rugby league really is in trouble

After deciding to suffer the offerings of the "Footy Show", to see their reaction to the Sonny Bill Williams defection, I am convinced that Thugby League really is in a spot of bother.

I have long been convinced that the biggest ongoing threat to the credibility of the game is the media that usually covers the debacle and is pretty much the 'face' of the game, along with the players of course, but in reality, probably moreso than the players. It is this commentary team that people have to be prepared to listen to if they want to watch a game on TV. They are without doubt, primary ambassadors for the game.

What a mob of drongo grubs they are. To me, Peter Sterling and perhaps Paul Harrigan manage to do their job with relative dignity and pride. The rest of them, particularly Gus Gould, Matthew Johns and Andrew Voss are a joke. An embarrassment.

No one does more damage to the league at the junior level than those yobbos that do the commmentary on Channel 9. They are, almost without exception, the biggest embarrassment any game could fear. Their weekly 'dumbing down' of the game and its players, their weekly condoning of head high tackles, their weekly vacuous commentary in general, whatever, is one of the biggest deterrents for rugby league for any mother looking to choose a code of football for her son.

And typically, their standard self-righteousness, is predictably, in times of upheaval, matched with criticism of virtually every facet of the league and game, except for themselves of course.

My pity went out to David Gallop, a qualified lawyer and obviously quite an intelligent man, when forced to field questions from a bumbling, sweating, emotionally simmering, inarticulate twit in the form of that Andrew Voss knucklehead.

David Gallop may not be the most charismatic chap around, but thank heavens he is at the helm of that game, and not some of those Channel 9 yobbos. At least Gallop is able to articulate and express rationale without resorting to meaningless cliches and ridiculous ideas like that Andrew Voss character.

I am not a great rugby league fan believe it or not, but it is a game that is enjoyed by many people, but a game that is really headed for serious trouble if changes aren't made soon.

One of the most beneficial changes would be to get some decent, respectable, intelligent people to become involved in the 'face' of the game. That would be a start!