Would there be a reaction if an athlete in another sport did this? Yes. I'm sure if a Quade Cooper was caught bubbling or w/e they're calling it that it would get some media coverage. Albeit less than this but only because of the respective popularity of the sports. Sure, I’ll buy that. No objections there.
But that's not to say there isn't a difference in the type of coverage and the narrative that follows when you compare rugby league with other codes.
While a celeb yawnion or AFL star would undoubtedly be a topic of discussion, I don't accept that the response would be the same. I don't think you'd get rugby unions answer to Mascord bemoaning the culture of the sport, effectively surmising that the code is full of knuckle dragging ruffians and something needs to change to tackle the image of the sport - the supposition being that the image of rugby league has been fairly and objectively earned?
Let me go off track a second by saying that as nice a guy as Mascord is said to be – and no matter how much of a fan of the game he is – when it comes down to it he’s a journo. That's to say that he'd probably rather bury his head in the sand than accept that the media that he’s apart of is institutionally racist, sexist, classist, and whatever else type of f**ked up you can think of.
Journos are self-righteous f**kwits who almost exclusively (maybe Steve is the exemption?) believe that journalism is a serious profession that is a) for the people, b) wholly objective and c) conductive to a better and more informed society. Very few accept – ‘realise’ might be a better word – that they’re propagandists in some capacity. If they were to write independently and freely, going against employer and advertiser in the process, their job would be jeopardised. ‘f**k the media’ is basically what I’m getting at with my interjection.
Back on track...
The reason - the sole reason - that rugby league has an image problem is because historically and presently it's a working class sport. It's that simple.
Granted, rugby union is less popular, but can anyone tell me why rugby union doesn't have the same image problem. Why isn't rugby union associated with thick meatheads, knuckle draggers, bogans. Is the conduct on or off the field that much better? If anything, and if you're serious, it's worse. Gouging, fighting, ball grabbing, going out on the piss and being a twat - these all happen far more frequently in the code of rugby, yet for some mysterious reason the game has managed to sidestep the image problem that rugby league has.
What's the difference - Is it profile? Doubtful. In places where rugby is the dominant code, league is still seen as the one for knuckle draggers. One way or the other, is there really a huge difference in the way the players behave on or off the field? No.
The key difference, and what it always comes back to, is class, socioeconomic status. With or without on or off field controversy, rugby league would have a negative image, be derided as a sport for the violent, uneducated and brain dead for no other reason than that it is a working class sport. That's how a lot of people judge the sport, consciously or subconsciously. Rugby league could be the cleanest and most controversy-free sport in all of Australia and it wouldn't make a blind bit of f**king difference. Anyone suggesting otherwise is lying to themselves or ignorant to how the world works.
Just look at England. Football (soccer) players are always derided as nought more than chavs, knuckle dragging, unwashed thugs. Yet rugby union enjoys a positive profile and image, despite the vicious and dirty merkins that play it - it’s clearly the more violent and thuggish sport, and only a shite-hawk would suggest otherwise. Again, where's the difference? Rugby is a mainly white, middle-upper class sport... that’s the difference. White middle class people aren't thugs, they aren't knuckle draggers, and they aren't stupid f**ks, regardless of how bad their actions are. You see a similar gulf in perception when you compare a game like darts to snooker. One has an image problem, and the image problem is that it’s a game played and watched by poor people. That in itself is problematic.
And the media has to take responsibility for a lot of these perceptions because they're responsible for nurturing and shaping them. They hate the poor and always have. I’m sure if the media didn’t shit on working class and non-white people at every turn that rugby league would enjoy an improved image.
Until Mascord and others are willing to accept that then there really isn't a discussion worth having, because their intellectual dishonesty won't allow for one.
