Why the NRL should be admired for having the willingness to fight on amid COVID—19 pandemic
The NRL should be commended for their bravery in trying to keep the competition going, but the alarmists who have forced the postponement could end up killing the game, writes PAUL KENT.
Teams
Don't miss out on the headlines from Teams. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The NRL is merely the latest victim of the Toilet Paper Wars.
The same mob mentality that led to brawls for toilet rolls got their way and pressured the NRL into suspending its competition, the panic of the uneducated.
Only a month ago the Toilet Paper Wars were an example of the world gone mad but, like most crazy ideas, in the hands of the hysterical they became the first pebble in the avalanche.
Fighting for toilet paper one day, our sanity the next.
For our own sakes, they say.
Instead of campaigning for the NRL to shut down sports fans should have been cheering for the NRL to fight on.
Pubs and clubs are shut, the cinemas are out, casinos won’t let anyone in, a day at the beach is a memory and if I want to work on my muscles I can’t go to the gym.
Us sinners can’t even attend church anymore and ask for forgiveness for our sins, not that there’s much chance for that while housebound.
Cabin fever will set in because there are only so many Lethal Weapon re-runs anyone can endure, as magnificent as they are, while we self-isolate.
The irony that the criticism against players for still working was coming from journalists still working, some camped in front of headquarters, was completely lost.
Now we wait.
For when the cabin fever sets in they will begin the hand wringing about mental welfare and soon enough start damning the government for not doing enough to save them.
It is inevitable that as families are ordered to remain housebound there will come a spike in mental illness, domestic violence and small crime as many struggle, and fail, to cope in isolation.
Not everyone is equipped, or even properly set up, to handle it.
Amid all that the footy each weekend was an oasis. Its benefit went beyond those dismissing it as self-serving.
I applaud the players for pushing on, as long as they could. They still might not realise just how beneficial their actions in recent weeks were.
In the end it took the medical experts to weaken to outside pressure to shut down the NRL.
Nothing else changed. Just weak politicians unable to withstand the public blowtorch.
Late on Sunday government and medical authorities shut down much of the country. The decision was based on the latest medical advice from the experts, the people at the coalface with all the latest information, adhering to the latest medical advice.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian yesterday again called the new measures a “no regrets policy”.
The Premier did not want to look back in a month, she said, and believe the Government undersold the danger, or was careless, so the government was overcautious.
Yet she allowed the NRL to play on. She ignored the alarmists because smarter people were advising her.
Yet it was not enough for some, who were still looking to back their first winner after declaring Labor in the last Federal election, steering the Republican movement, campaigning against the barrier draw on the Sydney Opera House and even cheering for the new NRL’s Simply the Best ad.
The NRL did not persevere flippantly. NRL players are the most protected group of humans in Australia at the moment.
They were isolated, flew on chartered planes and bussed in to stadiums without crowds. They had immediate access to a doctor and testing.
They were ordered not to socialise in public and the NRL threatened to fine any player who broke the edict.
That is the advice that encouraged the NRL to push on.
They resisted the pressure applied on Sunday when the AFL suspended its competition and many assumed the NRL should quickly follow suit.
Yes, the NRL is under financial pressure and it was a part of the pursuit to push on.
The AFL suspended its competition until at least May 31, a 10-week stand down.
The NRL is already on record saying it has cash for about three months in reserve, about $70 million, before the game would go broke.
A 10-week stand down like the AFL will take the NRL to the brink. The experts need only to be out by a few weeks before some NRL clubs will go to the wall and the entire code could crumble shortly after.
The NRL was a wonderful relief over the weekend.
The stadiums might have been empty but the footy was the kind of distraction that benefited us all.
Now, we go in to the great unknown, ignoring the shrill voices.