I might start a thread called "what is the club now?". I seriously would not mind some sensible discussion about that. What do I support?
Great question, T-Boon.
When I first started following Rugby League (and the Eels), it was a semi-professional game. It was also very tribal. If a player wanted to move from Parramatta to play for St George, he literally had to relocate and live in the St George area. It was a time when a team truly represented the suburb in which they were located. Players tended to stay with the one club for their whole career most of the time. So every game had a kind of 'us against them' mentality to it. I lived in Parramatta, so when I said that I followed Parramatta, it was the team, the players and the whole area in which I grew up that I was supporting.
Over the years, that has all changed. it's like musical chairs now, where we almost have 16 mercenary armies that chop and change with the wind. There is little sense of identity anymore. A team this year may be almost unrecognisable in three or four years time. Who am I following?
Rugby League now is becoming so sanitized, so politically correct, so over-hyped, so over-marketed and commercialised, that it bears little resemblance to the game I grew up with.
And what does the game stand for, now? Well, money. A 'brand'. A worshipping of over-hyped heroes that sells newspapers and gains television ratings?
I, too, find it increasingly difficult to follow the game and to 'support' Parramatta. Dylan Brown is a case in point. Bright young player who could become a star. Brought through our system over the past couple of years. Fans see him as a 'local product' to some extent. Cheer for him. Invest a lot of emotional energy into following his progress. Next year it's very likely he'll be playing for another club. So what is it I am supporting?
You're right, T-Boon. I'm actually now supporting an illusion. I'm supporting a ghost from my past. My father, my two brothers, my mother (all now deceased) supported Parramatta. Went to Cumberland Oval and yelled and shouted and cheered and booed. Back in the day. It was a family tradition. It was a focal point for us; a thing we all had in common - even in times when we didn't have all that much in common. And I carry on the tradition. I follow ghosts from the past. Ken Thornett. Ivor Lingard. Cumberland Oval. Rex Mossop. Frank Hyde. My father shouting, "you're blind, ref", and a little section of the crowd responding, "they've been doing it all day". And my brothers.
That's why I follow Parramatta these days. Every time I see a team full of players in blue and gold running around the paddock, my heart races a little bit. I don't think there will ever come a time when I stop following this team; but it sure as hell doesn't mean what it used to mean. Not by a long shot.
