As if we needed proof that football is played by boofheads, I give you Manly rugby league player Darcy Lussick.
Last Friday night, in a game between his team and the Melbourne Storm, there was a brawl involving most if not all 26 players on the field and some of the reserves bench. You can’t actually see Darcy in the photo – he is right in the thick of it at the bottom of the pile of players.
The brawl has been slammed by NRL chief executive David Gallop as a negative look for the game, while both clubs were hit with $50,000 fines and a total of 10 players were charged by the match review committee, most of these players subsequently suspended from playing for one to five matches.
The clubs and the main protagonists involved have issued apologies for their actions. Not so young Darcy, who said:
“That was the best day of my life, to do that with my mates out there,”
Now, apart from thinking that Darcy needs to get a life – considering being in a brawl is the highlight of his so far, I can imagine the groans from club and NRL officials. Note to Darcy Lussick – it is good sometimes not to say everything that goes through your mind.
As for the brawl, its a interesting position the NRL finds itself in. While officials wring their hands in disgust at the damage they believe such behaviour does to the game, its quite clear their fan base is divided, with many loving the violence and believing it is inevitable in such a hard contact sport, but others believing it to be very damaging, particularly from the perspective of parents of young children considering their childrens’ choice of sports and not wanting them to play a sport that is played by brawling thugs.
The league doesn’t help itself here, taking a somewhat fence sitting position on fighting in the game. They sort of say a bit of it is ok but don’t go overboard. And then they are inconsistent in how they punish offenders, being mostly quite lenient but occasionally coming down hard on someone. It sends very mixed messages to players.
The NRL either needs to say fighting is fine and part of the game, which I believe is an untenable position in this day and age, or else say that it is completely outside the rules and spirit of the game. The latter requires them to punish players and teams who fight severely, so that no matter what the emotions in a game situation the players know enough to think twice about the consequences they will face, this having been drilled into them right from when they started playing junior football.
It seems like you want to throw punches, but not get picked up by the video ref.
Lussick copped it in the face. They are our equivalent of gladiators y’know. Professional fouls have been used by the players and coaches from before you were born. The NRL judiciary should just have the sin-binned for 10 like in the past, and if it persists then send off for the rest of the game. Much of on field behaviour has got too soft. That said there are still some behaviours that require off field judgements.
Don’t break the skin on your knuckles.