Time for NRL to fire back
Well, Rugby League has copped quite a hammering this season. Poor player behaviour off the field from both past and present players has been at the forefront. And the media have had a field day as a result. The media from the southern states in particular have seized upon the opportunity to throw rocks at the NRL, claiming the moral high ground for AFL. AFL officialdom hasnt been able to resist the temptation either as they try to shoehorn their way into the NRL loving Western Sydney.
Rugby League fans, of which there are plenty, have been watching, waiting for the NRL to fire back. Feeling dudded, theyve been sweating on the NRLs response, but it hasnt come. The hits from south of the border keep coming, and the NRL let it continue. When are they going to stick up for their game, and expose the snipers for their heads in the sand attitudes when it comes to their own backyard? The hypocrisy from down south cant be ignored any longer.
Its not just the game that theyre attacking. Its the games supporters also millions of people who are perfectly capable of deciding for themselves what they should and shouldnt watch.
Few in the media are willing to take the AFL on either. Why? Is it because theyre scared that getting on the wrong side of the AFL will hurt their career? The Herald Suns Suzie OBrien is one journalist who isnt scared to take on the AFL. In a recent article exploring the Melbourne Demons alleged sex show in the nineties titled A Demon in Our Culture, Suzie had the following to say:
You only have to look at the AFL reaction to the revelations of drug abuse in one AFL club to see how ruthlessly effective the AFL PR machine can be.
A few years ago fans, officials and players closed ranks attacking the Seven Network reporter who used medical records to substantiate a story the league has never denied.
So, where is reporter Dylan Howard these days? Well, pretty much instantly he was frozen out by the football fraternity and eventually his contract was not renewed by the network.
The problem had been made to go away. Once again, there was a public fall guy who was made a convenient scapegoat, while the broader issue of internal club culture was never fully examined in public.
Full article here
That same PR spin machine was certainly out in force when it was revealed that no less than twelve positive tests to illicit drugs in the twelve months since February 2008 involving ten players had been returned. It was also revealed that seven players would play out the rest of the season on their last chance. It was hailed as a success by the AFL and the media because it was a slight reduction from previous years.
The Courier Mails Andrew Hamilton even went so far as to state that there wouldn't be an organisation in the country that could boast such impressive figures. Especially considering we are talking about wealthy young men aged between 18-30.
Ahem
Andrew. The NRL has a two strikes policy, which means that anyone who has returned two positive tests would have been named and shamed. Nobody has been named and shamed. That counts as seven less players testing positive to an illicit drug for a second time than have done so in the AFL. Thats more impressive than the AFL.
Lets look at some of the other incidents that have occurred this year.
Greg Bird was found guilty of assaulting his girlfriend with a glass. Its an inexcusable act that saw Bird sacked from the Sharks, and deregistered from the NRL. In contrast, Brisbane Lions player Albert Proud pleaded guilty to assault after throwing a glass at a girl who had to be treated in hospital as a result. Proud was suspended indefinitely, which lasted only one match, and has since been charged with a second count of assault from the same night.
Interestingly, Prouds teammate Rhan Hooper was fined $40000 by Michael Voss for failing a fitness test. It would seem that the Brisbane Lions see fitness tests as an extremely important matter.
Revelations of group sex in Auckland seven years ago that has left a young girl traumatised claimed the scalp of former NRL player Matthew Johns. Johns, who was enjoying a successful media career, and who also held coaching roles with the Melbourne Storm, was suspended by Channel Nine and was forced to resign from his coaching roles. His reputation took a battering. His family was dragged through the pain for a second time and the code took a hammering.
Two years before the Johns group sex incident, Michael OLoughlin, along with AFL players Adam Heuskes and Peter Burgoyne payed a $200000 settlement, which included a confidentiality agreement, to a girl who alleged that shed been sexually assaulted by the players. OLoughlin is today lauded as one of the favourite sons of the Sydney Swans. He will this year celebrate his 200th club game.
Earlier in the year, Roosters coach Brad Fittler fined himself $10000 for drunken behaviour which found him knocking on the wrong hotel room shirtless and in an inebriated state.
In Sydney, it is open slather, players, chief executives and even coaches becoming disoriented at 1.30am in a state of undress.
This is not meant to be funny, but could you imagine Mick Malthouse, or Dean Bailey or Al Clarkson . . .
We laugh at psyche tests for coaches, but it's part of the reason John Worsfold or Neil Craig ends up in a position of responsibility. They are decent human beings.
These were comments made in a discussion between Mark Robinson and Jon Anderson in the Herald Sun referring to the Brad Fittler incident. In fairness, it would be hard to imagine those coaches getting up to such behaviour, just as it would be hard to imagine Wayne Bennett , Brian Smith or Time Sheens in that situation.
But its not a stretch to imagine AFL coach Michael Voss in that position. After all, it was only a couple of years ago that he was charged with Unlawful Assault after taking part in a pub brawl in 2007. It would be interesting to see what these psych tests revealed about his character.
Only last week, we saw the best State of Origin match for some years. It was thick with raw passion and intensity which reached boiling point when Brett White and Steve Price stood toe to toe trading blows. Unfortunately, Price was knocked out in the altercation and had to be stretchered from the field. The ensuing play saw appalling behaviour from the likes of Justin Hodges. The AFL media havent been able to stop talking about it expressing absolute disgust.
