Add Category
Posted
It was tempting — far too tempting for some — to proclaim the start of the NRL season would provide some kind of catharsis for a strife-torn game.
"Thank God It's Footy" screamed the back page of the Daily Telegraph on opening day.
It was as if all the accumulated scandal and strife from an interminable summer series of CSI Rugby League could be drowned out by the first blow of the ref's whistle.
As if the sight of NRL players as defenders rather than defendants could ease the pain of the victims of atrocities — some proven, others alleged — that forced the game to take a long overdue look in the mirror.
And yet, as shallow as it seemed, it was difficult to escape that sense of relief when competition heavyweights Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos trotted on to AAMI Park for the season opener.
For a night you could pretend to ignore the cold truth of disgraceful acts and pending litigation and wrap yourself in the warm glow of the game itself; especially if you are comforted by a sense of familiarity.
After all, what could be more familiar than the Melbourne Storm completing another excruciating pre-season at Camp Bellyache, blitzing their first game and thereby extending a first-round winning streak that goes all the way back to 2000, when they lost their opener to the Canterbury Bulldogs?
What could be more familiar than the sight of the Storm number one darting across the line to score the first try? Even, if this time, it was Billy Slater's replacement, Jahrome Hughes, who put the first points on the scoreboard.
What could be more familiar than Storm coach Craig Bellamy adopting the expression one might have during un-anaesthetised bowel surgery when prop Jesse Bromwich coughed up a second-half try with a reckless offload and endangered a seemingly certain victory?
Yet Bromwich scored a redeeming try minutes later, the Storm kept their round-one streak alive and already those of us who wondered aloud if Melbourne would struggle now their Big Three is a Big One were left regretting our fickle faith.
Instead it will be Brisbane that endures the initial second-guessing, although the back injury that forced centre James Roberts from the field early in the contest provided an alibi for a young Broncos pack that was overwhelmed.
And surely even those Broncos fans who consider Wayne Bennett's replacement Anthony Seibold more king-slayer than heir apparent will wait to make their judgement … at least until round two.
Merciful bunker brevity
Typically the first game of the season is analysed as much for the performances of the teams and players as for new rules and interpretation that have been imposed.
The most noticeable change during the Storm-Broncos game took place about 1,000 kilometres north at Rugby League Central.
Last season, viewers spent more time in the bunker than Eva Braun as officials agonised over videotape from every available angle in the apparent search for reasons not to give tries.
But last night the bunker officials spent about as much time studying decisions as someone with a double-figure IQ might spend watching Married At First Sight. Indeed, such was their eagerness to get on with the game they even spoke more rapidly when giving instructions to the on-field referee.
This was in line with the direction of new head of football Graham Annesley to accelerate the pace of play. Annesley has told bunker officials to make it snappy and the on-field officials to "have a feel for the game" rather than being sticklers for the rules when making decisions.
So missing last night was the strict interpretation of the wrestling at the play-the-ball and ten-metre rules imposed during last season's "crackdown", replaced by a more relaxed "vibe" about when to blow the whistle.
The relatively miniscule penalty count (Melbourne five, Brisbane four) meant the game flowed nicely, even if the open expanses were exaggerated somewhat in the first half by the fatigue of the young Brisbane forwards who sucked in more oxygen than Himalayan explorers.
No doubt this relaxed new rules interpretation will gain the immediate approval of the media crisis merchants who bemoaned the staccato nature of the game when it was run by the letter of the law.
That is until some "vibe-ing" referee overlooks an infringement at a vital moment of a big game because of his "feel for the game", the non-decision has an impact on the result and he is crucified for his inaction. Crisis!!
Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter Beattie and NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg were among the officials in Melbourne no doubt relieved to be watching a game of footy instead of battling another behavioural bushfire.
Although you suspect the numbers that will interest them most this week won't be found on the scoreboard. TV viewing figures and attendances for round one will provide the first indication of whether the game's reputational damage has had an impact on its popularity.
Melbourne-Brisbane is not the best indicator, given the Storm's home ground is always three-quarters full (or a quarter-empty, depending on your levels of optimism) and the Broncos have the game's most loyal TV following.
Tonight's Roosters-Rabbitohs TV audience might give a better indication whether appetites for the NRL have been — finally — diminished by scandal, or the game remains the indestructible cockroach of Australian sport.
Yet even with the stench of shame fresh in the nostrils and the certainty the usual confected outrage about refereeing or some other "crisis" will occur soon, there was an almost nostalgic feel about the season opener.
If nothing else, the Storm provided their annual first-round reminder that the best thing about the game is the game itself.
The opening round of the NRL season and the rest of the week's sports highlights will be discussed in detail on Offsiders, 10am Sunday, on ABC TV.
Topics: nrl, rugby-league, sport, australia, melbourne-3000, vic