From the SMH, a fascinating read:
Sport, which is supposed to raise us from the mire of life, is becoming the muck itself. Roy Masters goes in search of tradition.
The 2004 sports year effectively started with sexual assault allegations against the Bulldogs; the same time last year it was Shane Warne's drug positive and accusations of infidelity. Instead of celebrating achievement, sport is now all about big money, giant egos, extreme vanity, pampered lifestyles, distance from the community and disrespect for authority.
Yet, with the 97th season of rugby league in Australia kicking off tonight with Penrith hosting Newcastle, one man offers an antidote for the malaise which saddens the game.
Premiership coach John Lang is a triumph of dated virtues, a man who began work at 15, married at 22 and whose father died of emphysema at 67.
"He gave up smoking on a Friday and died on a Monday," Lang said.
"He said on the Friday, 'I think I'll have to give them up this time'."
Lang is the least vengeful man in the most vindictive of codes.
For nearly a decade, he coached the Sharks, a club yet to win a premiership. He was replaced by Chris Anderson, a two-time premiership coach at Canterbury and Melbourne, and moved to Penrith, who were wooden spooners the previous season.
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Last year, Lang's Panthers won the premiership, the club's first in 12 years, while Anderson, who accused the Sharks of having a "losing culture", failed to make the finals and was sacked.
Lang's reaction to this Trading Places scenario demonstrates why the game needs good men, never more so than now.
"I never took what Chris said personally," he said. "He was never going to do things at Cronulla the way I do things. If the Sharks wanted someone to do it John Lang's way, they would have kept me.
"Chris sees the Canterbury culture as the way to be successful but I move my ideas with what is there. There is a lot to like with the culture of the Sharks. I don't think Chris was aiming it at me but I will say Chris is a very poor salesman.
"You've got to sell your ideas and, with his comments, he taints everyone who plays for the Sharks. Two of the toughest blokes I ever saw were Les Davidson and Gavin Miller. Are they losers?
"Chris came from the Bulldogs where they have influence and money, particularly when Bullfrog [Peter Moore] was in charge. The Sharks have no influence and no money.
"They have spent half their history staving off bankruptcy. Some seasons have been a success just to exist.
"Chris put a lot of lead in our saddlebags. You know the biggest reason we won here and not at the Sharks? We had a better team."
Teamwork, hard work, persistence and honesty are his eternal verities.
His thoughts impose order after a chaotic pre-season. He has this to say about the game's so-called 10 commandments.
1. Winning a premiership is self-handicapping. It becomes a burden, with every team lifting themselves against the premiers. Lang said: "When Brisbane won their premierships, it was a case of Brisbane against the world. We haven't climbed to the status of a Brisbane yet. It's so hard to repeat as premiers, not because of any jinx but because of the evenness of the competition. It's hard to win once and, if you haven't, there's the burden of that."
2. The league is divided between the Haves and Have Nots There is a divide between the highly resourced clubs such as the Roosters, Eels, Bulldogs, Broncos - and the Have Nots - the Sharks, Wests Tigers, Manly and Souths. "Ten sides are a realistic chance of winning the premiership," Lang said. "St George Illawarra were ninth last year but no one would be surprised if they won the comp." Lang credited the salary cap with redistributing talent. "The salary caps of the early 1990s differed, being based on the capacity of a club to pay," he said. "During Super League, there was no cap. It's only been in the last two to three years the salary cap has worked."
3. You take it one week at a time. Lang admitted he set a long-term goal last season but abandoned planning when Penrith were secure in the semis. "I set a goal early in the season to finish in the top six," he said. "In the words of that other great philosopher, [former Sharks president] Peter Gow, that's a 'stretch budget' to some people. I thought top six was achievable but, if we came a little bit short, we still might be in the eight. When we started to go real well, I put it away. I was worried I might psych myself out." He denies there was ever a point where the Panthers became true believers, convinced they would win the trophy. "No, you reassess as you go on," he said.
4. Second-year syndrome applies. Boom players often slip back in their second year. Lang said: "[Winger] Luke Lewis said that to me the beginning of 2003. He'd only played a couple of games off the bench the previous year and had a good year in 2002. I told him not to worry about external factors. Last year, he won a premiership and played for Australia. Not bad for the so-called second-year syndrome."
