NRL 2016: Corey Norman the latest to face justice at hands of moral vigilantes
July 22 2016 - 6:26PM
Malcolm Knox
In praising his young captain Jake Trbojevic last month, Manly coach Trent Barrett said something so strange, and so unnoticed, that it must be the new normal. "If we had 30 blokes with a similar moral standing," Barrett said, "we would be doing well." Leaving aside the patent inaccuracy of the statement – it is the clubs with 30 blokes who don't get injured who are doing well – Barrett's comment opened a vista upon an alternative reality, where "moral standing", rather than the ability to tackle, run, pass, wrestle and con sneaky penalties, was the prime quality of a sportsperson, and the contemporary mantra of all coaches – "I want them not only to be better players but better people" – was inverted, so that to be a good person actually came first.
Then I realised that this is not an alternative reality, but the one we live in.
.
July 22 2016 - 6:26PM
Malcolm Knox
In praising his young captain Jake Trbojevic last month, Manly coach Trent Barrett said something so strange, and so unnoticed, that it must be the new normal. "If we had 30 blokes with a similar moral standing," Barrett said, "we would be doing well." Leaving aside the patent inaccuracy of the statement – it is the clubs with 30 blokes who don't get injured who are doing well – Barrett's comment opened a vista upon an alternative reality, where "moral standing", rather than the ability to tackle, run, pass, wrestle and con sneaky penalties, was the prime quality of a sportsperson, and the contemporary mantra of all coaches – "I want them not only to be better players but better people" – was inverted, so that to be a good person actually came first.
Then I realised that this is not an alternative reality, but the one we live in.
.
