Dark side of the game
www.smh.com.au
Rugby league is desperate to showcase its virtues as it bids for a return to its glory days. But it has yet to confront some demons within. Jessica Halloran and Jacquelin Magnay report.
She's often a "good sort", but maybe she's a bit of a "s**t". "You can tell if she wants a start," the Sydney-based rugby league player said.
He should know. He's seen 10 players knock on a hotel door after a night out. Inside, he's seen two teammates having sex with a woman they had met that night.
While he believes "it's OK" for a female fan to have sex with two players - when it is consensual, as he said it was with the case above - he hasn't seen a woman having sex with multiple players against her will.
After the Bulldogs-Manly trial match in Coffs Harbour last month, a 42-year-old woman filed a sexual-assault complaint with local police. She had consensual sex with one Bulldogs player, but alleges she was very distressed when another player became involved. A third player was alleged to have been in the hotel room, but was simply an observer.
Police have referred the case to the Director of Public Prosecutions, who will decide if there is sufficient evidence to lay charges.
"I don't know what she is complaining about," said one former club "bun" or groupie, who used to make herself available for any of one club's players who asked. "I thought it was a great time."
Pre-season trial games seem to be popular precursors to such crazy nights. Usually, teams are away from home and they have a spare night to drink. Heavily.
"Players who are quite civil on their own suddenly become animals when they are drunk and in a pack situation," said one league insider. "It is the football widows I feel sorry for. Either they ignore what is going on and put it in the too-hard basket, or they don't care.
"In rugby league, it is normal to treat women as second rate, as sex objects and as unintelligent."
The "gang bang" has almost been a rite of passage in rugby league. So condoned has the act been in the past that one league coach encouraged his representative team to indulge in the practice in a bid to enhance the male-bonding process - although on that occasion prostitutes were paid to provide the service.
It is a sleazy part of the off-field culture that, far from disappearing from the game, has thrived. But the players are quick to counter that they are the hunted, with teams of women ever present to deposit their mobile-phone numbers into their favourite players' hands.
One player said when he first began his NRL career, he was amazed by the adulation and attention of women - before games, after games, at nightclubs. And he was left in no doubt many of these women wanted to have sex with players. A result of this behaviour is that he knows of at least two players who have been responsible for unplanned pregnancies.
While league is focused on shoring up its supporter numbers amid ever-increasing threats from rugby union, Australian football and soccer, there is no competition when it comes to sexual harassment. The Australian Sports Commission's manager of sport ethics, Debbie Simms, says rugby league is responsible for the most sexual-harassment complaints.
"On the basis of the number of sexual-harassment complaints we see, there is a far greater percentage that comes from rugby league rather than any other code, including other football codes," Simms said.
"This tends to indicate a culture in rugby league that women are not treated with the respect they should be given. This is an area not challenged by many sports, and player education and awareness needs to be addressed."
NRL chief executive David Gallop questioned the claim.
"We have certainly never heard of such a statistic and if there is such data, we would be interested in them providing it to us," he said.
"We conduct programs across all clubs through The Australian Training Company, which includes a range of issues from cultural awareness to gender issues. Our clubs are extremely responsible in terms of their obligations in educating players about issues off the football field."
Last year, the Sharks travelled across the Tasman and were interviewed by police after a 19-year-old female kitchen hand made allegations of a sexual nature. New Zealand police travelled to Sydney to interview players and officials over two days but no charges were laid due to lack of evidence.
After the Sharks complaint, one club called a team meeting and warned its players not to share women. After the Bulldogs incident, an official at another club told its players "to make sure the woman leaves happy and then she won't complain".
Because convictions for sexual assault are notoriously difficult to obtain, many victims don't complain. Those that do may accept confidential settlements, which makes it difficult to grasp the extent of the problem. Some clubs have tried to distance women from the players to avoid problems. The Melbourne Storm sacked two cheerleaders in 1999 because of their steady and long-term relationships with players. But while the women lost their jobs, the players, Ben Roarty and Aaron Moule, suffered no penalties.
One player who has been at several clubs said there was a seemingly endless number of young girls - "good sorts, not dogs" - willing to have sex.
"Newcastle was pretty bad - one-team town," he said. " There are groups and groups of women everywhere at nightclubs chasing league players. Some of the players have 10 numbers in their phone and can just ring up."
The player has a steady girlfriend and said he had not taken part in the "groupie" scene. While he admitted group sex did happen, he only knew of instances where the women had consented - and enjoyed it.
"'No' - it means, 'No'," he said.
However, even if that "no" is ignored, the player can rely on the club and his band of fellow leaguies to prop him up. Within the sport, there are numerous tales of women being paid off to shut up. And the players' mates, and the coach, are often their strongest allies.
Take England coach John Kear in 2000 after one of his players, Francis Stephenson, had been charged with sexual assault. (He was later found not guilty).
Kear was asked: "Francis Stephenson didn't play very much today. Can we read anything into that with regard to his recent history?" "Yeah, he's injured," Kear responded. "He's just got a groin injury, ironically."
The "sharing" of women is not uncommon - but the fundamental issue is how league culture shows little or no respect for women. It is still a game dominated by men, even though the statistics show that women make up a large chunk of supporters - 43 per cent are female, according to research company Roy Morgan. Of that 43 per cent, the majority are aged from 14 to 24 and 35 to 49.
The Manly Sea Eagles said they had made a strong attempt to include women more in their football club. Football manager Peter Peters said like the Australian Football League Players' Association (AFLPA), Manly had regular seminars on several subjects relating to women.
"We have them during the pre-season, the off-season, the training is compulsory," Peters said. "We have a number of experts that come in to discuss those range of issues. We have our own minister who travels with us, to help the players out with decisions away from football. We are probably one of the league clubs that are more aware of women - we are very, very aware of our female fans."
With their return to Brookvale Oval, the Sea Eagles have made a concerted effort to win over the female fans, with special seating and a "lounge" for women. And even away from the paddock, with their small-business classes for players, Manly have found female tutors encourage better behaviour from the players.
"If we have female tutors, the boys are on better behaviour and concentrate better, no matter what the age of the tutor," Peters said.
The AFLPA organises a series of seminars called Risky Business, designed to educate footballers about the sexual, health and legal risks associated with casual sex.
The Australian Rugby Union has a program called "Players and the Law", which like the AFLPA seminars, aim to educate players.
"The program is aimed to help players get out of difficult situations they might be confronted with in their social lives," an ARU spokesman said.
One league player said his club did not have educational seminars, and that "commonsense" should prevail. But "commonsense" seems to disappear after the game, especially if it's being played out of town, and this behaviour continues to be overtly and covertly encouraged.
In that regard, the sport is truly in a league of its own.
