Buzz: NRL run by bunch of amateurs

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 22 Maret 2015 | 23.01

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IT'S hard to believe the NRL is now running a $350 million business.

Every week something goes wrong that makes the people in charge look like a bunch of amateurs.

The playing surface at Brookvale Oval on Friday night was an embarrassment to the game and a safety ­hazard to the players.

Here we have the biggest television audience of the week in prime time watching the Sea Eagles and the Bulldogs battle it out on a cow paddock.

I spoke to a junior rugby league official in the Shire on Saturday morning who said the Cronulla junior rugby league would not allow kids to play on a surface that poor at this time of the year, let alone professional football players.

The shocking surface at Brookvale Oval. Picture: Mark Evans Source: News Corp Australia

The AFL employs ground staff who inspect the playing surfaces at all stadiums in the week leading up to games. They would never have allowed a situation like Brookvale Oval.

Then we go back to last Monday night at Campbelltown Sports Ground, where Wests Tigers hosted St George Illawarra.

Everyone knows Wests ­Tigers have a huge battle for survival on their hands.

They are only in the competition because they borrowed millions from the NRL.

To get supporters and the people of Campbelltown to the football they have to ensure the game-day experience is as close to perfect as possible.

And what happens? They don't employ enough people on the turnstiles and hundreds of fans are locked outside the ground in queues of hundreds of metres for the ­entire first half.

Fans forced to queue in Campbelltown last Monday. Source: DailyTelegraph

I was contacted on Saturday by the father of a family who drove all the way from Wollongong to cheer for the Dragons.

There was seven of them — mum, dad and five kids. They came all that way but could only get in for the ­second half.

Now this is a grassroots, traditional footy family. People who are lifetime rugby league fans.

Yet we had Wests Tigers chair Marina Go almost celebrating by tweeting from the comfort of her corporate suite: "Game has started. Still queues to get into the game — for miles. Love our fans."

What sort of business is ­allowed to be run this poorly?

How many more $600,000-a-year administrators do we need at Moore Park to get it right?

Todd Greenberg was supposed to be the man to fix the game and its problems when he was hired on the big bucks last season.

His workload has been halved this year by the recent appointment of Shane Richardson.

Yet they still can't get it right and wonder why crowds have been poor for the opening three rounds of the competition.

Only two players remain from the Dragons' 2010 premiership side. Source: News Limited

One victory won't silence angry Dragons fans

ONE win will not be enough to take the pressure off St George Illawarra chief executive Peter Doust judging by the social media response to their miracle comeback victory over Canberra Raiders on Saturday night.

The facts are that this underperforming club has run ninth, 14th and 11th in the past three years.

Sponsorship and membership are down. They are only surviving on multi-million-dollar loans from the NRL.

They've changed coaches and players but kept the boardroom unchanged and the chief executive for longer than any other NRL club. This photo of their 2010 grand final-winning side explains a lot.

There are only two survivors — winger Jason Nightingale and off-contract forward Ben Creagh. The rest either walked out, are ready to walk or have retired.

You look at the quality of their off-season shopping under new recruitment boss Peter Mulholland.

Shannon Wakeman (Cutters), Rory O'Brien (Cutters), George Rose (Storm), Rulon Nutira (Gundagai Tigers), Jake Marketo (Redcliffe), Adam Tuimavave-Gerrard (Warriors), Dane Nielsen (Warriors), Heath L'Estrange (Roosters), Beau Henry (Titans), Kris Keating (Hull KR) and Justin Hunt (Eels).

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Hardly a list that would arouse the confidence of supporters, particularly as they have lost their two best juniors, Jackson Hastings and Jack Bird, in the past 12 months, plus superstar winger Brett Morris.

They showed plenty of ticker to come back from 18-nil down against the Raiders but there is still a long way to go.

Sharks could have landed Koroibete

NO wonder Fijian flyer Marika Koroibete had a blinder against the Sharks in Melbourne on Saturday night. He had a point to prove.

When he was released by the Wests Tigers last year, his manager Sam Ayoub went knocking on Cronulla's door. He wanted to stay in Sydney.

The Sharks said no thanks. Instead they signed veteran Mitch Brown from the Bulldogs.

Recruitment in rugby league is a tough gig.

Some clubs are good at it, some aren't. It's one area the Sharks need to improve on.

How they would love to have Chad Townsend back, the local junior they released two years ago. He had a mighty game for the Warriors in the big win over Parramatta on Saturday.

The Sharks have had a terrible start to the season.

They now face a tough month of football against the Titans, Roosters, Knights and Rabbitohs. The pressure is on Shane Flanagan to move Ben Barba from five-eighth and use Jack Bird in the No.6 ­jersey against the Titans.

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Brad Arthur not all he's hyped up to be

NO coach has had more positive media coverage in recent weeks than Parramatta's Brad Arthur. It appears every second player in the NRL wants to play for him.

There is no doubt it was the key factor in Kieran Foran and Anthony Watmough joining Parramatta.

The question is why? It's understandable when players want to play under Wayne Bennett because he's won so many premierships, or Des Hasler and Craig Bellamy.

They all have runs on the board.

Arthur did a tremendous job to lift the Eels into finals contention last year before they bombed out in the last couple of rounds.

They couldn't even beat the Canberra Raiders in the final round.

The Eels have been flogged by the Canterbury Bulldogs and the Warriors in their last two starts.

They've got the South Sydney Rabbitohs next weekend and will probably be one from four.

I haven't seen the evidence as to why so many elite players have such a huge opinion of him.


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