NRL fan’s plea: Stop acting like entitled little tossers
Sick to death of being constantly told the NRL is addressing its ‘culture’ issues, league fan Noeleen Neate has had enough. She says if the NRL wants to be taken seriously about stamping out violence against women it needs to make real changes. Until then... she’s done.
Like many in this nation, I’m a sports fan. As a Queenslander I grew up with Rugby League.
Queensland was a rugby league state. As a kid, we didn’t have a team in the big league down south so many of us would support where a lot of our players went and for me that was Canberra.
I still remember the excitement when we got our own team, the Brisbane Broncos.
Over the past few years I have slowly turned away from the game. The off-field dramas have just continued unabated, regardless of how many times we hear “The NRL is taking seriously…” it just doesn’t change. Worse, it depends how much of a “star” or “potential star” the player is as to how much their poor behaviour — be it assault, drink-driving, drunken stupidity, you name it — is tolerated.
Originally published by Ya Think blog
We are expected to buy the whole mateship line, until of course a club decides they can’t afford to keep one of their ‘club warriors’. Yet, when it comes to player support and behaviour of players we are supposed to be ‘fans’ of the ‘club’. Support the ‘club’ — not the business. How many times have you heard a sports journo say about a badly behaved player, “Oh just a young lad, doing what other young lads his age are doing”?
Umm No. In fact, that ‘young lad’ is most likely a very highly paid ‘employee’ and it would not be acceptable in any other ‘business’. I’m sick of the NRL trying to have their cake and eat it too. They are either a modern business or they are not?
This Jack de Belin rape allegation is the final straw for me. I am not going to repeat any detail of what the police are alleging as I don’t want to inadvertently stress anyone who is reading this who may have been the victim of rape or serious sexual assault.
For a sport that has had a conga-line of players over the years accused (some innocently, many guilty) of anti-social behaviour, particularly treating women badly, this one stands out.
In the last 12 months the NRL has had Matt Lodge welcomed back onto the field after assault, Jarryd Hayne accused of (a seriously nasty) sexual assault, Ben Barba dumped after a domestic violence incident at a casino and now the de Belin gang rape allegations and these are only the ones we know about?!
To be brutally frank, I hope Jack de Belin is innocent. I’m a pretty hardened old bird, but, I was sickened to my stomach and actually cried reading the detail of what police are alleging de Belin and his mate did to this poor young woman. The thought that anyone who could be capable of what is alleged, particularly someone that probably has thousands of young kids yelling and screaming in support of him at the footy ground or running around the backyard pretending to be him, just sickens me. Not to mention he has a young wife at home who is currently pregnant. So best case scenario is he is just like many entitled sporting blokes before him who just can’t keep it in his pants. That is still hard for his wife to cop, but nothing compared to if he is found guilty of what he is accused of.
The fact the NRL has not suspended him is what has pushed me over the edge.
Before you all start screaming “innocent until proven guilty” let me explain …
In most modern organisations, particularly large ones with a public face, it is usually written into contracts that any employee who faces serious criminal charges will be stood down on leave — either paid or unpaid — depending on their employment status until a court makes a decision. This standard does not bias the court. It is a flat rule and as such does not colour the innocence or guilt of the accused in any way, shape or form.
In fact, many of those sports journos who sportsplain away the ‘just boys being boys’ bad behaviour would have this happen in their own organisations should they ever be charged with a serious crime. A TV station, for example, just does not want a person’s face on a screen regularly reminding the public that this bloke could be a rapist. It is not good PR. They want it out of the news and out of people’s minds until the court case is over.
A perfect example is this week when the NRL had their All Stars game. It was something that should have been celebrated, even more so with the women’s teams also competing. This is what rugby league fans should have been getting hyped up about. Instead, too many were discussing whether de Belin should be suspended or not and for many women, they were sitting back thinking — and saying — “yeah, well that zero tolerance for violence against women the NRL were trumpeting last week didn’t take long to be tossed out the window”. If the NRL had stood him down as soon as charges were laid, the focus would have been on NRL All Stars alone. That would have been a better ‘business’ decision.
These organisations also have a duty of care to their employees. Constantly putting them in front of the public where they could be faced with a barrage of abuse when potentially innocent of charges is a stress no employee could handle month after month. How an employee is supposed to do their job to the best of their ability while facing serious charges like de Belin would be an incredible amount of stress, both on him and his family. The NRL may think ‘nothing to see here until Court makes a decision’, but the viewing public and fans at footy grounds can’t unhear or unsee the allegations and every single time he laces up his boots and runs out onto the field they will be reminded.
St George Illawarra Dragons and the NSW Origin team might be thinking they are doing him a favour letting him play, but they are not. More like they just want to keep a talented player on the field. If they honestly believe he is innocent of these charges and if indeed he is innocent and they care about him as a person, they would not be subjecting him to the public at large until the criminal case is decided.
If the NRL want to be taken seriously, both as an organisation that really does want to stamp out violence against women in their game and as a business, they need to start acting like one.
A blanket rule of ‘suspension/leave’ for ALL players, regardless of their status in the game pending court determinations of guilt or innocence for ANY player facing criminal charges would be the professional thing to do. It would not be an indicator of guilt or innocence. It would just be a smart decision that allows the NRL, clubs and other players in those clubs to go about their business without the distraction of a player scandal AND gives the player themselves the private time and space to deal with potentially life-changing charges that could be hanging over their heads.
I doubt the NRL will go this route. They rarely do. If past form is any indication their decision will be based on how powerful the club is, whether sponsors have invested time and effort into elevating a particular player into a ‘star’ or, hell, even if NSW Origin think that particular player is imperative to them winning.
Until this culture in the NRL is addressed and I mean seriously, until the NRL can decide if they are an amateur sport or a professional business and until players themselves can stop acting like entitled little tossers that feel they should never have consequences for their actions, well, I’m outta here.
I see the AFLW and the sheer joy of the players on the field doing what they love. I see the women cricketers excelling, I see the skill and sportsmanship of a Sam Kerr, I see the passion on court of our netballers and the appreciation they have to finally be paid for that skill and effort. I then see the same rubbish — again — from the NRL.
I know the majority of players are not grubs, but hardworking guys who take their privileged position of being elite athletes seriously. But as a woman and as a sports fan, I can no longer condone the NRL’s inaction when it comes to player behaviour off-field. I can no longer accept the excuses.
I can no longer cop the unprofessionalism of the NRL as a governing body itself. I’m sick of the inconsistency in decision making.
I am sick to death of being told over and over again that the NRL are addressing culture issues and this will change. It hasn’t changed.
I’m sorry NRL, it really is you.
Buzz’s top-50 NRL players for 2024: Four millionaires miss the cut
Phil Rothfield’s Top 50 NRL players for 2024 is littered with the game’s highest paid players, but four million-dollar men from the Rich 100 failed to make the cut. See the full Top 50 and have your say.
What Seibold’s revival says about ‘cursed’ Broncos coaching role
“It’s you not us’’ was the cry when Anthony Seibold was effectively shown the door in Brisbane. Maybe, ROBERT CRADDOCK writes, it was the Broncos all along.