Its that time of the year you know the media loves, when teams finish up their season and they look to drink away the blues that hit hard when you’ve toiled away for a year with nothing to show for it….well, apart from all the money.
After last years feeding frenzy that saw publications sending out photographers with telephoto lenses to look into private functions, and all the headlines that followed, the 2019 Mad Monday season has gone by without so much as a hint of any bad behaviour.
Am I tempting fate even writing this article?
Anyway, whether clubs have managed to keep private functions more private than usual, or if clubs just decided to do away with the old fashioned Mad Monday piss ups, we have seen no bad headlines at all so far this year.
I won’t lie, it’s been a good thing for Rugby League. It has given less reasons for the media to attack the game too. Sure the poor old referees and probably copped the brunt of the news vacuum that has followed, but you have to admit that the lack of bad headlines for poor off field behaviour has been kind of refreshing.
Now keep in mind we have a long off season lining up ahead of us. If you think hundreds of players will all be able to remain boy scouts, you just don’t understand human behaviour. We will no doubt see something happen over the off season that will horrify the “Mums with kids” who will turn their backs on the games as sponsors take the heightened media coverage as an opportunity to cash their chips and pull out of backing some club while getting a heap of free publicity in doing so.
Lets hope we get through the off season though without bad headlines. We have the finish of a great finals season to ge through, and some incredible post season international games coming up.
