What price loyalty ??

[Huge]

Tony Currie got me going the other day with his rant about players leaving and or returning to league. It made me wonder exactly what a league player OWES the game. His comments about Sailor and Folau were out of order in my mind. My reasoning is along these lines. If sailor had played a season or two of senior RL then shot through to union then the hard work put into developing him would have benefited a different code. We all know Sailor provided so much more than that so his debt to RL was paid in full.

Actually , personality players like Sailor pulled more fans through the gate and more viewers to the small screen so I'd argue that not only had he repaid any perceived debt but was in reality, in credit. Similarly with Folau ,who has already repaid RL for whatever efforts the league has put into him. It (the RL effort) is not so great that it requires a sporting lifetime to repay, it's not HECS afterall lol.

I think back to earlier times when a kid plays lots of sports at school, he/she plays for fun not as a career choice. RL and it's legions of unpaid supporters put time into the game because they love the game but they're no different to similar people in all the other sports. If these people are putting these efforts in expecting a reward then they have missed the point of giving altogether. It's not about the payoff and I don't for a moment think that's why they do it(volunteers,washing jerseys,canteen,beer,raffle tickets etc). TC trying to tie those people to Sailor,Folau etc is grubby and evocative. He's trying to raise anger where it's not appropriate.

Just because a young person chooses to stay in a sport when most of us get on with something else does not mean they owe that sport anything at all. The true essence of Rugby League, and something Tony Curries forgotten, is amateurism. Long before a player gets paid for playing they put in for free. That's when any debt to league is paid. No senior player owes anything at all. We should be grateful they chose our favourite sport not some other pastime or job. My rant.

 

[Flutterby]

I agree with you to a large extent Huge. I love how some old leagies pull out the "he owes the game for all his development" when it suits him. Ask Athletics Australia how they feel about all the money they put into Idris through his junior career and ear-marked as an Olympian, only for RL to come in and offer him money athletics can't afford. It cuts both ways.

 

[Huge]

The information about Idris was interesting. Whether there's money involved or not, a sport will be played by we humans if it stands on its own merit. If the motivation to excel is money then the player has missed the point of the game. A player, whether or not he/she has made money from the game, owes the game nothing. The game is nothing without the player, it's just a concept or idea when without a contestant. The player pays due homage to the game/sport when they play to their best and conform to the rules. That's what gives a game it's life, its existence.

Many people live off the game and by extension the players efforts. They give nothing back to league but make a living off it. Only the players have a truly symbiotic relationship with the game. They play and the game exists, the game in return rewards them the pleasure of playing. Everything after that is parasitic to one degree or another.

 

[Professor47]

Agree but definitely case by case basis...

E.g. some may argue that Gas had more to owe for the dragons etc etc

Personally I think Gaz could have the Dragons a solid and gave them one or two more seasons at a decent price because he was never on the field half the time... but I wouldn't hold it against him even if I was a dragons fan.

 

[Huge]

I just think Gasnier gave enough to the game before he became famous. We paid to watch him play,he played because he wanted to, he enjoyed it. The truth is, if we are putting a dollar value on playing then he was unpaid for a lot of years. It should not matter the level at which the games played. He only received money for the game because we wanted to watch him play. We, the public and interested parties pay the players not so much to play but to let us watch them play. Rugby League is played in the main by people who do not get paid to play, they play for the sake of the games pleasures.

The game owes it's very existence to the players. The game is kept alive by the players alone, no-one else at all. Many games have disappeared into obscurity, no-one was playing them anymore. They simply became an idea, a concept.

 

[BroncoMatt]

I wonder how much loyalty TC felt when he left the Brisbane Comp Mid Season to go and play for Canterbury eusa_think

 

[Dexter]

I don't disagree with most of what has been said, however, this is way to lopsided towards the players.
The game provides a living way beyond what most of these guys would acheive without it.

The clubs give so much opportunity to the players and the players take what they can get (fair enough) but in these cases Folau is using the game which provided him with the chance to shine as a stepping stone to a bigger payday.

He is not leaving for the love of another game just the money, and I am not one to blame him for that.
Sailor left for the money stuffed things up then came back to the game for another chance and now makes a good living from the media.

I think that is where TC was coming from, if you leave fair enough but why should you get to come back to the game you left and be one of the parasites.

 

[Huge]

TC believes his particular sport must be honoured like a religion. I personally don't think that even religion should be held to such a lofty standard let alone a sport. It's laughable in my opinion to think a person owes any sport anything at all. Folau has honoured the game all through his junior years simply by choosing Rugby League as his personal favourite. He could have chosen so many other pastimes. He, and others just like him are rugby league. It only exists when he(all players) plays the game.

The fact is Rugby League never gave him anything rather we gave him something. We , in simplest terms gave him money to do what he always chose to do for free !! We paid to watch him play. TC is wrong if he thinks Folau owes the game, the only thing he owes is his best effort in the game. We are the only ones(the public) who may feel cheated but Folau has performed, and continues to perform, for us in a fair trade off.

If you leave Rugby League and then return why should'nt you be able to return?? It's not like you made vows !!!!!
It's hardly a solemn promise made to never play another sport when first you play RL. Curries views are not supported by the players I can tell you that for sure. In fact if he tried to ram that illogical claptrap down their throats he'd soon be sitting on his arse.

 

[Dexter]

Settle down Huge, I think he is entitled to his opinion. He is not the only one who has expressed those views either.
Mal Meninga is another and I know that admins in the clubs are hugely disappointed with the players who leave after the time, effort and money put into them.

You sir are the one who prides himself on balance in your reasoning and in this instance I don't believe you have a balanced view.

 

[Huge]

No problem. Agree to some extent with what you've written. Tony Currie can think what he likes as any can.As for Meninga, and Currie too, they may be singing from a different songsheet if they were still playing and subject to some big money offers. I don't mind Curries sentiment, just his reasons why players 'owe' the game so much. When any thing happens to anyone, and it's an event of note, then I like to consider myself in the shoes of the person involved. Mind you, if it's something I consider repugnant then I have my prejudices too !!....eg: paedophile,used car salesperson [icon_evillaugh