ONE lesson that our sport needs to learn is that things off the field can be just as important as things that happen on it.
Rugby League has been traditionally slow to recognise this truth, which is one reason for our constant underspending on marketing the game.
“The game sells itself” has never been true and never will be, despite what those of us who happen to love Rugby League might think.
What does sell the game is a strategic marketing policy that incorporates strong public relations.
That thought came to mind when on Thursday I happened to tune in to the British and Irish Lions rugby union coach Andy Farrell announcing his captain and squad for the forthcoming tour to Australia.
The Lions management had booked the O2 Arena in London for the announcement, which they made in front of more than 2,000 wildly applauding rugby union fans who had each paid around £65 for the privilege of being there.
In other words, they had turned the announcement of the Lions squad into a major off-field event for which the fans were prepared to pay big money to attend.
Inevitably a great deal was made of the fact that Maro Itoje would captain the Lions this summer, with around 40,000 supporters from the four home nations having booked journeys to Australia to support the Lions.
The date and time of the announcement had been booked many months in advance.
Meanwhile we have to wait for a press release at some unspecified time for Shaun Wane to name his England training squad that will prepare to face the Australians in the first Ashes series for more than 20 years later this year.
It will be underwhelming and much of the mainstream media will ignore it.
Whatever we think of rugby union, we can’t deny that off the field they do things well and we don’t.
I’ll give another example.
On Saturday there was an Academy Origin game between Yorkshire and Lancashire at Castleford.
The RFL didn’t have a photographer engaged to take photographs of the two teams, to record what should be an incredibly proud moment for both the players and their families.
Can we imagine that happening in the other code?
I remember some time ago when Oldham managing director Mike Ford appeared on the League Express Podcast, he commented about the contrast between the way his son George was treated by the relevant bodies when he played both schoolboy Rugby League and Union at Under-16s level.
The treatment he received from the two organisations persuaded him to throw in his lot with rugby union, which eventually led to him having a hugely successful career and playing for England. How many other young players go through that same process at a young age, being diverted away from our game and towards the other code?
There are so many things that we do badly, but which wouldn’t take an awful lot of fixing.
