Could the Real NRL Journalists Please Shut Up?
Published by ManTalk - 20 April 2015 4:30 PM
Written by Bart Tyson,
Is sport in Australia being driven into the ground by a fan base of whingers, headed by a sensationalist and over critical media? Are we celebrating world-class athleticism or focusing our energy on what we cannot control, thus sending our beloved football codes into an inevitable nosedive?
Most of you have experienced the polarising dialogue between those who were ultimately triumphant and those who were ripped off. I am an avid NRL supporter and am frequently in debate on the major questions: ‘was that player checked thoroughly for concussion?’, ‘has he grounded the football or has he lost control?’, ‘should that have been a penalty and, if so, why wasn’t the other, similar incident penalised?’. Of course the answers to these questions depends on what colour jersey you are wearing unless, of course, you are the referee. The contest is rarely discussed in the rugby league circle these days; instead, our discourse leads us to how the contest was effected by everything other than the team on the field. If it wasn’t the refereeing that determined the final result, it had to be that one ‘grubby’ player or a dirty team tactic that should have been penalised. I am constantly witnessing NRL vultures whose only goal is to put all the negativity that occurs on and off the field on a platter for their readers to digest.
NRL is fast becoming the most critical of its referees. The game is highly skilled and not for the faint-hearted, where the likes of players such as Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Greg Inglis and code hopper Jarryd Hayne are paving the way for a new generation of rugby league stars. For this reason, I am sure you could imagine how difficult a game with such intensity can be monitored and correctly officiated 100 per cent of the time. But isn’t this intensity, speed, aggression and unpredictable nature the reason we love this game? Don’t the guys who put their bodies on the line each week deserve praise whether they win or lose? I think the most important question to answer is ‘why aren’t we demanding a better representation of the game we know and love?’.
I started writing this article prior to the previous round—round five—of the NRL and was finding it difficult to choose an example from an array of serial offenders. Little did I know that this round of footballing controversy would bring the scavengers out from the woodwork. Phil Rothfield has written an article praising the disgraceful action of a team’s captain abusing a referee for a decision in which, ultimately, the player did not understand. The article then went on to say that the impending barrage of domestic missiles targeting the match officials leaving the field, along with the unlawful dissent displayed by Canterbury Bulldogs captain James Graham, was ‘what the NRL needed’. This bottom feeder, and many others like him, constantly tell us why the NRL is failing, why the NRL is run badly and that the level of refereeing is not up to scratch.
So this all-knowing rugby league guru has essentially told you that what you are eating is bad, without an indication as to why or what you should eat instead. In the NRL, coaches and players are sanctioned and fined up to $10,000 for discussing the decisions made by the referee and bringing the game into disrepute. Isn’t it time as sports lover we put our foot down, and hold the hacks accountable for the garbage they feed us on a daily basis?
Identifying the improvements the NRL needs is made harder by people like Phil Rothfield who thrive on dirtying the waters and filling our heads with nonsense about the sport we love. Rothfield drowns readers in his own bullshit-all of which he benefits from-where he unfairly discredits players, teams and referees. If we want the NRL to flourish we need to praise the sport and condemn those who bring the game down with their own agenda. Let's highlight the parts of the game for both teams so we in the NRL community can make the game better for everyone.
The answer for Rothfield and other sports journalists who refuse to answer the question ‘how can we make our sport better?’, is simple: give up your day job.
