THE RL1908 BLOG

News, Reviews & Opinion - Sean Fagan - RL1908.com

Notwithstanding the NZRL's breaching of rules over player eligibility, I have been pondering the mind-set of the Australian RL community over this whole affair - the ARL, the Kangaroos, the media, and the fans. As Peter FitzSimons points out, in other Australian sports there is no outcry over the questionable eligibility of players. Equally, over the past century, there have been examples of footballers (league and union) playing for both Australia and New Zealand during their careers (Keith Gudsell played rugby union for NSW, Australia and New Zealand - info here.)

I am wondering what the overall objective of RL in Australia is in regard to the international game - at every turn we seem to want everything our own way. Yet, if we are that good, why should we care what difficulties are put before us? Surely victory in those circumstances is all the sweeter?

Compare this to the RU World Cup in 2003 - despite huge blow-out scores, and questionable player eligibility in some teams, not a peep of criticism from anyone. Result? Huge crowds and TV audiences. Look at the A-League in soccer - built on manufactured and contrived franchise teams, with no history - yet sports fans in Sydney have embraced it. Try building a RL team in Sydney along those lines and see what happens - it would go down in flames quicker than you could cry out "Northern Eagles". Where is the criticism of the NSW Waratahs or Queensland Reds - no longer are they representative teams of their states - they buy and sell players from other states, many of whom rarely/never play for a club in the new state they "represent". Yet do RU fans or RU media bemoan this? In the AFL, they've built a century-old tradition around an unchallenged claim to have been playing Grand Finals continuously since 1896 - even though the first was in 1931 (all before that were called, as in RL, a "Final").

While the media "smelt a rat" in regard to the NZRL, and launched an investigation to catch the Kiwis out, why is there no examination of attempts to persuade Britain's Adrian Morley to play for NSW and the Kangaroos? Equally, it is also no secret that Greg Inglis qualified for Origin as a NSW player - yet the QRL have not been challenged.

I hold grave fears for the success of the 2008 Rugby League World Cup if this attitude against Australia's international competitors persists. As one letter writer to the Herald said: "This fuss is just another example of how league continues to shoot itself in the foot by concentrating on negatives. When will they wake up?"

Without everyone within the game being positive about the concept of improving the competitiveness of the international game, you can be sure the media will spin the negatives - they know interest in the code is so popular it will sell papers and generate talk-back radio calls.