5. A team must lose a grand final to win a premiership. Lang said: "Those accepted wisdoms are not all that wise. Brisbane and Melbourne won comps at their first try. You can learn from history but it doesn't predict the future." That's good news for Wests Tigers, the Sharks, Cowboys and Rabbitohs, whose recent grand final experience is zero.
6. Some games are more important than others. "I say, which ones don't you want to win?" he said. "They're all worth two points. I've heard about those four point games [earning two points and depriving an opponent] but I've never won one. If the cut-off to make the top eight is 27, you've got to win 13-and-a-half games. It doesn't matter who you beat."
7. Winning the grand final is so important, a club may as well come last as second. "Bullshit," Lang said. "First is best, second is second best and so on. In 2002 we came third last, or fourth last with the Bulldogs being stripped of points because of the salary cap. Every win we had was one more off the bottom rung of the ladder. It used to irk me at the Sharks when we'd finish fourth and everyone would think you were a failure."
8. It's better to be thrashed than lose at the death. "I always feel better if I look back after a loss and the referee had a good game," Lang said. "I'd rather say we weren't good enough. If you have to be beaten in a grand final, it's best by four to eight points, not one or 20. I bet each way when I go to the races."
9. Rugby league is a game of inches. "One point could make the difference between winning the comp or coming ninth," Lang said. "I'm perceived to know most about rugby league at the Panthers, so I realise I could make the difference. I'm not being critical of [Newcastle coach] Michael Hagan [who will coach Queensland this season] but I couldn't take myself out of the system for three to six weeks.
"[American football coach] Vince Lombardi said you must go out on every play to win and on that basis I can't justify being away."
10. You need luck, and conditions suited Penrith in the grand final. "I don't think the conditions suited us," he said. "It's a lot easier to make a mistake coming out of your own quarter when it's wet and the ball is slippery. [Fullback] Rhys Wesser likes it hot and dry and hard and fast. He didn't put a foot wrong. They kicked to Luke Rooney and he didn't make a mistake. The Roosters like to blow sides off the park but you've got to play what's there."
Off contract this year, Lang said: "I'm not worried. I'm in a better position than I was in the past."
Sport, which is supposed to raise us from the mire of life, is becoming the muck itself. Roy Masters goes in search of tradition.
The 2004 sports year effectively started with sexual assault allegations against the Bulldogs; the same time last year it was Shane Warne's drug positive and accusations of infidelity. Instead of celebrating achievement, sport is now all about big money, giant egos, extreme vanity, pampered lifestyles, distance from the community and disrespect for authority.
Yet, with the 97th season of rugby league in Australia kicking off tonight with Penrith hosting Newcastle, one man offers an antidote for the malaise which saddens the game.
Premiership coach John Lang is a triumph of dated virtues, a man who began work at 15, married at 22 and whose father died of emphysema at 67.
"He gave up smoking on a Friday and died on a Monday," Lang said.
"He said on the Friday, 'I think I'll have to give them up this time'."
Lang is the least vengeful man in the most vindictive of codes.
For nearly a decade, he coached the Sharks, a club yet to win a premiership. He was replaced by Chris Anderson, a two-time premiership coach at Canterbury and Melbourne, and moved to Penrith, who were wooden spooners the previous season.
advertisement
advertisement
Last year, Lang's Panthers won the premiership, the club's first in 12 years, while Anderson, who accused the Sharks of having a "losing culture", failed to make the finals and was sacked.
Lang's reaction to this Trading Places scenario demonstrates why the game needs good men, never more so than now.
"I never took what Chris said personally," he said. "He was never going to do things at Cronulla the way I do things. If the Sharks wanted someone to do it John Lang's way, they would have kept me.
"Chris sees the Canterbury culture as the way to be successful but I move my ideas with what is there. There is a lot to like with the culture of the Sharks. I don't think Chris was aiming it at me but I will say Chris is a very poor salesman.
"You've got to sell your ideas and, with his comments, he taints everyone who plays for the Sharks. Two of the toughest blokes I ever saw were Les Davidson and Gavin Miller. Are they losers?
"Chris came from the Bulldogs where they have influence and money, particularly when Bullfrog [Peter Moore] was in charge. The Sharks have no influence and no money.
"They have spent half their history staving off bankruptcy. Some seasons have been a success just to exist.
