MuzztheEagle
Bencher
Hi All,
I’ve been a lurker on here longer than I would like to admit to and usually don’t feel to pressured to contribute. I’m a third-generation Manly fan (1st gen. born in Aus) and like most of you I suffered through the Super League wars, the Northern Eagles and the 2013 GF and no matter what I will be Manly for the rest of my life. However last night’s game (on top of the last few years of NRL) has pushed me to the brink of no longer supporting the competition and I feel compelled to go on one hell of a rant to make up for my lack of past contributions. I don’t claim to know everything and the following is simply my thoughts and opinions.
Favouring a direct interpretation of the rules over common sense, teams and individuals winning at all costs and applauding those who do and constant off field dramas are making it harder and harder to support the NRL’s current direction.
No matter how you look at it the tackle on Tom was a dangerous one. He was several feet in the air and Mead came in at speed with no eyes for the ball – it wasn’t unlucky that he landed awkwardly it was the result of a dangerous tackle and it wasn’t a hard tackle that forced the ball free it was reckless contact that showed no respect for an opposition player. If he had made contact lower Tom would have landed on his head and then what would everyone call it?
In my opinion the rules when someone is catching a bomb are ridiculous already. The fact that a player is safe right up until the point their toes catch the ground is asking for trouble, with no balance or eyes on the approaching defence players are sitting ducks. With the height bombs get to and the speed of modern forwards catching the ball in space is no guarantee that players will escape unscathed. Modern fullbacks often the biggest attacking force in a team and as a result they are targeted. With forwards rushing in late and at speed followed by the twisting of legs and torsos I know I am not the only one on here who holds their breath when Turbo takes a hit up from a kick return and Manly are not the only team in the comp that suffer (or hand out) this treatment. As one of the brightest future stars of the NRL how long can we expect Tom’s career to last with this sort of treatment every week?
Without respect for opposing players it is inevitable that more players will suffer career shortening and ending injuries that they will live with for the rest of their lives. Yes, rugby league is a contact sport and I believe it always should be but to put hits and wrestle moves on fellow sportspeople without any regard for their well being is irresponsible.
Going up as one of the smaller kids I was never going to be great at rugby league and the few times I did play there was always some dickhead on the opposition wanting to show how tough he was by smashing one of the smaller guys on the field. Although there was always a level of protection from the refs when something un-sportsman like happened I felt my real protection came from my teammates – If anyone ever overstepped the spirt of the game they would answer to rest of team.
But players are now to scared to be involved, throwing a punch is likely to put you on the sideline far longer than a dangerous tackle. I don’t want advocate violence and I’m not a fan of anyone throwing punches at someone’s head but where is accountability on these players. The team should have blown up last night after the hit on Tom as they should have after Nightingale took Chez of the play the ball and after Burgess late hit a couple of weeks ago. Actions like this continuously go unchecked - if it’s within the rules or in a “grey area” its ok, move on! Is this the message we want to send to our kids that its ok to smash someone when they aren’t looking because it’s within the rules and they were fair game?
In the other game last night Cameron Smith and co. were applauded for taking advantage when Hayne went down in back play – I actually felt sorry for him as he stumbled trying to get back into position. I can’t blame the Storm for taking advantage of the situation but surely the commentary should be on how unfortunate it was for the titans not how smart they were for taking advantage of an injured player.
As an NRL supporter in Victoria I find myself having to explain the constant stream of mid-season contract dramas, drug & player scandals, salary cap rorts and huge stadiums filled with empty seats. The AFL is far from perfect but the NRL looks like a circus in comparison, I will always support Manly but it’s becoming harder to say to people I follow the NRL. I honestly hope the NRL gets its S*** together and brings some respect back into the game but until it starts to move back in the right direction I will be looking for other sport to watch when Manly isn’t on.
RANT OVER – And I guess I’m not completely mad if you made it this far. Thanks for listening/reading, I'm off to apologies to the other half for spending way too long (on Mother's day) on this.
