I tend not to take much notice about what’s happening with the NRL, but after watching the media hype that has followed one of the biggest controversies and challenges to the league's credibility it has ever had to face, I’m compelled to contribute.
The tragedy that is the collapse of the Melbourne Storm due to salary cap breeches is no doubt dramatic, akin to a play that would impress the ancient Greeks. This will resonate for years to come when the code tries to expand into more states and compete with the ever-expanding AFL.
What I take exception to is media representatives taking cheap shots at the club’s supporters, who are themselves dismayed by the events that have occurred and looking for answers and venting their frustrations.
The lack of humanity shown by some journalists has been disgraceful, and says a lot about the denials that the penalties put on Melbourne Storm were heavy handed. Rebecca Wilson from the Herald Sun suggested on ABC program Inside Sport that fans directing their frustrations at NRL David Gallop was immature and unnecessary. Trying to justify her comments as an unbiased position, Wilson said that last week’s game, the first since the penalties were imposed, was one of the best she’d ever seen in her career, citing the commitment shown by the supporters… the same supporters she accuses of actions akin to stupidity.
An interesting ‘war’ has broken out between the Herald Sun's publisher News Limited (which is part owner of Melbourne Storm) and competitor Fairfax, over the fact that Wilson’s partner is News CEO, John Hartigan, who is spending much of his time trying to deflect scrutiny of the media company’s own knowledge of Waldron’s dealings. Fairfax media has been keen to point out that Wilson’s opinion on the matter is instantly biased, regardless of her claims of independence. She also has admitted to being a personal acquaintence of David Gallop.
Wilson has fired back at Fairfax for its coverage of the issue, saying it was more interested in paying money for the story than for the story itself, and, in their own way, using Waldron as a pseudo weapon against its main competitor.
My question to both companies is this: Regardless of who is to blame for this calamity, why isn’t anyone responsible to the supporters, especially Gallop, focusing their attention on the figures and facts of ‘who did it’? Why focus your scorn on the players and supporters publicly instead of the business dealings that caused this crisis in the NRL?
The last thing the supporters want to feel is they have been abandoned and are being ridiculed by the media, whose responsibility is to them.
It’s no doubt a hard enough job trying to expand the code when people like Gallop and Wilson shoot wildly, where the only result is supporter death rather than damage control or finding culprits.
The tragedy that is the collapse of the Melbourne Storm due to salary cap breeches is no doubt dramatic, akin to a play that would impress the ancient Greeks. This will resonate for years to come when the code tries to expand into more states and compete with the ever-expanding AFL.
What I take exception to is media representatives taking cheap shots at the club’s supporters, who are themselves dismayed by the events that have occurred and looking for answers and venting their frustrations.
The lack of humanity shown by some journalists has been disgraceful, and says a lot about the denials that the penalties put on Melbourne Storm were heavy handed. Rebecca Wilson from the Herald Sun suggested on ABC program Inside Sport that fans directing their frustrations at NRL David Gallop was immature and unnecessary. Trying to justify her comments as an unbiased position, Wilson said that last week’s game, the first since the penalties were imposed, was one of the best she’d ever seen in her career, citing the commitment shown by the supporters… the same supporters she accuses of actions akin to stupidity.
An interesting ‘war’ has broken out between the Herald Sun's publisher News Limited (which is part owner of Melbourne Storm) and competitor Fairfax, over the fact that Wilson’s partner is News CEO, John Hartigan, who is spending much of his time trying to deflect scrutiny of the media company’s own knowledge of Waldron’s dealings. Fairfax media has been keen to point out that Wilson’s opinion on the matter is instantly biased, regardless of her claims of independence. She also has admitted to being a personal acquaintence of David Gallop.
Wilson has fired back at Fairfax for its coverage of the issue, saying it was more interested in paying money for the story than for the story itself, and, in their own way, using Waldron as a pseudo weapon against its main competitor.
My question to both companies is this: Regardless of who is to blame for this calamity, why isn’t anyone responsible to the supporters, especially Gallop, focusing their attention on the figures and facts of ‘who did it’? Why focus your scorn on the players and supporters publicly instead of the business dealings that caused this crisis in the NRL?
The last thing the supporters want to feel is they have been abandoned and are being ridiculed by the media, whose responsibility is to them.
It’s no doubt a hard enough job trying to expand the code when people like Gallop and Wilson shoot wildly, where the only result is supporter death rather than damage control or finding culprits.
