NRL must salvage its battered image to keep rugby league alive
Amid the discussion and debate of the Jack de Belin saga there is a crucial issue going overlooked and it could threaten the long-term survival of rugby league.
Todd Greenberg was asked so many questions I started to get a headache.
And pretty much all related to the impact Jack de Belin’s legal rights to a presumption of innocence, if any, if he is stood down while he fights an aggravated sexual assault charge in court.
This issue has divided everyone.
Not just rugby league fans, but society in general.
And, most often, the person you are talking to is the one standing on the opposite side of the fence.
So many smart people coming from different angles, different agendas.
But then there was this one question that popped up towards the back end of the 45-plus minute media conference that made me finally realise this issue now goes beyond the rights of one man.
Because it related to this, perhaps the most simple, yet complex, problem currently confronting the game:
How do we convince parents that rugby league is a game their children should play?
Up until the moment that question was asked, I didn’t get the stance the Australian Rugby League Commission has taken on this.
But then it hit me, right here is the great fear of so many who really love this sport.
Rugby league junior trials kick off in earnest this weekend and, above all else, this is the one question so many parents will be struggling to answer.
At a time when the game is struggling for numbers at the junior level in so many regions.
I know on the Central Coast, where I live, it is close to crisis point in some suburbs.
As Greenberg explained: “This is a great game and a great sport, which will teach you a million life lessons.”
But only if it survives.
For too long bad behaviour has been allowed to go unpunished.
This is not in reference to the case of de Belin, who has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault charges. It is the reality which the NRL is trying to deal with.
From an early age, as soon as young footballers start showing promise, they are given preferential treatment, special privilege.
We have all seen it.
And we have also seen how that transfers into the NRL.
But with privilege comes extra responsibility.
Yes, de Belin’s side of the story is yet to be told, and he is innocent until proven guilty.
What was being asked today was does standing him down on full pay and allowing him to continue to train with his teammates take away that right?
If you listen to those in de Belin’s corner, they will tell you that there is a lot more to come out than what we know already.
And while that could ultimately lead to legal ramifications for the game, does not mean the people in charge can continue to sit back and allow the reputational damage to go unchallenged.
There has to be a time when the game comes first. This is our line in the sand moment.
Greenberg has a chance here to really make his mark as a leader.
For too long he has come across as a man who promises the world but delivers the atlas.
But on this occasion Greenberg is not just talking the right game, he is actually walking the talk.
And he cannot walk away from that reality, but players can.
No one is forcing any of them to stay in the NRL if they don’t want to.
But with the cost of this off-season “train wreck” now mounting into the millions, it is the job of the ARL Commission and Greenberg in particular to put the game first.
As Greenberg said: “We have to make a decision that is in the game’s best interests.
“It is a reminder, and I remind everyone here, that rugby league is far greater than the Telstra Premiership.
“Our responsibilities are much broader than running eight games every weekend across 16 teams.
“We have obligations to hundreds of thousands of young boys and girls that play the game.
“Thousands of volunteers, millions of fans and hundreds of thousands of club members.”
We cannot forget that.
Hunt ‘salary shamed’ as club crisis exposed
Ben Hunt’s relationship with the Dragons has been further strained with new details of his infamous meeting with Shane Flanagan emerging.
Storm ring heist: 25 years on from the NRL’s biggest GF call
Twenty five years on from one of the most dramatic grand finals in rugby league history, the stars break down the controversial 1999 decider, and the infamous Craig Smith penalty try.