Claims that such a thing would never happen in the AFL are flying thick and fast from all quarters. And theyre probably correct. Of all of the punches weve seen in the AFL recently, theyve been when the player on the receiving end didnt see it coming. Cheap shots, as displayed time and time again by Barry Hall.
Then there was Jarrod Brennans head butt on the unsuspecting Josh Carr. Brennan spent one week on the sideline as a result. Such a cheap shot in the NRL would more than likely get referred straight to the judiciary. In 2004, NRL player Danny Williams was suspended for eighteen weeks after a king hit on the unsuspecting Mark ONeill. In contrast, Barry Hall was suspended for less than half of that for his king hit on Brent Staker despite having a history of such disgraceful acts.
One thing is for certain. Neither Brennan, nor Barry Hall would have got to see out the rest of the game had they been playing Rugby League, because in Rugby League, players are sent immediately from the field, and are not allowed to be replaced for such behaviour. How can any code that is littered with these kinds of gutless cheap shots be critical of two guys facing up to each other on equal terms?
The AFLs only foray into the international realm against Ireland in the International Rules series was actually called off by the Irish side because the Australian AFL players went ballistic when let off the leash with seeming impunity. It was a festival of cheap shots. So outraged were the Irish at the thuggish behaviour by the Australians that they refused to play another series until the Australians promised to curb there ways.
Caroline Wilson, on the ABCs Offsiders program, even went so far as to try to draw a link between the on-field behaviour of the State of Origin players with the gang bashing of a young AFL player in Victoria. Her argument seemed to be that it was hard to condemn the bashing of the young player whilst allowing on field violence go unpunished on the field. Its not hard at all. Gang bashing people is wrong. So is crash tackling someone walking down the street.
There are literally hundreds of tackles that take place on the field in a game of Rugby League, none of which would be tolerated by the law if they occurred in general society. Yet there isnt a problem in society with rogue tacklers running around putting big hits on people.
Comparing what happens on the field in a collision sport with what happens in the street is ridiculous. Every time a player makes a tackle, they could be charged with assault if the same rules applied. Barry Hall may well have found himself behind bars by now.
As a result of all of the bad publicity that Rugby League has received this year, many voices from the south have been claiming that Rugby League is dying. One commentator has even claimed that its already dead. What kind of cocoon have these people placed themselves in to come up with such comments?
A quick look at the facts reveals that TV ratings have actually increased this year for the NRL. And contrary to popular belief, Rugby League actually gets higher ratings than the AFL. Lets not forget that the NRL dominates areas that account for 55% of the countrys population. Even when the AFL gets higher ratings in the Five Capital Cities, the NRL comes out ahead when regionals are taken into account.
To disregard ratings in regional areas as being irrelevant is to disregard major cities such as Canberra, Wollongong, Newcastle, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Townsville and Cairns. To counter this, AFL pundits will try to claim that figures are counted twice in certain areas because the ratings zones overlap. If anything, the overlapping of zones actually works against the NRL ratings. Thats because in the regional areas, the ratings are only conducted on the regional stations. In the metropolitan areas, the ratings are only gathered for the metropolitan stations. So, if someone who is participating in the ratings in Wollongong happened to be watching the NRL on Ch9 instead of WIN, it wouldnt be counted against either.
And if thats not convincing enough, the NRL also dominates the Pay TV ratings in Australia.
So, why are the AFL media and personalities so obsessed and so committed to commenting on the NRL, when there is clearly enough going on in their own backyard to fill the front and back pages?
Could it be fear? Nearly Three million people tuned in for the third State of Origin match, which was a record for a dead rubber. The first match of the series also saw a new record set. NRL ratings are also up on free to air and Pay TV, along with memberships.
Meanwhile, Sydney Swans ratings are dropping, along with crowds and memberships, while the AFL are about to invest ridiculous amounts of money trying to force a second team into NRL heartland in Sydneys west as well as a team on the Gold Coast.
Its an overly ambitious plan few can see succeeding whilst ever the NRLs popularity continues to grow. The AFL knows this. So do the media.
Speaking of the AFLs relationship with the media, this excerpt from an article by Jeni Porter in the Sydney Morning Herald in 2005 may interest a few readers:
As part of the previous deal with Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd and Kerry Packer's Nine Network, the AFL secured guarantees about editorial coverage. News undertook to provide marketing and support in its newspapers and Nine agreed that ACP, Mr Packer's magazine publisher, would generally support the AFL and run a minimum of four stories a year to promote its growth and development.
While the AFL rights deal is confidential, the undertakings by News and Nine are revealed in court documents filed in Seven Network's lawsuit over the demise of its pay TV arm, C7. The AFL's general manager, broadcasting, strategy and major projects, Ben Buckley, refused to comment. A spokesman for the National Rugby League, John Brady, said it had never done deals such as the AFL's where it tried to "legislate the outcome" of editorial coverage.
Full article here
It would be interesting to know if any such deals are still in place. It would also be interesting to know why such deals dont contravene cash for comment laws.
So, with all of that ammunition to fire back at the snipers, why do the NRL sit on their hands and allow the free shots to keep coming? Some argue that to do so would be jumping in the gutter with them, and perhaps theyre right. But perception is reality in the world of sponsors, and as long as the story is being told by those with an agenda against you, reality is going to bite.
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