Are the days of England being an easy out for trouble making players coming to an end I wonder?
Right now a number of players who have signed with Super League clubs are still waiting back home in Australia and wondering if their past behavior has finally closed a door on them. British officials have tightened up the laws governing who they let into the country and this is a problem for players who sign with Super League clubs and who have a long list of off field problems.
In the past we have seen Super League become a refuge for players with off field problems. It takes a lot for an NRL club to get rid of a talented player, so the players Super League ended up with had some massive issues. However if that lifeline has been cut off, where does a boozing idiot that just happens to play decent footy find himself?
There is always kick and clap of course, but most Rugby League players will do everything they can to avoid wasting the prime of their athletic career watching a referee blow a whistle every 20 seconds.
Then there is the unfaceable alternative, something that is so terrible most players don’t even want to think about the idea.
Getting a real job!
Of course when you get a real job your responsibilities increase to your employer. Turn up late for work drunk and late when you are a brick layer and your boss doesn’t rush to make sure you dont get bad press!
NRL clubs have seemingly gotten tougher on player behavior and with the British government taking a tougher stance, you have to wonder if players will now think about the longer term consequences of their actions.
Which just leaves us with English clubs and English players who over the last few years have basically been accused of convicted of everything short of murder!
Because 99% of English players don’t like leaving their comfort zones and testing themselves over seas, they don’t have to worry about protecting their possible future visa status. That means the push to sort out player behavior needs to come from the RFL.
The RFL needs to take the decision out of the clubs hand and impose bans on players when needed.
Last year we saw players who are facing possible jail time taking part in major finals, and that’s just wrong.
For every Greg Bird that comes into Super League there are four or five English players who’d behavior also needs sorted at every single club.
The NRL has toughened up in regards to player behavior, now its the RFL’s turn. They should be setting the off field standards required to play in Super League, not some visa official!
