City v Country match disguising the sorry state of Country rugby league
WHAT’S THE BUZZ 1: The City v Country match will no doubt be declared another tearaway success. This could not be further from the truth.
Phil Rothfield
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THE atmosphere will be all warm and fuzzy at City v Country in Tamworth on Sunday afternoon.
Big-noting officials will no doubt be patting themselves on the back and declaring it a tearaway success and a wonderful occasion for country football.
This could not be further from the truth. Country rugby league is, in fact, dying a slow death.
WHAT’S THE BUZZ 2: Saint, sinner, shoosh
The number of famous old country towns that have lost their footy clubs this year has increased alarmingly.
Jamie Lyon’s old club Wee Waa has folded. So too has Noel Crusher Cleal’s old team, Warialda.
Remember John Chicka Ferguson? His old club Glen Innis has gone under too.
“It’s with great regret that we announce the club will not be fielding teams in any grades this season due to a severe shortage in player numbers,” officials recently announced on Facebook. “The club called a crisis meeting and only had four players attend.”
Maclean, where Nathan Brown and Brian Smith started, and Mullumbimby have closed this year too.
So has Umina on the Central Coast, and Bundanoon in the in the Southern Highlands and Tathra on the South Coast. Lithgow Workies have had to forfeit recent games.
The AFL has powered its way into the Riverina, once rugby league heartland. Their numbers have increased by 10 per cent in regional areas in the last two years.
Yet what’s the CRL or NRL doing about it? Country football provides 30 per cent of the players in the NRL. Yet it is being left to die. One meaningless and outdated City-Country game is not enough.
Penrith took their game against Canberra to Bathurst last weekend. There needs to be a lot more of it and the promotional activity that goes with it.
None of the billion-dollar broadcast-deal money has found its way to the bush.
The Country Rugby League is doing nothing but fudging registration numbers to make themselves look good.
They now include women’s tag as official registrations to make the numbers look stable.
Having a nice crowd and all the NRL stars in Tamworth this afternoon is not enough.
Nowhere near enough.
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