Yesterday there was a bit of a hallelujah moment in sport.
The NRL introduced a zero-tolerance policy towards on-field violence, meaning anyone caught swinging a punch on field will be automatically sin-binned and potentially face the judiciary.
It comes after the now infamous attack Blues’ skipper Paul Gallen made against Maroons’ forward Nate Myles.
For those of you who have avoided the endless repeats of the fight, the footage is gruelling to watch. Myles’ heads flops dangerously from side to side as he is punched in the chin, twice, in an unprovoked attack.
Rather than be punished for biffing a fellow player, Gallen was allowed to play on, and only copped a week’s suspension from the sport.
So as a parent, how do you explain this to your kids?
One Dad I spoke to watched the game with his son and daughter — aged 6 and 8.
He said his parents had encouraged a love of League in him, and he wanted to pass that on to his children. But when the screen showed a close up of that punch in its unedited glory, it was game over. The TV went off.
His kids asked him why the punch happened, was the other man ok, questions he struggled to answer.
He’s thrilled about the changes to the rules — but pointed out that it’s a shame that a specific policy needs to be made for an action that’s not ok anywhere else in society.
It’s a great move by the NRL, but the League community isn’t so sure.
Comments online ranged from ‘This is what happens when your CEO does not understand the game…’ to all out condemnation of the rule change: ‘Shame, I watch the game for the big hits and aggression, now there is none … guess I will have to find another sport.’
Seriously, Australia?
On one hand we are telling our kids not to bully other children in the playground, but in the same breath we are cheering a dirty fight in a League game.
How utterly contradictory.
League is rough enough, surely? No one is putting a ban on tackles, or scrums. That’s part of the spectacle, part of the game, and as long as it’s within the rules, that’s fine.
Sport is not above the law.
We repeatedly tell our children not to hit one another. Not to scratch, bite, or pull hair.
Our sportspeople need to do the same. Time to grow up boys, and be real men.
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