Football journo sides with climate change scientists to 'prove' League really OK after all

I can't believe that I read this para of support for legitimate climate science in a football commentator's diatribe on why Rugby League's culture of shame is really OK after all:

The current debate about behaviour in rugby league is a lot like the one surrounding climate change. Although global warming is scientifically undisputed, stubborn naysayers are often granted equal airtime, which gives the impression that the issue is somehow in dispute. And perception is reality.

That slash at the climate change sceptics aside, Josh Massoud of the Sydney Daily Telegraph was making the somewhat tenuous point that because he had made an early-morning micturation on the shrubby verge of a near-deserted expressway, miles from any public toilets and away from any camera, it was OK for prominent Rugby League players to do the same in a public street, on a wall, near a pub. And sadly, near a guy with a camera. Yep, I'm convinced.

Football, meat pies, kangaroos etc.. funny strange how it all links together #marketing #GM #rugbyleague

In my bizarre world it all makes sense. GM is a big US brand-accumulator that has taken over popular national car-making brands in several countries, such as Opel in Germany, Vauxhall in the UK and of course Holden in Australia. In doing so they have managed to either submerge the link with GM from public view, such as they have done with SAAB in Sweden, or use it to their advantage, as they did with the much grander-sounding General Motors-Holden's Ltd (since renamed). In this way GM has become huge, feasting on the success of brands both in the US and across the world. To complete the sleight of hand in Australia GM's advertising agency re-worded a very patriotic-sounding Chevrolet jingle that suited the US market to fit the Australian environment. That sort of pragmatic, yet shallow and empty marketing resonated with the public at the time, but to me has set the scene for what ultimately may be the end of the whole "as Aussie as a Holden" charade.

'Football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars', goes the jingle. Ahhh, football. But which kind?

Well in Sydney, traditionally, it has been Rugby League, a professional working class spin-off from the proudly traditional 'amateur' code of Rugby Union. And of course Union is no longer amateur and the 'working class' League players (at least at the top end) are now as well off as any local pro sports star. As in very nicely paid, thank you. Which brings me to the whole system of competition, which has evolved over the last 20 or so years from a district-centred and loyalty-bound operation to a national comp where only the richest clubs can afford the best players and coaches (salary cap duly noted) and loyalty is largely meaningless, or very short-term. Yes, there are exceptions, in pockets of resistance (Souths and St George, perhaps, and maybe a couple of other clubs to varying degrees). But in essence the local developmental pathways that ensured local support have been eroded, leaving what remains of the loyal supporters clinging to a brand name rather than a meaningfully real entity. Whole clubs have been sacrificed at the altar of cash and flung into oblivion. Where those fans went I don't know - well actually I do, as I simply lost interest. Now I just look for the results, almost totally disengaged from any sort of active support. I won't be taking my kids to a game, I can tell you. Given the ill-disciplined attention seeking of these gifted but arguably over-paid "athletes", I'd rather they play - or watch - soccer instead.

OK, I know, that's professional sport these days. But some sports - cycling for example - have managed to merge the pros and the amateurs, retain the grass-roots club network and create a successful professional system without the same smell of filthy lucre. It doesn't help that the main financial underpinnings of Australia's Rugby League football clubs are the gambling dens of the leagues clubs and the money-hungry alcohol manufacturers.

Why am I thinking about all this? Well I read this statement:"I find it astonishing that someone would make those comments when they aren't even part of the NRL." That's someone from the Cronulla club (in financial peril and wanting to save themselves by playing a few more games 140km or more north at Gosford) having a go at someone who lives on the Central Coast but runs one of the clubs (Norths) that was outed from the national league some years ago. You can get all the sordid details at that link. Point is, Cronulla (itself a spin-off from the St George club) has about as much to do morally, ethically and culturally with the Central Coast as GM has to do with Holden. Perhaps even less, as at least GM rescued Holden's in the first place. Either way, it's all about money. They may spin a nice yarn, but I can't imagine anyone believing it. And as the 'astonished' Cronulla spokesperson said, if you aren't part of the national league, don't even bother commenting. The arrogance.

And in my bizarre world, that's the link. The short-term, dollar-focused arrogance with which consumers have been treated by the National Rugby League is akin to the ever-thirstier-and-ever-bigger car-making arrogance shown by GM. And we know where GM is right now - staring into the abyss.