Please don't compare junior league football with the win-at-all costs professional sport you see on our TV screens. If you don't like some of the stuff you see, tell your kids why it's not right for them to do the same. If they behave badly on the football field, discipline and educate them.
I love the NRL, I watch every game, every week, but lets put a few things in perspective, the NRL is an entertainment business.
The competition is built in large part on violence. I hate when people say violence makes the game because the skill of these players at times defies belief, but at its core, a large part of the entertainment of the game is watching these huge, intense men running into each other trying to smash each other. The junior game need not be as violent, because it isn't comprised of finely tuned professional athletes who are hellbent on winning. These aren't guys who play for fun, of course they enjoy the game, they grew up enjoying the game, but there comes a time in everyone's sporting life where a line is drawn between playing for fun and playing to win. In the NRL, these guys play to win and they play to live, this is their career, their livelihood, of course it is going to get intense, of course it is going to get violent.
and then, Hodges said my skills weren't up to the required standard to play in this competition
More than half the teams in the competition are sponsored by gambling companies....
Broncos - Sportingbet
Raiders - ACT TAB
Titans - BET EZY
Manly - Centrebet
Knights - Sportsbet
Roosters - Sportsbet
Sharks - Luxbet
Warriors - Skycity
Panthers - Centrebet (who play out of Centrebet stadium)
Big Dell always knows how to get a slice of the pie
Factor in the in game segments from the likes of Tom Waterhouse, the TAB and the advertising around the stadium from various betting agencies and each NRL game is a gigantic gambling advertisement. There is no way to hide from it, every time you watch the NRL you are being bombarded with gambling advertising, most people probably don't even realise, they think nothing of it, that's how it is meant to happen. You still know, there's no better bet than a sporting bet. Was it only me that found saw the irony when Ben Barba returned after his various issues, including problems with gambling, that he was at fullback hovering around posts with BET365 advertising on the padding?
"I know what punters want"
Then there's the alcohol. Attending the VB Blues vs XXXX Maroons clash last Wednesday at ANZ Stadium, I was left with no question which beer was the right choice for a "hard earned thirst" after seeing thousands of jerseys point it out to me all night and the Sharks, Dragons, Roosters, Tigers would surely all agree.
I whole heartedly endorse this event or product
But the following teams may feel a little differently...
Broncos - XXXX
Bulldogs - Tooheys
Titans - XXXX
Manly - Tooheys, Jim Beam
Cowboys - XXXX
Eels - Tooheys
Panthers - Tooheys, Jim Beam
Warriors - Lion Red
and the Raiders likely don't care, as long as you make your purchase from Local Liquor. Again, add in the sponsorship of particular nights e.g. the previously mentioned Wild Turkey Super Saturday, or the Woodstock advertising that regularly appears during broadcasts on Sky in New Zealand, the alcohol advertising around the stadium, the numerous alcohol stands around the ground. Our "great game" is used by these companies to sell you alcohol, and the NRL, in all its family friendly goodness, takes that money quite happily. Then we turn around and complain about the impact the drink is having on the game and the players and how Dugan is up on a roof drinking and Tamou is out drink driving and George Burgess is parading the streets doing Hulk impressions.
So what we have is a violent form of entertainment in a contest between men battling for money, battling for their livelihood, sponsored by gambling and alcohol companies, It's clearly incredibly popular, but the NRL is built around adult themes. If the NRL is so concerned with creating a child friendly environment, stop launching hundreds upon hundreds of examples of alcohol and gambling advertising at young children who tune in to games, who show up to games, who buy the jerseys. Oh no, we couldn't do that, too much money to lose there. The NRL is an entertainment outlet that serves as a huge advertising vehicle for adult escapades yet is watched by thousands of children. How many players have we seen undone by the rare punch up during a game? and how many have we seen undone by alcohol and gambling problems? the NRL promotes bigger threats to its players than the issue it's trying to clear up.It's the parents job to teach children about violence, just like it is to shield them from the alcohol and gambling onslaught their children are unwittingly exposed to every game.
But hey, if the kids get the right jerseys, then they too can be a walking gambling and drinking advertisement!