I’ve been a lurker on here longer than I would like to admit to and usually don’t feel to pressured to contribute. I’m a third-generation Manly fan (1st gen. born in Aus) and like most of you I suffered through the Super League wars, the Northern Eagles and the 2013 GF and no matter what I will be Manly for the rest of my life. However last night’s game (on top of the last few years of NRL) has pushed me to the brink of no longer supporting the competition and I feel compelled to go on one hell of a rant to make up for my lack of past contributions. I don’t claim to know everything and the following is simply my thoughts and opinions.
Favouring a direct interpretation of the rules over common sense, teams and individuals winning at all costs and applauding those who do and constant off field dramas are making it harder and harder to support the NRL’s current direction.
No matter how you look at it the tackle on Tom was a dangerous one. He was several feet in the air and Mead came in at speed with no eyes for the ball – it wasn’t unlucky that he landed awkwardly it was the result of a dangerous tackle and it wasn’t a hard tackle that forced the ball free it was reckless contact that showed no respect for an opposition player. If he had made contact lower Tom would have landed on his head and then what would everyone call it?
In my opinion the rules when someone is catching a bomb are ridiculous already. The fact that a player is safe right up until the point their toes catch the ground is asking for trouble, with no balance or eyes on the approaching defence players are sitting ducks. With the height bombs get to and the speed of modern forwards catching the ball in space is no guarantee that players will escape unscathed. Modern fullbacks often the biggest attacking force in a team and as a result they are targeted. With forwards rushing in late and at speed followed by the twisting of legs and torsos I know I am not the only one on here who holds their breath when Turbo takes a hit up from a kick return and Manly are not the only team in the comp that suffer (or hand out) this treatment. As one of the brightest future stars of the NRL how long can we expect Tom’s career to last with this sort of treatment every week?
Without respect for opposing players it is inevitable that more players will suffer career shortening and ending injuries that they will live with for the rest of their lives. Yes, rugby league is a contact sport and I believe it always should be but to put hits and wrestle moves on fellow sportspeople without any regard for their well being is irresponsible.
Going up as one of the smaller kids I was never going to be great at rugby league and the few times I did play there was always some dickhead on the opposition wanting to show how tough he was by smashing one of the smaller guys on the field. Although there was always a level of protection from the refs when something un-sportsman like happened I felt my real protection came from my teammates – If anyone ever overstepped the spirt of the game they would answer to rest of team.
But players are now to scared to be involved, throwing a punch is likely to put you on the sideline far longer than a dangerous tackle. I don’t want advocate violence and I’m not a fan of anyone throwing punches at someone’s head but where is accountability on these players. The team should have blown up last night after the hit on Tom as they should have after Nightingale took Chez of the play the ball and after Burgess late hit a couple of weeks ago. Actions like this continuously go unchecked - if it’s within the rules or in a “grey area” its ok, move on! Is this the message we want to send to our kids that its ok to smash someone when they aren’t looking because it’s within the rules and they were fair game?
In the other game last night Cameron Smith and co. were applauded for taking advantage when Hayne went down in back play – I actually felt sorry for him as he stumbled trying to get back into position. I can’t blame the Storm for taking advantage of the situation but surely the commentary should be on how unfortunate it was for the titans not how smart they were for taking advantage of an injured player.
As an NRL supporter in Victoria I find myself having to explain the constant stream of mid-season contract dramas, drug & player scandals, salary cap rorts and huge stadiums filled with empty seats. The AFL is far from perfect but the NRL looks like a circus in comparison, I will always support Manly but it’s becoming harder to say to people I follow the NRL. I honestly hope the NRL gets its S*** together and brings some respect back into the game but until it starts to move back in the right direction I will be looking for other sport to watch when Manly isn’t on.
RANT OVER – And I guess I’m not completely mad if you made it this far. Thanks for listening/reading, I'm off to apologies to the other half for spending way too long (on Mother's day) on this.
totally missing the bastardization of our great game .
