WHILE the AFL basked in the glory of another triumphant grand final week, the National Rugby League was left to look like the poor relation of professional football in Australia.
The Swans' grand final win underlined yawning gaps in the way AFL and rugby league are administered in this country.
Everything about the Aussie Rules was slick, from the event around the grand final to the conduct of the Sydney Swans as they savoured a famous victory.
League's big day was tainted by the heinous allegation of biting against a player who had the audacity to see himself committing the act on replay and then plead innocence.
Guided by a coach who flouts the guidelines at every opportunity and a chief executive who really should know better, James Graham spent the week preparing a defence against the indefensible.
The 12 weeks he will spend on the sidelines might be spent contemplating what "manning up" means in a footy game.
Mad Monday typically ended in tears, with the bone pointed at a couple of anonymous Bulldogs who were so vile and lewd towards a female television reporter that swift retribution was surely an obvious course of action.
Instead, the usual lines about a couple of bad apples ruining it for the majority were wheeled out, and attempts were made by the club to blame the media for invading the players' cherished privacy during their drinkathon.
Hearing the main sponsor of the Bulldogs claim the remarks were the norm for Australia these days shows how far league has to come before a majority of women consider it savoury enough to follow.
This time last week I wrote that I thought the Bulldogs had turned the corner. I was wrong. They have simply glossed over the deep-seated disciplinary issues within the player and fan ranks with good public relations.
Chief executive Todd Greenberg announced an "inquiry" into the Mad Monday controversy and it took nearly a week to compile. He and Des Hasler failed to act swiftly or with any authority. They claim they still don't know who actually said it. All they have done so far is hand their secret report to the equally inactive NRL.
Greenberg and Hasler might have considered putting the players into a room and telling them they would be fined $50,000 if someone didn't confess. Greenberg, too, rubbed salt into his own wound when he objected to the 12-week suspension handed out to Graham.
After yet another round of excuses, poor leadership and inept responses, the hard heads among us are over it. Rugby league needs a massive shake-up from the head down.
The much-touted Australian Rugby League Commission has shown it is not in the business of fixing anything quickly or substantially. Sub-committees are formed to arrive at basic decisions that it would take a primary school student three seconds to make. Corporate processes more akin to the Australian Stock Exchange are used as excuses to do nothing.
The mere fact that they have taken so long to find a new chief executive proves this lot have no idea about corporate governance or good old-fashioned leadership.
Unbelievably, we are still awaiting a response from the NRL about Canterbury because acting chief executive Shane Mattiske is on holidays. Since when do footy bosses go on leave within minutes of full-time?
ARLC chairman John Grant, who has been more than happy to stand on the big stage when the announcements are positive, has also gone into hiding. He blustered earlier in the week but his warped sense of "process" has meant the league has been mute now for five days.
Former league bosses John Quayle, Ken Arthurson and David Gallop would have issued fines and breach notices by Tuesday afternoon. Hasler would have been censured for his refusal to handle the player group, Greenberg told to go and clean up his backyard.
The ARLC had us believe that league was in a better place now than ever. Grant has been happily swimming along occasionally doing the job of the chief executive, the acting chief executive had been happily swimming along as a lame duck awaiting instruction from Grant.
Under the new regime, the commission is not accountable to anyone. This week has proved that there are some serious issues which emerge from that lack of accountability. If the Bulldogs can come out of this week with no censure, league has a huge problem.
A bunch of misogynist league players are likely to go unpunished and rugby league has been on the news pages again for all of the wrong reasons. Mr Grant and Mr Greenberg, not much has changed at all.
The Swans' grand final win underlined yawning gaps in the way AFL and rugby league are administered in this country.
Everything about the Aussie Rules was slick, from the event around the grand final to the conduct of the Sydney Swans as they savoured a famous victory.
League's big day was tainted by the heinous allegation of biting against a player who had the audacity to see himself committing the act on replay and then plead innocence.
Guided by a coach who flouts the guidelines at every opportunity and a chief executive who really should know better, James Graham spent the week preparing a defence against the indefensible.
The 12 weeks he will spend on the sidelines might be spent contemplating what "manning up" means in a footy game.
Mad Monday typically ended in tears, with the bone pointed at a couple of anonymous Bulldogs who were so vile and lewd towards a female television reporter that swift retribution was surely an obvious course of action.
Instead, the usual lines about a couple of bad apples ruining it for the majority were wheeled out, and attempts were made by the club to blame the media for invading the players' cherished privacy during their drinkathon.
Hearing the main sponsor of the Bulldogs claim the remarks were the norm for Australia these days shows how far league has to come before a majority of women consider it savoury enough to follow.
This time last week I wrote that I thought the Bulldogs had turned the corner. I was wrong. They have simply glossed over the deep-seated disciplinary issues within the player and fan ranks with good public relations.
Chief executive Todd Greenberg announced an "inquiry" into the Mad Monday controversy and it took nearly a week to compile. He and Des Hasler failed to act swiftly or with any authority. They claim they still don't know who actually said it. All they have done so far is hand their secret report to the equally inactive NRL.
Greenberg and Hasler might have considered putting the players into a room and telling them they would be fined $50,000 if someone didn't confess. Greenberg, too, rubbed salt into his own wound when he objected to the 12-week suspension handed out to Graham.
After yet another round of excuses, poor leadership and inept responses, the hard heads among us are over it. Rugby league needs a massive shake-up from the head down.
The much-touted Australian Rugby League Commission has shown it is not in the business of fixing anything quickly or substantially. Sub-committees are formed to arrive at basic decisions that it would take a primary school student three seconds to make. Corporate processes more akin to the Australian Stock Exchange are used as excuses to do nothing.
The mere fact that they have taken so long to find a new chief executive proves this lot have no idea about corporate governance or good old-fashioned leadership.
Unbelievably, we are still awaiting a response from the NRL about Canterbury because acting chief executive Shane Mattiske is on holidays. Since when do footy bosses go on leave within minutes of full-time?
ARLC chairman John Grant, who has been more than happy to stand on the big stage when the announcements are positive, has also gone into hiding. He blustered earlier in the week but his warped sense of "process" has meant the league has been mute now for five days.
Former league bosses John Quayle, Ken Arthurson and David Gallop would have issued fines and breach notices by Tuesday afternoon. Hasler would have been censured for his refusal to handle the player group, Greenberg told to go and clean up his backyard.
The ARLC had us believe that league was in a better place now than ever. Grant has been happily swimming along occasionally doing the job of the chief executive, the acting chief executive had been happily swimming along as a lame duck awaiting instruction from Grant.
Under the new regime, the commission is not accountable to anyone. This week has proved that there are some serious issues which emerge from that lack of accountability. If the Bulldogs can come out of this week with no censure, league has a huge problem.
A bunch of misogynist league players are likely to go unpunished and rugby league has been on the news pages again for all of the wrong reasons. Mr Grant and Mr Greenberg, not much has changed at all.
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