Just this week we have seen two very personal dramas broadcast very publicly as the personal lives of both Kieran Foran and Ben Barba have been splashed across the front and back pages of the large news publications.
Ignoring the irony of a rugby league ‘writer’ (note, not a journalist) bagging a paid journalist, I honestly cannot see any good in either story.
Neither Barba nor Foran broke any laws, and neither issue would have hit the papers should it had involved either you or me.
For those who missed it, and once again ignoring the irony of further publicising the comments for those who haven’t yet seen them, Foran was splashed across the papers, again, after a large betting loss.
Barba was supposedly involved in an altercation at Cronulla hotel with teammates and went home for a few days.
I fully admit to have losing a few dollars on the TAB. Given I bet in $2 and $5 lots, and my career losses wouldn’t be a hundredth of what Foran supposedly lost in one night, but I’m also not on $800,000 a season.
Foran is reportedly going through some personal issues right now and is obviously looking for a distraction.
What is so scandalous about a grown man betting, legally, with his own hard-earned money, that is needs to be printed and sent around the country?
Surely Foran, who is obviously struggling, did not need to see a reminder of his losses in print or retweeted online.
Hand on heart, who here hasn’t had a beer or a punt when dealing with something on a personal level?
We seem to forget that rugby league players are human and suffer the same problems we normal people do in our day-to-day lives.
But I ask you, what was wrong with what Kieran Foran did?
How does the public knowing he’s had a big night on the betting help him in any way?
The same for Ben Barba, who himself has fought to overcome his on off-field troubles, regarding his being involved with a supposed bust up with teammates?
If every single bust up between teammates hit the papers they’d be 500 pages thick. When you have twenty or so young men dealing with stress and such high stakes, spending so much time together, of course you’re going to get the odd argument.
Barba’s decline from Dally M medallist to broken man was a very public one. To his credit he put his head down, worked hard and is now playing incredibly well for the table-topping Sharks.
So let’s take a minor incident, blow it out of proportion, and risk undoing all the hard work?
It is ridiculous that journalists find a need to almost revel in the misfortune of others when there is so much going on in the game.
Latrell Mitchell and Ash Taylor look like the next superstars of the game, Valentine Holmes is scoring ridiculous tries for fun, and Johnathan Thurston continues to lay down a genuine case for being the greatest player of the modern era.
Where are the two-page “exclusives” about those players and their exploits?
Are we, as fans, that desperate to drag players down that we’re keen to read about players’ personal struggles and the minor incidents that go along with them?
There will be suggestions that the player’s struggles hitting the headlines may be wake up calls and help the players improve.
Once again, if every innocent, harmless, yet bad choice made by a rugby league player hit the news, the bulletins would be two hours long.
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