There is no sporting competition in Australia – perhaps the world – that acts against its own self-interest more often than the NRL. For as long as the game has existed, its administrators, politicians and powerbrokers have stumbled and bumbled and held the game back from all it could be, unable to get beyond short-term thinking and short-sighted decision making.
To this very day, no administrator has been courageous enough to paint a picture for the future of rugby league – what is should look like, what it should be, where it should be seen, how it should be viewed, what it should represent and stand for – and actually drive the game to that vision.
It starts with a vision and flows through to a set of principles. Principles don’t change. They aren’t bent. They don’t get forgotten. They are the foundation for which the vision is built. And that vision is built not in one fell swoop but over time, brick by brick. Sweeping statements mean less than a pre-season trial if they aren’t followed up with genuine action.
So when the NRL declares the game is against domestic violence on White Ribbon Day, acts in the interest of women when a few clubs wear pink jerseys for the Women in League Round or runs campaigns like its Voice Against Violence initiative, their position is at best undermined and at worst downright hypocritical by allowing Matthew Lodge to play this season.
To recap, Lodge went on a rampage in New York City in 2015. He followed two tourists into an apartment lobby and told them “this is the night you die”. He then assaulted a resident of the apartment block who attempted to intervene and broke into his apartment where the man’s wife and child were hiding. He smashed glasses and plates and attempted to punch his way into the locked bathroom where the woman and child were hiding. He avoided a one-year prison sentence with a plea deal and then lost a civil suit where damages of $2m were awarded, yet he has made no attempts to pay.
This followed a suspension by Wests Tigers, whom Lodge was playing for at the time, after the prop was hit with six charges of common assault, malicious damage, stalking and intimidation. He was served with a provisional apprehended violence order.
Those charged with protecting the game have failed it by signing off on Lodge to return to the NRL.
It is unclear what world the NRL administration exists in to think something like this would fly without blowback. Trying to push through his reinstatement at the height of the cricket season says something. Those at NRL HQ likely understood there would be a level of outrage but they certainly didn’t object enough to block Lodge’s return with the Brisbane Broncos.
Attempting to justify his return as a story of redemption for a man deserving of a second chance is playing us for fools while undercutting the game’s positioning as an organisation that stands against violence, particularly against women. Rugby league is a game that has and should continue to be a forgiving game that gives those who have made silly decisions or defensible mistakes a second opportunity. It should not be a game that houses violent people because they can run straight and tackle hard if, for no other reason, than to help the code shake its constantly damaged image.
Even if the objectionable moral positioning of the NRL is taken out of play just for a moment, as an exercise in self-immolating PR, this takes the cake. The NRL, in all its wisdom, made a conscious decision to support a player with 12 games experience and a violent past ahead of the game’s reputation, standing, partnerships and future. Calling it a bout of bad judgment would be akin to calling Cameron Smith a pretty handy player.
The only surprise is that partners, sponsors and advertisers of the NRL have not already stated their decision to cut ties with the code.
The NRL is not the only organisation who have let the game down – the Broncos’ handling of the matter has been both insensitive and selfish. Their pursuit of him was unnecessary. Wayne Bennett’s attempts at salvation have done considerable damage to the game all in the name of ending the Broncos’ longest premiership drought. Bennett may well have positioned himself as the moral compass of the game for a long time but he could not be more wrong in bringing Lodge to Red Hill and then using him as a cheap first grade option.
Talk of Lodge’s attitude change, of the time he has spent away from the game and of him giving up alcohol are irrelevant. The NRL doesn’t need him. It needs to draw a line in the sand and decide what kind of people they want representing the game. If they think Lodge should be part of the game, rugby league will continue to be hamstrung by those charged with protecting the game.
