At a glance you could be mistaken for thinking rugby league is a game of contradictions. How can a season dogged – or, to use the media term, rocked – by so many unacceptable off-field incidents break virtually every record for game attendance, TV viewers, club membership and junior participation? This season broke those records, as in the best ever, in the history of the game. How?
As a member of the NRL board for the past five seasons, I am only too familiar with off-field incidents. Each in isolation brought shame to the game and those who love it. Collectively it seemed to reach almost epidemic proportions.
Harvey Norman has sponsored rugby league since 1998, and after every incident I was asked if the company was questioning the sponsorship or how I felt it hurt the game. Many times we were told it was the beginning of the end for rugby league.
Fortunately, this was not an opinion shared by the fans, who deserve the most credit this season. They can tell the difference between reprehensible individual behaviour and the actions of the majority. By majority I mean the 425,000 registered players, including a record 124,319 aged between six and 18.
By majority I mean for every registered player the thousands of mums, wives and grandmothers who understand what the game means to their sons, husbands and their community. By majority I mean millions of Australians.
Rugby league is typified by a silent majority. Some of the game's stand-out performers will never get the applause they deserve. From them I pick three examples: Keith McCraw, Craig Fitzgibbon and Trish Crews. These three come from different corners of the code, but they help to make fans proud of their game, and help explain why it keeps breaking records.
McCraw has been president of South Sydney Junior Rugby League for four years, but started in 1962 as a seven-year-old in the red and green jersey. His team at Souths Juniors invests $2.6 million each year so 3500 local kids can play free.
League is a true level playing field – not discriminating on the grounds of race or socio-economic background – and Souths Juniors pioneered this approach. A large percentage of the local kids live in housing commission flats and could not otherwise afford to play. Souths Juniors pay for the training and ground hire, and the jerseys, socks and shorts the kids wear with pride.
The club's success may be measured in the 43 international players it has produced, but it isn't McCraw's measure. He knows the club's "stay at school" program has given thousands of kids the incentive to remain in years 10, 11 and 12 and set them up for life. He grew up in the same housing commission, and still surfs and plays footy with the mates he played with in 1962. He leads by example.
If Parramatta and the Bulldogs had seasons to bring fans to their feet, the Roosters had one to forget. But their bad year was also the final season for one of the game's truly good men, Craig Fitzgibbon. His was not a career full of Dally M awards, but he stood out for his integrity, leadership and values.
Behind the players and clubs are others making a difference, like Trish Crews, the NRL director of Community Relations, who is responsible for community programs. This season players spent more than 22,000 hours working behind the scenes to promote literacy, a healthy lifestyle and nutrition.
They operate at the local level on a national scale – reaching thousands of schools. No one understands the real heartland of league like Crews, or the size of the heartland. During the pre-season, more than 100 premiership players visit diehard fans in places such as Gove, Cobar, Mount Isa, Nyngan, Bourke, Doomadgee and Bamaga.
This season we have seen fans rewarded for taking the time to differentiate between individual problems and the bigger picture. Their appreciation allowed the spotlight to shine on players such as Jarryd Hayne, Hazem El Masri, Preston Campbell, Nathan Hindmarsh, Petero Civoniceva and Billy Slater. Their athletic prowess, team spirit and determination have given us the most exciting finals series I can remember.
Who knows what will happen on Sunday, but back in round 14 I caught a glimpse of what was possible. I saw a brief exchange between Ray Hadley and Nathan Hindmarsh at the third annual Women in League lunch. The Eels had beaten the Knights the previous weekend after a lacklustre start to the year. Hadley said, “You guys are getting it together”, to which Hindmarsh responded, “We just have to stay focused.” He was right – for the Eels and the game.
Katie Page is a director of the NRL and chief executive of Harvey Norman.
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