LAST week the RFL issued a press release urging everyone involved with the game to comply with the “best possible standards of behaviour in Rugby League.”
Nobody could seriously argue against that proposition.
As the RFL says: “Respect aims to improve touchline behaviour at community games, tackle abuse of match officials, address any player and fan misbehaviour, and ensure a welcoming environment at all levels of the game.
The campaign has game-wide support – from players at the very top of the game who feature in the campaign launch video, and from professional club foundations such as Leeds Rhinos, whose Touchline programme will see them working with community clubs in the area and sharing the Respect message.”
RFL Chief Executive, Tony Sutton, says: “We want everyone involved in Rugby League, particularly children and young people, to have positive and enjoyable experiences. It’s critical for the future of the game, because ultimately negative experiences turn people away and positive ones keep them coming back for more. And when it comes to match officials in particular, there is no game without them so we need to give them all the support we can.
“Put simply, respect means treating others how you would wish to be treated yourself. And respect for each other will make Rugby League an even greater game. So today I’m urging everybody involved in our game – fans, players, match officials, coaches, volunteers – to show their support for the Respect campaign and make a positive difference in 2024.”
Those are certainly worthy sentiments and I wholeheartedly endorse Tony’s words.
As we can see from our news story here, however, the message doesn’t seem to be getting through to everyone, with Chris Hamilton of Widnes having been targeted by a section of the club’s supporters after their defeat at Swinton last week, while there were apparently other examples of bad behaviour of community club York Acorn’s supporters in Cornwall, which prompted the host club to issue a statement and report the facts to the RFL.
If those allegations are true, and I have no reason to doubt them, behaviour like that would be particularly damaging at a location that is relatively new to Rugby League.
And there was also some trouble recently at York and Whitehaven.
Times have changed from when I was much younger, and what might have been acceptable then certainly isn’t today.
A particular beef of mine is when I hear obscene chants being made towards referees, particularly when the game is being broadcast on television.
How do we stop those chants?
In my view they would probably end very quickly if clubs were to be deducted two points in the league table if their supporters were heard to be chanting loudly and obscenely to the point at which the sound is picked up on the TV.
But would a governing body be brave enough to do that?
I don’t think they would have to do it for very long before the problem disappeared.
