while. But after cameras in the North Queensland Cowboys dressing room caught – and stayed on – Francis Molo trying to comfort an inconsolable Tom Gilbert after their loss to the Roosters, I thought enough is enough.
As much as it would have been classed as ‘good viewing’ or ‘must-see TV’ from the powers that be – it really wasn’t. Gilbert didn’t need his raw emotions – that he thought he was producing in private – broadcast to everyone and then later shared on social media.
It was hard to watch. And unnecessary.
Tom Gilbert. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
I know some fans have said that it was good to see him so upset, to show how much the loss meant to him and how much he wanted to win.
I get that, to a certain degree. But this is where the coach can come out and say in his press conference that ‘the boys are shattered, we even have some in tears they are that heart-broken’.
Or the captain can say ‘we have all taken this one very hard, a lot of emotion is spilling out in the dressing room’.
Special behind-the-scenes access like the Wests Tigers documentary is always a real eye opener for fans and great viewing. But it’s been signed off on and given approval by the team. Cameras in a normal dressing room for any given game is not the same.
If a player cries tears of joy or breaks down in a pool of misery on the field, they know they are on camera and they are surrounded by a crowd of journalists, commentators and fans. Everything they do out there is being watched, filmed and shared. It’s out in public.
When an interview is being held, or a personal post is put up on social media, the player or coach has control of what they want to say, and what they want everyone to see and hear.
When news is published about a player in trouble or a team in crisis, well that’s too bad. That’s part of the job.
Journalists out the front of NRL headquarters, judiciary hearings, club car parks, players houses – it’s a lot but it’s all part of it.
(Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
We can wish players happy birthday, tag them in our photos, congratulate them on the birth of a child, and give them our honest reviews of how we thought they played on the weekend on their social media.
We watch coaches explode in the coach’s box. Hear captains give their team an absolute spray in a huddle. Lip read players frustration when they knock on.
We saw Shaun Johnson’s raw emotion after being told live on air about having to relocate to Queensland. We have seen Nathan Hindmarsh’s butt crack way too many times when he would lose his pants in a tackle.
And we have witnessed enough snot to last a lifetime when the camera zooms in on players clearing their nose.
But the dressing room? This needs to be off limits. The players still need some form of privacy. Let them have one piece of sanctuary.
When a team is trying to get ready for battle, partying after a win or licking their wounds after a loss – we don’t need to see it.
When a player has just been told the bad prognosis of an injury – we don’t need to see it.
When a coach is giving his final word, halftime spray or post-match analysis – we don’t need to see it.
When a player breaks down in tears of absolute despair after a loss and a teammate is trying to console him in private – we don’t need to see it.
We think we do. We have been programmed to believe we do. But we really don’t.
Danielle Smith
Editor
Thanks Howzat. I wasn't sure what the response would be on this article, but yes it seems that most Roarers agree.
Howzat
Roar Rookie
Completely agree! Great article Lady League. Glad someone finally had the courage to say it. Interesting to see genuine footy fans all agree too.
GregM
Roar Rookie
imagine the outrage if a male reporter ventured into the female netball or basketball changerooms along with camera crew while players are semi naked / various stages of dress / in the showers etc.
GregM
Roar Rookie
Kilgore - haven't you been watching "Keeping up with he Kowboys" on fox?
GregM
Roar Rookie
“Most of the time I don’t even bother to turn the sound on.” – especially when Ennis is commentating! Am watching Parra v Raiders with Pink Floyd in the background as i cannot stand listening to that twerp (maybe that’s a good thing eh, listen to great tunes while watching the league)
GregM
Roar Rookie
The only thing that should be shown is the training the players do - running laps, hitting weights etc so the spectators can appreciate the physical nature of the training & how hard it is being a pro player. Apart from that - keep the cameras out of the change rooms
Walter Black
Guest
Fully Agree I once saw an ad fo a new camera just hitting the market. Its main selling point was that it could get your picture from shutter press to facebook page in 3.6 seconds. Nothing would horrify me more even if I used facebook!
Danielle Smith
Editor
Thanks Mick. While I am obvioulsy all for female sports journalists, no journalist regardless of gender needs to be in the dressing room. And cameras don't need to be there either. We have so much access to the players and coaches everywhere else, just give them this space for some privacy.
Larry1950
Guest
It’s this generations obsession with what is termed ‘reality’ which is really an oxymoron given everything seems scripted. I’m at a loss to understand the appeal, but would be considered a dinosaur.
