EXCLUSIVE by Josh Massoud Source: The Daily Telegraph
AS THE hangover from its season of hell lingers, a revolution is looming to change rugby league's long link with alcohol.
The NRL is visiting each of the 16 clubs, asking players for advice on how best to deal with the issue of alcohol abuse.
A brainchild of the Australian Drug Foundation (ADF), the project intends to canvass the views of every stakeholder - players, coaches, strappers, directors, fans, sponsors, canteen ladies and media - on alcohol in rugby league.
The ADF will then recommend a code that will dictate minimum standards for service of alcohol at all NRL functions and games, as well as social events like Mad Monday.
Stage one of what shapes as a three-year process began in September, when ADF experts visited finals matches to look at the drinking habits of fans. The next step was a 45-minute presentation at each club - including South Sydney last week - to explain the ADF's research to the players.
The Daily Telegraph sat in on the Rabbitohs visit, where the team's stars were handed questionnaires about how the game is faring in management of alcohol.
The ADF will return to each club in the new year and repeat the process with coaching staff, board members and office workers. There will be more visits to games over the first three rounds of the 2010 premiership - and fans, reporters, sponsors and junior league officials will also be consulted.
ADF national innovation manager Richard Colbran hopes to draft an NRL Alcohol Management Guideline by June.
The ADF and NRL have been working loosely together for the past two years, but last season's booze-fuelled disasters convinced the code it had a serious problem. Colbran said the ADF would recommend "significant changes'' that will arrive as a shock to the game's system.
"I'm not at liberty to go into specifics at this stage, but we are going to challenge the NRL big time with some of the changes that will be suggested,'' Colbran said. "We've got to be careful not to pre-empt anything, but already we're seeing things that need to be changed.
"That's not a criticism of rugby league. This isn't about criticising or even educating. It's about gathering everyone's feedback and then working out an umbrella management guideline for alcohol in rugby league.''
Colbran said the fact players weren't being targeted for rugby league's alcohol woes was a major difference in this project.
"Our approach with the NRL is that it's not always fair for the finger to be pointed at the players,'' Colbran said. "If the game is going to develop a consistent approach, then everyone needs to be included - from the chairman to the strapper. At the end of the day, we want rugby league to become a leader in this area and be an advocate about alcohol's impact on the community at large.''
NRL welfare and education manager Matt Francis has been liaising with the ADF during the project's initial stages.
Francis said the game's standard response to drunken controversies had been to point to society-wide problems.
"And we've probably got to move beyond that,'' Francis said. "We need to work out what the game is going to do in response. We can't use society as part of the reasoning or as an excuse. We need to respond as a game and also take a leading role in the community.''
Francis also guaranteed that the NRL would receive the ADF's recommendations with an open mind. "We wouldn't have taken on such a big process unless we accepted there are going to be some challenges [with implementation of the strategy]. But if we aren't proactive now, then those challenges are just going to be greater in the future,'' he said.
Colbran said the NRL had not spoken to the ADF about illicit drugs in the wake of the drugs charges laid against Danny Wicks.
"In theory we probably could do something similar with illicit drugs, but there would be a lot more difficulties because you are talking to people about an illegal activity,'' he said.
"When you talk about alcohol, people can talk freely. With drugs, there's a few more issues around what they can and can't say.''
AS THE hangover from its season of hell lingers, a revolution is looming to change rugby league's long link with alcohol.
The NRL is visiting each of the 16 clubs, asking players for advice on how best to deal with the issue of alcohol abuse.
A brainchild of the Australian Drug Foundation (ADF), the project intends to canvass the views of every stakeholder - players, coaches, strappers, directors, fans, sponsors, canteen ladies and media - on alcohol in rugby league.
The ADF will then recommend a code that will dictate minimum standards for service of alcohol at all NRL functions and games, as well as social events like Mad Monday.
Stage one of what shapes as a three-year process began in September, when ADF experts visited finals matches to look at the drinking habits of fans. The next step was a 45-minute presentation at each club - including South Sydney last week - to explain the ADF's research to the players.
The Daily Telegraph sat in on the Rabbitohs visit, where the team's stars were handed questionnaires about how the game is faring in management of alcohol.
The ADF will return to each club in the new year and repeat the process with coaching staff, board members and office workers. There will be more visits to games over the first three rounds of the 2010 premiership - and fans, reporters, sponsors and junior league officials will also be consulted.
ADF national innovation manager Richard Colbran hopes to draft an NRL Alcohol Management Guideline by June.
The ADF and NRL have been working loosely together for the past two years, but last season's booze-fuelled disasters convinced the code it had a serious problem. Colbran said the ADF would recommend "significant changes'' that will arrive as a shock to the game's system.
"I'm not at liberty to go into specifics at this stage, but we are going to challenge the NRL big time with some of the changes that will be suggested,'' Colbran said. "We've got to be careful not to pre-empt anything, but already we're seeing things that need to be changed.
"That's not a criticism of rugby league. This isn't about criticising or even educating. It's about gathering everyone's feedback and then working out an umbrella management guideline for alcohol in rugby league.''
Colbran said the fact players weren't being targeted for rugby league's alcohol woes was a major difference in this project.
"Our approach with the NRL is that it's not always fair for the finger to be pointed at the players,'' Colbran said. "If the game is going to develop a consistent approach, then everyone needs to be included - from the chairman to the strapper. At the end of the day, we want rugby league to become a leader in this area and be an advocate about alcohol's impact on the community at large.''
NRL welfare and education manager Matt Francis has been liaising with the ADF during the project's initial stages.
Francis said the game's standard response to drunken controversies had been to point to society-wide problems.
"And we've probably got to move beyond that,'' Francis said. "We need to work out what the game is going to do in response. We can't use society as part of the reasoning or as an excuse. We need to respond as a game and also take a leading role in the community.''
Francis also guaranteed that the NRL would receive the ADF's recommendations with an open mind. "We wouldn't have taken on such a big process unless we accepted there are going to be some challenges [with implementation of the strategy]. But if we aren't proactive now, then those challenges are just going to be greater in the future,'' he said.
Colbran said the NRL had not spoken to the ADF about illicit drugs in the wake of the drugs charges laid against Danny Wicks.
"In theory we probably could do something similar with illicit drugs, but there would be a lot more difficulties because you are talking to people about an illegal activity,'' he said.
"When you talk about alcohol, people can talk freely. With drugs, there's a few more issues around what they can and can't say.''
