JUST another giant NRL snub!
Bush rugby league officials, players and fans don't need reminding the NRL and its clubs don't give a damn about them.
They've been complaining constantly
about a lack of support and genuine respect for years.
But as if to reinforce the point anyway, the NRL has laid the boot in again.
Over the next three weeks, all 16 NRL clubs will be involved in a series of pre-season trials.
But just two of these games will be played in the bush despite the code crying out for help and support in most country areas.
It appears a lousy two games is all the bush is worth.
Wests Tigers and Penrith will meet at Camden on Saturday night with the Newcastle Knights and Canberra to clash at Scully Park in Tamworth on February 22.
"Just another kick in the guts," CRL chairman Jock Colley claimed yesterday when asked about the snub.
"But that's par for the course. It's an indication of the sort of esteem we are held in.
"When we held our annual player of the year dinner in Sydney two nights before the grand final last year, representatives from every NRL club were invited. Not one showed up.
"They send their scouts out every year looking to sign our best 14 and 15 year olds, hoping to unearth another Laurie Daley. You've only got to look through the ranks of most of the clubs to know a big proportion of the players come from the bush.
"And that's fine. That's what it's all about. Giving young kids a football education and a pathway to go as far as they can in the game.
"It would just be nice if our clubs got something in return.
"But the consensus is NRL clubs are greedy and don't give a damn and decisions like this only back up what most country people think."
NRL head of football Todd Greenberg has shifted the blame directly onto the 16 clubs, telling Country league officials the NRL heirachy has no say over where trial games are played. They leave that to the individual clubs to sort out.
What a cop-out. They should be demanding their clubs play the majority of these games in bush centres every pre-season.
If they have to dip into their pockets for a bit of loose change from the multi- million television rights deal they struck last year to fund it then so be it.
Organised properly, these games would not only indirectly provide much-needed financial support for bush clubs in the areas where they are played, the flow-on effects through junior registrations and promotion would be enormous.
The NRL spends a fortune on junior development each year.
But nothing has a bigger impact on a young rugby league player than to see his or her NRL heroes in the flesh, even if it's just once a year.
Sadly, the NRL appears to have no concept of the constant battle facing officials and volunteers to keep the game alive and flourishing in the bush.
If they did, they wouldn't be making dumb decisions like this.
Barry Toohey
http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/nrl-and-clubs-snub-bush-footy-with-only-two-trial-games-to-be-played-in-country-areas/story-e6frf3ou-1226817002608