Comment: What image does the NRL want to portray?

Consider a man from a traditionally working class family. Growing up he didn't have much money and was a bit rough around the edges, but overall was a well-liked, honest sort of kid who always worked hard. With some tenacity and support from his similarly placed friends and family, he rose through the rungs of society and now finds himself quite wealthy in his twenties. However, his newfound financial standing places the man in an awkward position - he doesn't quite know how to fit into the ‘higher' level of society he is now mingling with. Filled with anxiety, he starts to move away from the person he once was in an attempt to impress his new crowd. Despite his good intentions, he gradually alienates the friends and family that helped him get to where he is now. Eventually his family can't afford to socialise with him, his old friends simply don't want to, and his new acquaintances never had any respect for him in the first place. The man is lost, torn between an image he desperately tried to gain and a past he failed to respect.

A Rugby League winger sprints for the corner post, diving for the points that will win the game. The opposing fullback throws his body at the winger, bumping him over the sideline at the last second. The stands erupt in cheers for the amazing efforts of both players... until a penalty is blown.

"Shoulder charge. You have to use your arms to tackle."

The penalty goal wins the game for the away team. A mixture of cheers, boos and shouted obscenities flow from crowd. A large portion go home with a sour taste in their mouth, and it isn't just the losing fans.

In the next game across town, a front-rower is concussed after a head knock in a run-of-the-mill legal tackle and forced to leave the field.

The next week, the same player is lauded as a hero for playing 60 minutes with an obviously broken jaw.

In preparation for State of Origin, television screens are flooded with images of ‘Classic Origin Moments' including instances of injuries and fights.

On game day, two players are sin-binned for a minor punch-up.

The NRL judiciary harshly penalises a well-publicised high tackle a week after a similar tackle went unpenalised.

Rugby League under the current NRL regime is a game rife with inconsistencies. The game's image is inconsistent, the referees and judiciary are inconsistent, and most jarringly for fans, the rules are inconsistent. The sport's leaders benefit from the emotions and reputation from the past while trying to sanitise the modern game for a cleaner, safer public persona. They maintain to old supporters that the game is as tough as ever after rule changes to the contrary, and simultaneously plead with young mothers that it is also as safe as ever while commentators discuss the latest injuries. Rugby League thrived on a ‘tough but fair' personality, but both of these aspects are being eroded in the current climate.

Any informed observer is aware that Junior Rugby League is as safe, if not safer than most competing sports. The NRL, however, correctly understands that in this situation perception can be more influential than reality. In the chase for the family dollar, the NRL rubs off the sport's rougher edges. They have banned the shoulder charge, implemented harsh mandatory penalties for even harmless fighting, and are moving to further penalise any tackling technique where something might possibly go wrong. This has all been done in the name of player safety or hypothetical future legal threats, but the real reason is the public image.

Many argue that this approach is necessary for the game to move forward, that times are changing and the ugly brute that is Rugby League needs to also adapt to survive. This could be a valid approach, if done correctly and confidently. The game is in the strongest financial position it has ever been in. Clubs have more members and season ticket holders than ever before. All would seem positive, except for the fact that crowds have experienced no meaningful growth in over ten years. While it is true that television ratings continue to rise, the amount of people actually going to the effort of paying to attend a game has continued to stagnate.

Why have crowds failed to significantly rise in conjunction with almost every other measurement suggesting positive growth? A likely argument is that the game is losing paying fans at the same rate that it is gaining new ones. In the NRL's quest to adapt to a more safety-conscious generation, they are losing some of the fans that supported it through the last few decades. Trying to appeal with opposing tough and safe images is falling flat on both crowds. The new initiatives to modernise the game are not good enough to sway a mother set against her child playing Rugby League, but bad enough to push an old fan away. The NRL's direction lacks any focus and is inconsistent with itself, and while this continues growth will stagnate.

There are many positive movements being made to grow the game and create new fans. The recent promotion of Women's Rugby League, officially linking with Touch Footy, and making the junior sport a more positive experience for kids and families are all great work.

At the top level of the game though, the one being watched by a couple of million Australians every week, the NRL needs to make a choice.

One option is to move a lot further down the path of the clean-safe image, with the aim of gaining the support of the soccer family crowd. Rugby League in its current form will never be truly accepted by a lot of people due to its inherent brutal nature, and it would need to change significantly to achieve this. This represents a complete shift away from the tougher image, and losing old fans must be accepted.

The better option is to embrace the Rugby League's ‘tough but fair' image, and accept that it will never appeal to some people. Continue to make adjustments where necessary, but do not pander to lawyers, doctors, and people who will always judge a contact sport as too violent or low-brow. Present a confident, consistent game where the rules make logical sense and fans are happy to talk about the great tries or massive hits rather than complain every week. Fix the inconsistencies in the rules, give the referees the tools they need to do their jobs confidently, and take a step back on the over-sanitisation. Growth comes from both leaders and fans being confident in image and direction, rather than trying to be something we're not.

If Rugby League loses its identity as the toughest football code in the world, it has less appeal to new fans. As an athletic spectacle, it offers little to a new fan that other sports don't already have in an increasingly globalised market. Rugby League will never match the pure finesse of soccer, the prestige of Rugby Union, the sheer athleticism of AFL, or the chess-like strategy of American Football. A game of Rugby League is a battlefield. For the most part it should be tough and gritty, but the moments of absolute brilliance or power are what give the game its appeal. Removing some of those moments devalues Rugby League as a sport. The game is being slowly sanitised. The rough edges are being slowly smoothed away to look more ‘professional'. Shoulder charges, an occasional fight, sin-bins and send-offs, even bad weather - none of these are necessary parts of Rugby League but are some of the spices that make a good game great. We are heading towards professional blandness.

There will always be a good number of people that like a sprinkling of violence with their athleticism, and despite an increasingly safety-conscious society, this shows no sign of disappearing. The rise in popularity of UFC is testament to that. Rugby League should not aspire to resemble a combat sport, but nevertheless it is a noteworthy observation. The notion that being a bit rough around the edges makes the sport only appeal to a lowest common denominator of society is a false one. Fans have always come from a wide cross section - poor, rich, young men, old women, businessmen and brickies. They have always loved the combination of endurance, athletic brilliance, toughness and occasional violence that Rugby League has presented.

Currently the NRL seems lost - torn between an image we are desperately trying to gain and a past we are failing to respect. In moving forward, the NRL needs to have a game that is tough but fair, consistent and confident in itself and its direction.

Do not forget the supporters that helped Rugby League get where it is today.