Spotlight: Taming testosterone may fix the NRL's perception problem
It was the CCTV footage that ignited a fierce debate over football’s bad boy behaviour – and sport’s healing power of redemption. Rugby league player Matthew Lodge, intoxicated and belligerent, chased a woman into a Manhattan apartment building in 2015, repeatedly punching her rescuer and terrifying his wife and child. The Brisbane Broncos had already signed the 110-kilogram player before the footage was released in March this year, insisting he’d turned his life around.
But fans seemed to take a dim view of the 22-year-old’s signing, especially after allegations of domestic abuse came to light from Lodge’s ex-girlfriend. The National Rugby League’s new strategy – #NRLtalkthegameup – took a PR hit, with its net promoter score, a measure of the popularity of brands, dipping a couple of percentage points.
While the AFL has had its fair share of football scandals, rugby league, with its much rougher working-class image, has been plagued with them. Only a week ago, North Queensland forward Scott Bolton was arrested following an alleged indecent assault in a Bondi bar.
What to do with a footy culture so often dominated by the excesses of testosterone? Answer: boost female participation, not just on the field – the inaugural NRL women’s competition kicks off in September – but in club boardrooms and among spectators, too.
“The NRL has a perception problem,” says 29-year-old lawyer Mary Konstantopoulos, whose blog Ladies Who League and hit ABC podcast of the same name brings a female focus to sport.
“The NRL hasn’t been good at sharing some of the more positive stories. If Lodge is to remain a player, he needs to prove he’s paying back the victim compensation he owes.”
Positive stories, such as Newcastle Knights player Trent Hodkinson escorting terminally ill fan Hannah Rye to her school prom, and Cronulla Sharks player Sam Tagataese delivering food hampers to the needy, seem to get forgotten, she says.
“Don’t blame the game for the actions of a few bad apples. And some of the former bad boys, like Russell Packer and Greg Inglis, have become jewels of the game.”