Beattie's NRL gig is another bad dream

A guy who doesn't even know what the Cronulla footy team is called has been given the honour of running the game.

Peter Beattie's going to be running rugby league. No wonder a bloke has nightmares, says Ashley Robinson. Picture: MICHAEL CHAMBERS

I DO worry about a lot of things - the homeless, elderly, the disabled, live animal exports and the list goes on.

It's little wonder I don't sleep well and probably wouldn't at all if I didn't have a couple of Coopers "sleeping tablets".

While the above topics spend a bit of time rolling around in the near-empty carpark called my brain, just lately politics has jumped the queue somewhat.

I worry about the circus in Canberra and ponder on the fact that if the mob in power and the Opposition were footy teams playing each other, how boring the game would be.

In most cases neither side would listen to their captain and no one would pass the ball to a teammate in case they made them look good.

At least the defence would be good, probably to the point of being vicious.

I reckon a few of them would have the Opposition's jersey under their own, just in case they wanted to swap to the winning team.

It is disgraceful and you may well ask why I bring it up.

Well, I have just finished watching old mate Peter "I'm not happy about that either" Beattie, the chairman of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games mob, tell traders that things are picking up and ordering residents to get back to the Coast and support small businesses that have been deadly quiet during the Games.

Of course, he would have said all the appropriate things to the appropriate people, looked concerned and then returned to the VIP area.

He's like a lot of his mates in Canberra with no idea what is happening in the real world where small business operators have their life savings tied up in what they are doing and just want a fair go.

At the time of writing there were rumblings that things were picking up down the Gold Coast and I hope that's the case as it is a great event that will promote Queensland. But I wonder at what cost?

They tell me that the only ones making money down there this week were the police and stop-and-go blokes.

Mr Beattie has another important engagement once this show is over and that is to run rugby league.

Wow! I just can't get my head around that. A guy who doesn't even know what the Cronulla footy team is called, given the honour of running the game.

So now when I toss and turn at night I will have to add Peter Beattie and rugby league to my list of woes, and maybe an extra Coopers - I reckon I am going to need it.

Originally published as Beattie's NRL gig is another bad dream