The 300th that isn't

Embed from Getty Images

This Thursday, Michael Jennings will play his 300th NRL game, and you won't hear anything about it from the people who gave him the opportunity.

Jennings played his first game in over three years in the Roosters' Round 5 loss to Canterbury, being activated as 18th player due to two failed head injury assessments.

With one of those players subject to the 11-day stand down being James Tedesco, and Dominic Young accepting a two-week suspension, a backline reshuffle will see Jennings named again to play against Newcastle.

This will be the 300th time he has taken the field during an NRL game which is a feat usually celebrated to great lengths.

Not this time.

Today, NRL CEO Andrew Abdo announced that they will not be recognising his 300th match due to "past conduct".

A weak statement given they're the ones allowing him to play his 300th match to begin with. They're the ones who signed off allowing his return to the game.

This decision today is just a flimsy bandaid on a self inflicted wound.

Jennings is one of six current NRL players who have been found guilty of domestic or sexual assault on a female.

How is pretending he isn't playing his 300th game going to change the fact that they have allowed him and those five other players to continue their careers in the game that so many people - women included - call the greatest of them all?

No matter what they say, he will still be taking that field and it's because they allowed him to.

Will his run metres still count? Will his tackles still be made? Will a try scored still count?

They can pretend that this achievement isn't happening all that they want but at the end of the day this decision has only once again highlighted the fact that they allowed him to play his 300th game to begin with.

There is a clear issue across the NRL and I know I am not the only woman out there who doesn't feel respected by the organisation that I dedicate so much time, money and energy on.

Over 120 female fans were asked whether they feel respected by the NRL and 56% answered no.

Whether you consider that to be a big enough number to ring alarm bells or not, you can not deny that it is technically the majority.

I am a relatively young fan of the game of rugby league considering I only started following along in 2010 but I quickly became enthralled.

I loved everything about the game and I had Jarryd Hayne to thank for it. That is a name that myself and countless Parramatta fans used to cheer for proudly. Now it's a name whispered in disgust.

To this day it breaks my heart that the player who made me fall in love with this game has absolutely no respect for me as a woman.

It's infuriating having to accept that, as a woman, I'm going to most likely have to watch players who, just like Hayne, don't truly respect me.

Every couple of years or so I'll get lucky and be able to proudly say that my team isn't fielding any of those players but it's always an empty boast knowing that could most likely change in a heartbeat.

This is the attitude that the NRL have instilled in us. We can't really blame any of the individual clubs for it because they're the ones allowing it to happen to begin with.

The pressure is on the clubs to get results and if a player with these indiscretions can help get those results then they're always going to sign the players and only get rid of them when they're hands are tied.

That's the NRL's fault. It always starts at the top and time and time again they have let us down.

For this I can only ask that the NRL not insult us by pretending to care about these assaults against women when it is so clear that it only matters when they need to save face.

Pretending to take a stand against assault against women after they are the ones who have given him the opportunity is a slap in the face to the thousands of female fans, staff and players.

No pun intended.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of any other person or entity.