Sick and tired of the NRL
By Madonna King
Loving rugby league is a tradition in my family; a bit like fish and chips each Friday during Lent, and Christmas at the beach.
Like most Queensland country families, my brothers played it whether or not they showed much talent for it, Mum cut up the oranges and took her turn to wash the uniforms, and Dad coached one of the local teams.
In those days, teams were determined by weight, and Dad was in charge of the six stone seven team, or the seven stone six team. No-one quite remembers - but family history has it that Artie Beetson was one of his favourite charges.
Dad's not around anymore to substantiate or dismiss that claim, and it's perhaps hard to imagine Artie Beetson ever weighed that little, but it doesn't matter. It was league, it was on all weekend during footy season, and we lived our lives around it. Like the other family traditions, it just stuck.
Until now. Canberra Raider Joel Monaghan has probably cured me, and I suspect many others too.
As a sports fan, I'm tired of reading more about the players' behaviour than their physical prowess.
As a woman, I'm sick of the tie between sex abuse and rugby league, and the condescending, patronising, sexist and abusive approach to women certainly not all, but some of the players adopt.
And as a parent, I don't want to have to explain to my children what a gang bang is, or why one team is caught up in drug running, or an investigation into illegal betting scams, or sickening salary cap breaches or some other police probe involving their favourite team.
Those defending the NRL claim footballers are sportsmen, and shouldn't be put up on the pedestal as role models; but you try telling that to a 15-year-old boy who picked up a footy seven years ago to emulate his league hero.
Just imagine that 15-year-old, and what he's been exposed to - outside league - over the past eight years - charges, police investigations and convictions involving players and drugs, sex, violence, and property destruction.
One of the unfair consequences of Monaghan's behaviour - and those caught out before him - is that it takes the gloss off those league players who train all week, play for their team, and go home to their families of a Sunday night; those who spend days off visiting sick children in hospitals, and those who spend their behind-the-scenes time raising money for charity.
Monaghan's supporters say the talented league player is a genuinely good person, caught up in a moment of madness.
But the same could be said for a drunken binge that prompts someone to dive headfirst into shallow water, or to get into a car and drive up on a crowded footpath. You live with the consequences of what you do.
And that's particularly so in an age of new technology which allows Monaghan's sick act to be captured, and replayed over and over and over again.
And while the new technology can chronicle something with incredible speed, that same technological wizardry means it's hard to erase; a point teenagers across the world are now learning as they front up for job interviews.
But a big chunk of the blame here has to go to the individual league clubs, and the NRL, which has not only failed to punish sufficiently the bad behaviour being exposed, but failed to make league a family-friendly entertainment, in the same way the AFL has successfully managed.
Clubs largely are more interested in covering up bad behaviour than ousting it, and time and time again they have pursued a course of action as contrary to community expectations as the Commonwealth Bank's latest interest hike.
After an AFL match, mums and dads run onto the field, carrying their team scarf, their children and a football. Compare that to league, and how security man the barricades in case someone attempts any post-match involvement.
It's only a small example, but to families it says so much. The NRL has focused too much on the players, and not enough on the fans, for too long.
The code which once promoted itself as the greatest game of all is close to becoming the greatest shame of all. And if Joel Monaghan plays again, that will confirm it.
Madonna King presents Mornings each weekday from 8.30am on 612 ABC Brisbane.
