National Rugby League CEO Dave Smith "was in pain at the season’s launch," according to Richard Hinds of the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. This time "from being patted on the back, not stabbed there." There "was money in the bank and the delicate handling of some thorny issues added to the feeling rugby league was in good hands." Then came "the snore of the crowd." The echoes around ANZ Stadium where just 27,000 watched the season opener between Sydney and Souths, 18,040 turned up for the first Friday nighter between the Bulldogs and the Broncos and 19,860 rattled around as St. George "put Wests Tigers to the sword on Sunday." The "dismal sight of decks of empty seats every time a bomb went up was an immediate reminder the NRL’s biggest challenge lies ahead." Smith "needs to get the diggers and cranes rolling and build or improve major stadiums if he is to leave a lasting legacy, not merely a healthy bank balance." This "seemed even more compelling" on Saturday night when the sights and sounds at packed Allianz Stadium during the A-League derby "mocked the NRL’s paltry 'big game' crowds and flat atmosphere" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 3/10). In Sydney, Andrew Webster wrote "worst crowd figures for round one in a decade." A "decline of 20 per cent on last year." You "could've fired a shotgun at the three matches played at ANZ Stadium ... Ding dong, rugby league is dead." Webster added, "Really, sports fans? Really? We're writing off this season as an abject failure based on the first round?" The word out of the NRL bunker on Monday "was that some figureheads had gone into meltdown over adverse headlines concerning poor attendance." Others, who have been around longer and seen these doomsday predictions before, "are not." Arguing about crowd figures "is about as exciting as watching bananas brown, so let's cut to the chase about why people aren't turning up in force." It "comes down to two things: transport and the lack of full-strength beer" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 3/10).
PR PROBLEM: In Sydney, Will Swanton wrote Australia captain Michael Clarke "promotes cricket via a battery of interviews the day before every cricket Test." Ditto "for Peyton Manning in the NFL." Ditto "for LeBron James in the NBA." Ditto "for American major league baseball players." Ditto "for Olympians." The NRL? "Nah, Sonny Bill won’t talk." Sam Burgess "doesn’t feel like it." Players "run a mile, fans turn their backs." The players "want the hype, but they aren’t prepared to contribute to it." They are "allowed by their clubs to be invisible and mute." Burgess and Williams "could have made the Roosters-Rabbitohs a must-see with just a few choice words, bro." They "were silent." The players "were allowed to hide." The NRL "allowed the clubs to allow the players to hide." There "was nothing from them on the nightly news." Nothing "in the papers." Nothing "on the radio." Nothing "on social media" (SMH, 3/10).
WAITING GAME: Also in Sydney, Walter & Carayannis reported NRL clubs and officials "want to wait until the impact of the game’s new concussion policy becomes clearer before considering a recommendation by doctors to introduce an 18th man as a replacement for players forced from the field." Despite eight players being taken out of the opening seven round one matches to be assessed by club doctors, and only two cleared to return, "there are concerns that giving teams access to an 18th man would be difficult to police and could have an even greater impact on the game than the concussion policy" (SMH, 3/10).
