Boyd's a goose, but Tigers are the real losers
Brad Walter | August 21, 2009
COMMENT
If the Wests Tigers miss out on a $100,000 windfall by failing to fill the Sydney Football Stadium for tonight's game against Parramatta, they have no one to blame but themselves.
With the Tigers having won six consecutive matches and the Eels five in a row, the clash of the NRL's two in-form teams should be the game of the year, but sadly it has become the shame of the year.
In fact, it could be argued that St George Illawarra fullback Darius Boyd has done more to promote his team's match against the Broncos than the Tigers.
Boyd might have been forced to wear a pink ''goose of the week'' T-shirt at training yesterday for his petulant 43-second display when interviewed by reporters after Tuesday's session, but at least he gave people something to talk about.
And his one-word answers were more than Benji Marshall or Jarryd Hayne have said in the lead-up to tonight's other big match. Even attempts to get the pair in a photo together proved too hard this week.
Whether that was the decision of the players, their coaches or other club officials, the NRL has been denied a prime opportunity to generate positive publicity in a season dominated by off-field dramas and scandal.
If the players and clubs want more money from television rights and sponsors, they have to do more to promote the game. Rugby league is supposed to be professional but that means more than just training full-time and getting paid to play.
The Tigers, in particular, should have been doing everything possible this week to ensure that tonight's match was a sell-out.
Instead, the media was denied access to their recovery session on Monday, given four players to interview at training on Tuesday, and coach Tim Sheens and captain Robbie Farah yesterday.
Despite the unavailability of Hayne, it could be argued that the Eels have done more to promote tonight's match than the Tigers, and they don't get a cent of the gate receipts regardless of how many people turn up.
Aside from two open training sessions, the Eels have made other players available to interview, and even sent their chief executive Paul Osborne to Sydney Airport on Wednesday morning to present Danny Green with a Parramatta jersey on his return from his world title win in Mississippi.
After the farce with Boyd on Tuesday, the Dragons yesterday made Wendell Sailor available to the media, and he performed his duties without any fuss for the millions of television viewers and newspaper readers that follow the game.
It's just a pity there aren't more like him.