Mick Gold Coast QLD
Roar Guru
Another fine effort Lady League, well done. You chose an unusual subject and managed it well - the number and variety of responses is a good measure of your success in attracting worthy comment. I did not like the initial invasion of dressing rooms long ago, believing it to be unnecessary and merely media seeking out more bloody, more marketable material. They, predictably, crossed whatever boundaries had been agreed because they are unscrupulous - Andrew Ettingshausen successfully sued a magazine in England for photographing him in the shower 30 odd years ago. I imagine the editors saw that as a small price to pay for the extraordinary publicity they generated. How their forced entry advanced the interests of the game remains a mystery. Sports administrators are typically poor at assessing demonstrable benefit and in applying common sense. They are suckers for a "free" lunch though, and media executives are good at selling ephemeral ideas. Then the league had to admit female reporters, on distorted equal opportunity grounds. I saw that as an unnecessary and unwelcome intrusion as well, serving no good purpose; and I was fabulously amused when that culminated in some appalled young wymminses reporter complaining about a semi naked player saying or doing something suggestive, on distorted "workplace" harassment grounds. The same young wymminses would find offence if she wasn't approached in the same manner at the nightclub that night. The original proponents bleated that wymminses were a centrally important supporter type and should therefore be allowed to enter places in which they had never before expressed an interest. In my time I cannot remember a girlfriend or wife who watched more than ten minutes of (my exceptional :stoked: ) play, let alone lobbied for access to the dressing sheds! :happy: Dressing rooms are untidy, messy places, players are stuffed and talk gibberish. They enjoy each others company because they have worked hard at doing what they have just completed doing, and are inclined to relax with their team mates more than anyone else. The dressing room is their domain, no-one else's.
David Shilovsky
Expert
Hard to quantify the value of the pictures the dressing room cams give you, but you're no longer getting any team songs, any of the light hearted moments like Bennett or Brandon Smith eating in the sheds, etc. My initial comment was more related to the overarching theme that the game has basically sold its soul to the broadcasters - and there are consequences to doing so.
Mick Gold Coast QLD
Roar Guru
"for me it’s more about relating and connecting to the players" My interest is in what they do on the field - as good as Bradley Clyde was or Cameron Smith I don't recall ever watching them go around and having my mind drift into how lovely a personal relationship might be. :stoked:
elvis
Roar Rookie
My tv viewing starts when I see the clock tick over for kick off time and ends about 10 seconds after full time. Most of the time I don't even bother to turn the sound on. This article is long overdue.
elvis
Roar Rookie
That's not true. Do you think the deal would be any less if dressing room cam was turned off? I doubt it.
Kilgore Trout
Roar Rookie
Great article Lady League . I think your points are spot on . I think the original idea of camera's in the dressing room was to show the team song etc .... which is mostly harmless fun and I am pretty sure it was all it was used for in the beginning . It was the show's producer who made the decision to show Tom Gilbert after the game and I agree it was very poor . What's happened to showing people some respect ? He gets paid to play football .I don't believe Tom Gilbert signed an all encompassing agreement to be part of a reality TV show . If anyone knows differently please bring me up to speed .
GregM
Roar Rookie
the sooner they scrap that crap the better, along with social media. There is no honour in journalism anymore as half of these twerps will never check the facts before posting it on their FB page. And then if a player "does" do something - the reports are how people are "outraged" about it - more sensationalistic BS headlines. Look at the whole AFL bum squeeze incident!! No camera in changeroom, nothing to report, no one is outraged, nothing to see here - go back to your homes boys and girls
R N
Roar Rookie
In total agreement... completely unnecessary! Adds nothing. If I was a coach I would take the team to another area and get a bunch of middle age dad bods to prance around in their DTs for the camera's.
Heyou
Roar Rookie
It’s a personal choice. Many I know love this aspect of game day. It’s not for me. This forum is a particular favourite of mine, for reading and commenting on the ins and outs of Rugby League. I am a ‘words’ voyeur and it’s enough.
Heyou
Roar Rookie
I’m in absolute agreement with you Ms Lady League. You write it how I see it. I don’t watch pre shows or post shows or half time shows. At half time I study the statistics and at full time I study the statistics. Pre, post and during the games I’ll get into discussions about the games within my social media groups. We don’t just talk about our team’s one game per week. We hash over every game … to my great satisfaction. I must admit to appreciating seeing my team sing their victory song in the dressing sheds but that’s it. I’m not interested in all the other stuff. I will watch a RL show on Fox or nine on the rare occasion. I read what I want to know about. I’ve expressed my opinion and discussed the pros and cons of a game with my people. I’ve watched our guys and gals sing the victory song – not as much as I’d like to these days, so it’s a treat when it happens. For my team it is expected that it will be recorded for the supporters to watch post victory. The rest is hype and noise. I’m a one- eyed, swearing, yelling, cheering, happy, sad, devastated, thrilled, shocked, laughing hysterically, scaring the dog, fb talk all night and day, team tragic and RL obsessed person, who prefers to just watch the actual game. I caught the pizza dressing room show of the round and thought it inappropriate and wondered who would care to see the players scoffing a meal after a gruelling game that probably cost them the loss of whatever calories they consumed from the last few days. I try to avoid such riveting tv. So that’s me, but I’m pretty sure millions don’t share my opinions on such matters. it’s a personal choice for one and all I suppose. Ps I find that I must mute the distraction of the commentators so I can concentrate on the game at hand – really. Totally mental! :laughing:
Michael Carbone
Guest
It's Rugby League Walter. Zero integrity whatsoever