Opinion
From the outside, the NRL often resembles an outsized dysfunctional family, complete with prodigal sons, mysterious rich uncles, little dictators, wayward hangers-on, estranged step-siblings and warring in-laws.
There’s a general common purpose but endless bickering and rivalry about how to get there, jealousy, secrecy and shifting alliances.
Like such families, rugby league also has an underlying unity in the face of a real crisis, and the best side of the rugby league family has been brought out by the response to Jai Arrow’s diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
To see the emotion and care coming out of players and officials when sending Arrow their messages, the $50,000 raised in one afternoon by Cowboys fans, and many other actions is to see how, while the politics and hostility dominate the everyday news, the fundamental shared value is love.
Never mind the quality, feel the grit
Five tough, gritty games over the weekend, no blowouts. Maybe the world hasn’t come to an end.
There was no discernible change in the way the games were refereed, with the usual penalties and six-agains as relentless and confusing as they’ve been all year.
So what was different (aside from the absence of Origin representatives)? There were many errors in slippery conditions, and arguably a lower overall standard of play.
So here’s the Sophie’s choice for league today: high-skill, high-pace, frictionless try-fests and blowouts, or scrappy, error-strewn arm-wrestles?
Ratings and attendances will be the final measure, and so far the numbers – although they are always a lagging indicator – are on the league’s side.
Dragons drive their fans to boos
To watch St George Illawarra in 2026 can seem like a welfare check on its fans. Are you OK, Dragons?
Against a below-par Warriors on Saturday, the team again mixed dogged defence with timid, uncertain and often plain dreadful attack.
To squeeze some juice out of the loyal thousands who turned up, the ground announcer urged, “Come on, Dragons fans, make some noise.” Dragons fans replied: “Boo!”
Maybe Shane Flanagan wasn’t the beginning and end of their problems.
Wizard of Foz
By the same logic, maybe Anthony Seibold’s coaching really was the problem at Manly.
A lot of the commentary around “Fozball” has focused on Kieran Foran’s inspiring personality and the
players wanting to win for him personally.
But the tactical change in Manly is visible. The middle forwards, led by Taniela Paseka and Ethan Bullemor, are running hard and straight. Jake Trbojevic is running as well as tackling. Simple game for simple people.
Their plan against the Titans on Saturday was conservative and basic and lasted 80 minutes; they won exactly the type of game that Seibold’s overcomplicated, spasmodic Manly usually managed to lose.
The secret of Fozball is that there is no secret. It might not be a premiership-winning formula, but in a top-eight system, a good season just depends on winning games you should win.
Wondering if the Bulldogs’ win over Melbourne on Friday was a turning point for their season, I was reminded of the Wallabies’ victory over the British and Irish Lions in their third Test match last year.
Sometimes teams work themselves into a frenzy and go a bit mad for 80 minutes. The Dogs came out with extreme intensity and passion and bashed the Storm up, playing the game as if it was their last.
If Matt Burton was a racehorse, he would be swabbed and his jockey would be interrogated over whether he had a battery in his whip.
It was, like that Wallabies resurgence, impressive. But it was also based on an emotional intensity that is hard to reproduce week on week. The mess of the Dogs’ last 12 months can only be cleaned up if they do this again. And again. And again …
Culture war won’t decide Origin winner
Brad Fittler’s article in these pages about the background of the Blues Origin players, and the variety of different New South Wales cultures and regions they are representing, is well worth reading.
It was an expanded version of that cute thing they do before run-on in Origin matches when each player names their junior club. It has just one caveat.
Every Queensland player has a similar story about their own junior club and community, and they are representing all of their State every bit as much as each Blues player is.
No community is inherently better than another, whatever side of an arbitrary colonial border they stand on.
The actual result of the game is determined by minute margins, the bounce of the ball, refereeing interpretations and little spontaneous outbreaks of magic.
Much as we love how Origin pretends to be a clash of cultures, Fittler’s tribute shows how, when it comes to community, it’s not a contest. The communities that produced the players have a heart and soul, both sides of the border. The rest is just pantomime.
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Malcolm Knox is a journalist, author and columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald.