If large parts of the RL community continue to think that this is all the media's fault for reporting events, then the sport will be in exactly the same position ten years from now.
Not if they take steps to battle the negative image that the media and society in general holds for the game.
Perhaps the saddest comment on this thread was blaming non-RL fans for their perception of the game - why don't they find out more? Really??? I suppose whoever came out with that gem has a full understanding of everything that happens throughout the world and has never had their opinion made on any topic based on a less than complete understanding?
Its bullsh*t - that's how most people's opinions are made on most topics.
Of course most people form their views in that manner. Its human nature. Its also human nature for most people to then allow their opinions to change when presented with evidence to the contrary.
If the NRL actually tried to take an active approach to improving the image of the game by saturating the market with positive promotion then these handful of incidents each year (which occur in ALL public life) wouldn't make an ounce of difference.
At the moment the only individual players that actually have public profiles are the ones that get in trouble a lot. The NRL can change that.
Look at many RL fans' views of other sports on here for example - prejudiced and one-eyed doesn't come close - Gay AFL, Union is a posh man's game, wendyball etc. I laugh at those stereotypes because I'm an RL fan. But I'm also well aware that almost everyone I know views RL as a game played by and watched by bogans. RL is a product with a bad image. You can't blame the people that believe that - responsibility to change that perception lies with the sport itself.
Of course you can blame the people who believe those things. People who believe in stereotyping are idiots.
The good news is such idiots can generally have their perception changed.
At the moment we're in a vicious cycle of idiotic event-media report-bad image-idiotic event etc etc. We're guaranteed that some idiot player will do something else the media picks up on at some time fairly soon. You can't break the cycle by asking the media to stop reporting on events. You also can't just tell people who aren't fans that their perception is wrong.
What RL CAN do, is work on the culture within the sport - starting by cracking down on players until the events start drying up. If that means apparently harsh penalties for "bringing the game into disrepute" then sobeit. The only way to turn round an image problem (which is like turning an oil tanker) is to be shown to be cracking down hard on players. That should lead to at least a few of them thinking twice before being morons, and start getting stories into the media about how tough RL is on these sort of activities, rather than the acts themselves.
You might also just find that players are able to control themseleves better off the field if they know they'll be harshly dealt with. We've seen the ban on punching see it almost disappear from the NRL, yet I clearly recall people saying how it was "impossible" to stop in the heat of the moment. Yet punching was considered by some to be part of the RL "culture". It goes to show that you can stop even the biggest meathead if the message is simple and strong enough.
We already heavily punish players involved in incidents and sack them for major or repeat offences. Not much more can be done on that front.
If your solution to how to change the NRL's image is to simply stop the 18-29 year old rich guys from being stupid, then you have no solution at all. You simply can't go paying 500 young men huge coin and not expect a handful of them to act up.
A far better way to break the media cycle you mentioned above is to insert as many positive stories into it as possible. Get an official NRL charity organised and set up programs for NRL players to contribute. Hell offer salary cap benefits to players who raise money and attend events as incentive to ensure everyone is involved. And all the while don't be afraid to follow them all around with video cameras to ensure all these good deeds are publicised.
That way when (not if) a player f**ks up you are likely to have tonnes of good press to fall back on to cushion the fall.
and instead just be constructive?
