Paul Kent: Tremendous cost of bringing families into NRL hub life as game fights for survival

Bringing players’ families into the Queensland hubs is costing the NRL millions, but the price of not doing would be astronomical, PAUL KENT writes.

The NRL's move into hubs in southeast Queensland will cost the game millions, but the price of not doing it would be much higher.

It is with considerable sympathy that the old-timers think about love and a happy home and all it takes to make both a reality.

The most common tale told in the quiet corners is of the old prop who fell hopelessly in love one winter and, at his new lady’s insistence, was quick to rush out the invitations for their end-of-year wedding, which came with all the trimmings.

Oh, they were going to celebrate their love like nobody else.

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Such was their love he was even unconcerned when a teammate on the guest list pointed out that the wedding was planned in what would be right in the middle of the Kangaroo Tour, a three-month trip to England where Australia would play three Tests against Great Britain, somewhere around 20 midweek games, before finishing off with a couple of Tests in France.

What did it matter, he was in love?

Sharks captain Wade Graham with his partner Karianne and their children Thomas and William. Karianne and the kids can join Wade in the Queensland hub. Picture: Adam Yip

Nobody was more surprised than the old prop later that season when the 28-man squad for England was named and there, in alphabetical order, was his name, confirming what would be the fulfilment of a lifelong dream.

Nobody was more surprised than him except, perhaps, the impending bride, who did not share his enthusiasm and could barely believe he intended touring with the Kangaroos, which would require the cancelling of the upcoming nuptials.

If he loved her like he said he did then of course he would not go, she told him, and so with a soft heart and a sad smile he reluctantly withdrew.

Love came first he told his teammates and, besides, as he was constantly hearing at home, there were always more Kangaroo Tours but only ever one wedding.

Alas, when the next Kangaroo Tour rolled around four years later the loveable prop was no longer in form, in footy or at home.

He missed selection for the Tour and was finalising his divorce.

As the old prop might warn, in these uncertain times, sometimes there are sacrifices worth making for the game.

The NRL is on the move. Picture: Peter Parks/AFP

Better than most he knows that love has often been an inconvenient necessity for the NRL, which it is today and likely will be again.

Some players are questioning whether or how they will get to Queensland as teams relocate north. Others have been telling their loving wives how sad they are to be going, having had their bags packed and ready to go since the NRL made its announcement on Sunday.

Others truly are trying to make the best of a tough situation.

Benji Marshall’s wife Zoe had their second child not even a month ago. Benji, who is Mr Daddy Daycare, is still working out how he will make it work but has indicated he will be joining his teammates at their Gold Coast hub.

Aaron Woods’s wife is pregnant and due in a fortnight. Woods, also, is waiting for advice before heading to the Sharks’ Brisbane hub.

There is a price to be paid for the game to continue and all are paying it in their own way, to varying degrees.

On first look it appears the NRL is being forced to fund an extraordinary cost to ensure the game keeps going.

Dragons players undergo Covid protocols at WIN Stadium. Picture: Toby Zerna

Not just players are being relocated, but entire families, including their ever-loving wives, too.

Who stays behind to feed the dog remains to be determined.

More than 500 players and football staff are being relocated on Wednesday and the NRL will pick up all their bills while they are there. Rooms, food, washing, all of it.

To house the families for the initial two-week quarantine period will cost the game several millions of dollars and will be just a small cost to a game back in the fight for its survival.

Such is the cost ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys said on Monday that the game might never recover. V’landys, shrewd with numbers, knows much of the money being spent will never be recovered.

But he also knows that for all the money being spent, including the price of love by sending families interstate with the players, the NRL has done the numbers and is coming out ahead.

This makes a pleasant change for the game, which for too many spent the game’s money like it was somebody else’s money because, mostly, it was.

The NRL has said relocating the club to Queensland will cost the game between $10 and $15 million a month.

Some of this will be offset by the fact crowds will be allowed to attend matches in Queensland which has been shut down in NSW, bringing in valuable gate takings.

The Novotel Twin Waters on the Sunshine Coast will house NRL players from Wednesday.

Against that the NRL will also no longer have to pay for charter flights to get players across borders, which were exorbitant.

And if worse came to worse and the game had to be shut down, and no NRL was played for a month, losses would climb upwards of $50 million.

The NRL is also hoping the inclusion of families will offset any mental breakdowns from the players.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has warned the NRL that any players who break Queensland’s Covid protocols will be immediately banished.

Palaszczuk showed she can make good on a threat, too, expelling several AFL players last season who did not understand that strippers and their places of work were not considered an essential service.

Of course, this is never a problem that would afflict the ever-loving boys in the NRL.

Originally published as Paul Kent: Tremendous cost of bringing families into NRL hub life as game fights for survival