"Chris put a lot of lead in our saddlebags. You know the biggest reason we won here and not at the Sharks? We had a better team."
Teamwork, hard work, persistence and honesty are his eternal verities.
His thoughts impose order after a chaotic pre-season. He has this to say about the game's so-called 10 commandments.
1. Winning a premiership is self-handicapping. It becomes a burden, with every team lifting themselves against the premiers. Lang said: "When Brisbane won their premierships, it was a case of Brisbane against the world. We haven't climbed to the status of a Brisbane yet. It's so hard to repeat as premiers, not because of any jinx but because of the evenness of the competition. It's hard to win once and, if you haven't, there's the burden of that."
2. The league is divided between the Haves and Have Nots There is a divide between the highly resourced clubs such as the Roosters, Eels, Bulldogs, Broncos - and the Have Nots - the Sharks, Wests Tigers, Manly and Souths. "Ten sides are a realistic chance of winning the premiership," Lang said. "St George Illawarra were ninth last year but no one would be surprised if they won the comp." Lang credited the salary cap with redistributing talent. "The salary caps of the early 1990s differed, being based on the capacity of a club to pay," he said. "During Super League, there was no cap. It's only been in the last two to three years the salary cap has worked."
3. You take it one week at a time. Lang admitted he set a long-term goal last season but abandoned planning when Penrith were secure in the semis. "I set a goal early in the season to finish in the top six," he said. "In the words of that other great philosopher, [former Sharks president] Peter Gow, that's a 'stretch budget' to some people. I thought top six was achievable but, if we came a little bit short, we still might be in the eight. When we started to go real well, I put it away. I was worried I might psych myself out." He denies there was ever a point where the Panthers became true believers, convinced they would win the trophy. "No, you reassess as you go on," he said.
4. Second-year syndrome applies. Boom players often slip back in their second year. Lang said: "[Winger] Luke Lewis said that to me the beginning of 2003. He'd only played a couple of games off the bench the previous year and had a good year in 2002. I told him not to worry about external factors. Last year, he won a premiership and played for Australia. Not bad for the so-called second-year syndrome."
5. A team must lose a grand final to win a premiership. Lang said: "Those accepted wisdoms are not all that wise. Brisbane and Melbourne won comps at their first try. You can learn from history but it doesn't predict the future." That's good news for Wests Tigers, the Sharks, Cowboys and Rabbitohs, whose recent grand final experience is zero.
6. Some games are more important than others. "I say, which ones don't you want to win?" he said. "They're all worth two points. I've heard about those four point games [earning two points and depriving an opponent] but I've never won one. If the cut-off to make the top eight is 27, you've got to win 13-and-a-half games. It doesn't matter who you beat."
7. Winning the grand final is so important, a club may as well come last as second. "Bullshit," Lang said. "First is best, second is second best and so on. In 2002 we came third last, or fourth last with the Bulldogs being stripped of points because of the salary cap. Every win we had was one more off the bottom rung of the ladder. It used to irk me at the Sharks when we'd finish fourth and everyone would think you were a failure."
8. It's better to be thrashed than lose at the death. "I always feel better if I look back after a loss and the referee had a good game," Lang said. "I'd rather say we weren't good enough. If you have to be beaten in a grand final, it's best by four to eight points, not one or 20. I bet each way when I go to the races."
9. Rugby league is a game of inches. "One point could make the difference between winning the comp or coming ninth," Lang said. "I'm perceived to know most about rugby league at the Panthers, so I realise I could make the difference. I'm not being critical of [Newcastle coach] Michael Hagan [who will coach Queensland this season] but I couldn't take myself out of the system for three to six weeks.
"[American football coach] Vince Lombardi said you must go out on every play to win and on that basis I can't justify being away."
10. You need luck, and conditions suited Penrith in the grand final. "I don't think the conditions suited us," he said. "It's a lot easier to make a mistake coming out of your own quarter when it's wet and the ball is slippery. [Fullback] Rhys Wesser likes it hot and dry and hard and fast. He didn't put a foot wrong. They kicked to Luke Rooney and he didn't make a mistake. The Roosters like to blow sides off the park but you've got to play what's there."
Off contract this year, Lang said: "I'm not worried. I'm in a better position than I was in the past."
