denis preston
First Grade
- Messages
- 8,224
First top grade sport journo to call it !! ( the elephant in the room )
OPINION
NRL 2020
A cherry on top would be a win for one of the emerging forces in this year's premiership. If the NRL's serendipitous season has a chink, it's a rather glaring one: the small matter of a credible competition. The Roosters' hoarding of million-dollar players showed that the league's salary cap had failed in its primary aim of spreading talent among the clubs. If the rules allow this, clearly the rules need rewriting. The game was meant to have moved on from the days when a rich old benefactor could buy premierships for his club. The league's inability to say no to Nick Politis and Sonny Bill Williams was a reminder that for all the revolution in the air, there remained some battles that Mr V'landys was not yet up to. But he will have to one day, as the pact between the league and the fans, to provide a believably fair competition, is the league's most fundamental responsibility.
Of course, there's still a month to go, and if there's another invigorating element to today's rugby league, it's the sense that everything can change in the final 10 minutes. To declare victory prematurely, you'd be a fool. The type of fool who declared defeat prematurely.
OPINION
NRL 2020
A cherry on top would be a win for one of the emerging forces in this year's premiership. If the NRL's serendipitous season has a chink, it's a rather glaring one: the small matter of a credible competition. The Roosters' hoarding of million-dollar players showed that the league's salary cap had failed in its primary aim of spreading talent among the clubs. If the rules allow this, clearly the rules need rewriting. The game was meant to have moved on from the days when a rich old benefactor could buy premierships for his club. The league's inability to say no to Nick Politis and Sonny Bill Williams was a reminder that for all the revolution in the air, there remained some battles that Mr V'landys was not yet up to. But he will have to one day, as the pact between the league and the fans, to provide a believably fair competition, is the league's most fundamental responsibility.
Of course, there's still a month to go, and if there's another invigorating element to today's rugby league, it's the sense that everything can change in the final 10 minutes. To declare victory prematurely, you'd be a fool. The type of fool who declared defeat prematurely.
