League Greats Not Concerned About AFL Threat
November 11th 2009 10:31
League Greats Not Concerned About AFL Threat
Over the past week the AFL has generated a lot of publicity by announcing that Kevin Sheedy will be the inaugural coach for the new Greater Western Sydney franchise to enter the AFL Premiership in 2012. This coincides with the announcement that Brisbane Broncos and Australian Test player, Karmichael Hunt, will be running out for the new Gold Coast franchise in 2011.
However, despite the efforts by the AFL to establish a foothold in these two Rugby League heartlands and the hysteria created in the media because of it; past legends of the NRL seem unfazed.
Quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning (11.11.09) former Penrith Panthers great and media personality, Mark Geyer expressed his disregard for AFL’s attempts to set up a base in Western Sydney.
‘I’m just as concerned about the AFL threat as Melbourne would be about a second Rugby League them. In other words, I’m not concerned.’ He went on to say, ‘I’ve been here [Western Sydney] for 40 years, so I know exactly what the people in the west think and how they live, and while AFL is getting publicity out here at the moment it certainly won’t be any challenge to Rugby League.’
Whether the AFL will be successful in its attempts at expansion into these Rugby League heartlands or not; any measurement of success can only ultimately be determined when the Gold Coast and Western Sydney teams run out to play in 2011 and 2012 respectively.
Nevertheless, the AFL is seemingly hell bent in getting these franchises off on the right foot by creating as much publicity that they possibly can, to go along with the millions of dollars to be pumped into both teams.
Similarly to the Gold Coast push, the AFL is also looking to sign a Rugby League star for the dubbed GWS (Greater Western Sydney) franchise, with the likes of Jarryd Hayne, Israel Folau, Michael Jennings and Jamal Idris mentioned as targets. However, their attempts to lure a ‘big-name’ NRL star, as they did with Karmichael Hunt, is another obvious attempt to attract publicity into the new franchise. Whether or not these Rugby League stars will be successful in Australian Rules, is surely of no concern to the administration of the AFL in Melbourne. It is all about publicity.
But what does all of this mean to the NRL? Should the NRL board be concerned with these recent developments and will the eventuality that AFL will have a presence on the Gold Coast and in Western Sydney detract from Rugby League’s supporter base? Only time will tell. But I feel that all the commotion surrounding AFL’s current push into these areas should be of no concern to the NRL at this stage.
The National Rugby League is coming off the back of what most people would agree to be its most successful season since the Super League War. A recent membership drive by not only the NRL, but all 16 premiership clubs is also building support and crowd numbers for the code, while television ratings have been at an all time high. After 15 years of struggle since the devastation placed upon the code by Super League, the NRL now has a platform for success. In my opinion, the efforts by the AFL to expand into Rugby League heartlands will not hinder this.
In regards to the announcement of Kevin Sheedy as coach of the Western Sydney side announced this week? I think that it might mean a great deal to AFL supporters, but to Rugby League fans, who cares? Really, is that announcement really meant to get a Rugby League supporter, like myself, interested in the Western Sydney team and the AFL? Apart from seeing Sheedy on the news from time to time, he is of no interest to me and I am sure that his involvement in the GWS franchise will create no more interest amongst Rugby League fans.
At the end of the day I cannot see why the AFL and the NRL cannot co-exist. Just in the same way that I cannot see how the NRL cannot co-exist with other codes such as the A-League and Rugby Union. Whether the AFL is successful or not in these areas is of no conscience either. Rugby League will survive and hopefully thrive as it has done with every other challenge it has faced in its history.
As another Penrith Panthers great, and captain of their 1991 Premiership side, Greg Alexander, quoted in today’s Sydney Morning Herald, ‘It’s not as if AFL’s a new game to Sydney – the Swans have been here for 30 years.’ He went on to say, ‘It’s not a new sport – everyone knows about it.’
The only worry to NRL fans at this stage however, is that for the first time in a hundred years, the AFL is targeting Rugby League directly. Their push to sign NRL talent adds to the player drain already inflicted upon Australian Rugby League from ‘cashed-up’ Rugby Union teams in Europe and Japan, along with the English Super League.
But in my opinion, I am not that concerned. Obviously it was a big loss when Karmichael Hunt was signed to the AFL, but are many NRL fans going to remember him next season? Just in the same way Sonny Bill Williams seemed to be a big loss for the Bulldogs when he signed to play Rugby Union in France. But the outcome of that episode was that the Bulldogs rose from last place, to second in only one season without him. As a result, the Bulldogs name is stronger now, than at any point that Sonny Bill Williams was at the club.
If Karmichael Hunt fails in the AFL, I am sure he will make his way back to Rugby League, much in the same way Wendell Sailor, Matt Rogers and Lote Tuqiri have done from Rugby Union. If he succeeds then at least it will prove that Rugby League players represent a higher calibre of athlete than any other code.
So let the AFL pump money into these areas if they feel as though they need to. All the NRL needs to do is focus on is its own operations. Iron out the bugs in the game, most importantly the state of referee’s interpretations on the play, and look to boost support for clubs through membership drives and community involvement. In the next decade Rugby League is going to face a number of challenges, but trying to deflect the interference from other codes is not as important as strengthening the support of the people that already love the game.
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