Why the Bulldogs and Des Hasler should not be blamed for City-Country controversy
CANTERBURY should not be blamed for pulling their players from City-Country writes PAUL KENT - they were let down by the NRL.
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CANTERBURY have every right to feel let down by the NRL.
When news broke that the Bulldogs had told the NRL they were not allowing their players to play in next week’s City-Country game the critics came from wide and far to attack the Dogs for their nerve.
Who were they to tell the NRL they would not release their players for rep round?
It seemed like another case of the game allowing the tail to wag the dog because they lacked the courage to bring clubs into line.
Courage wasn’t the problem though.
The Dogs wrote to the NRL and NSW Rugby League last week telling them their problem with scheduling, the short turnaround, and what they were considering.
Throw in the casual attitude within camp, all in the name of getting them, ahem, acclimatised to what an Origin camp might be like, and the Dogs had reasonable concerns.
They got an email back from NSWRL chief executive Dave Trodden acknowledging the problem, with Trodden saying that unfortunately scheduling was an NRL issue, not NSWRL.
They heard nothing from the NRL.
Not until after the news broke in the press, anyway, days later, when everybody had already had a free swing at the Dogs and coach Des Hasler.
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The NRL emailed back allowing their request — all too late, as the damage was already done.
The Dogs had no idea the story was about to break and as far as they knew — because they had heard nothing in the days since sending the email — the NRL was still considering it.
So we wonder what is happening in there at the NRL.
The rugby league people don’t seem to know the rugby league business, that’s clear.
The business people, who we’re told don’t need to know rugby league because they are business people, don’t seem to know their business either.
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