 MY favourite piece of Origin III commentary from Ray Warren came some time during the first half when the Channel Nine cameras focused on the visiting Manchester United squad.
“I don’t follow the soccer that much, Peter,” he said in reference to co-commentator Peter Sterling, “but you do.”
Sterling then went on to name several members of the Man U line-up. I don’t remember who it was because, like Ray, I don’t “follow the soccer” either.
Let’s quickly talk about the game. Queensland were fantastic, despite a hefty penalty count and everything NSW could throw at them. Terrible penalty to NSW before the James McManus try.
The streaker preventing a late Maroons try was pretty much unique in a big rugby league game. Can you imagine if it had been a Blues try disallowed? There would have been calls for a replay.
And Greg Inglis is out for up two months with a knee injury that he bravely played on with. Those tipping South Sydney to run away with the premiership had better think again.
Now back to my main point.
I’ve always been bemused by the number of feature articles in match programmes in the UK which quote stars from other sport saying how much they love rugby league.
On one hand, you could stay it smacks of insecurity. On the other, however, you have to accept that rugby league is in the shadow of what you call football in England so there is logic to the trend. These stories get the attention of casual sports fans.
But Paul Gallen even said before Origin III that one of his biggest regrets about missing the game through a foot injury was that the Man U stars wouldn’t “know my name” for 80 minutes!
Aside from stratospheric salaries, what is it about any foreign sportsman that an NRL player should envy? No other sportsman on earth goes through what those 34 players at Homebush did on Wednesday night and there were 83,000 people there for the Origin decider.
You might say I am promoting ignorance. But I’m just advocating confidence. Would an NFL player, a Serie A footballer, a Major League baseballer regard it as an honour that Ryan Giggs “knows his name”?
I have my doubts.
These remnants of a colonial inferiority complex affect Australia’s role as the leading rugby league nation. Instead of trying to spread the game, we have only recently shed our all-encompassing obsession with just winning all the time.
If Australians could think of themselves as leaders in spreading a passtime they are passionate about, rather than underdogs needing to beat England at it, our whole sport would be better off.
I can’t imagine any Australian rugby league player who has been to a Premier League game could be more impressed with the experience than the Man U footballers would have been with watching a pulsating deciding Origin game live.
But then again, who cares whether they enjoyed it? We have to stop being obsessed with what others think of us. It’s a teenage trait that it’s high time we grew out of.
WOULDN’T it be great if we could keep Benji Marshall in rugby league by having him join a Super League club?
I have mixed feelings about the marquee player proposal – it would make the strong stronger and the weak weaker – but how much difference can one player make the overall balance of power?
If Benji Marshall played for Wigan, would that make Wigan unbeatable? I really don’t know. Apparently the smaller clubs have blocked the scheme anyway but let me know what you think.
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