NRL teens learning about life
By Nick Walshaw | November 28, 2008 11:00pm
ANOTHER year. Another Toyota Cup camp.
So now the wait begins.
Because every season things begin exactly like they did at Sydney University yesterday. Some 75 teenage footballers getting together to talk alcohol, gambling, drugs and respecting women. They listen intently to retired Shark Jason Stevens. Then former Tiger Mark O'Neill.
Together this duo reveal what it takes to make it. Warning of the dangers. And working through a program O'Neill calls Aspiring To Inspire. And then, after two days of positive vibes, they're thrown back at their clubs like Lotto balls - the only question being which one drops first.
"But we know there are always going to be those blokes who slip through the cracks," Toyota Cup manager Mick Buettner explains.
"Those who just don't learn from their own mistakes. Who don't learn from the mistakes of others."
Of course, there is no way to measure just how successful these rookie camps are.
No way to know with whom the message strikes hardest. Which life is moved into action by the words of those who've been there before.
So is the NRL winning the battle?
"Oh definitely," says Buettner. "Although I don't see battle as the right term. It's about changing attitudes, changing a culture. About showing these guys how to survive in today's game."
And so we wait.
