NRL boss misses the mark in jab at AFL
IT is a bit rich for the most powerful man in rugby league to throw stones at a rival competition about to host as many as five premiership games in Cairns.
On Wednesday, in response to questions about the AFL Grand Final being held in Brisbane, ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys dismissed the threat of AFL in a savage attack on Aussie rules football.
“It’s a flash in the pan. The AFL will never have another grand final in Queensland ever again,” he said.
“Who cares? Queensland is rugby league heartland. As if some Cowboys fan in Cairns is going to start following the Brisbane Lions? I don’t think so.
“The AFL can sell meat but the vegetarians won’t eat it.”
He followed it up on Thursday with a wisecrack at a press conference announcing Andrew Abdo as the NRL’s new CEO.
“We just want to announce that the NRL Grand Final will be played in Cairns,” he said to an amused press pack. “We tried to find a golf course to do it in, but they were all occupied.”
On Thursday afternoon, the first of as many as five AFL premiership games were held at Cazalys Stadium, with the Sydney Swans and Melbourne Demons facing off in front of a capped crowd of 4000 people.
The AFL brought regular season games to the Far North almost every year from 2011 to 2018, and the region has become one of the hubs ensuring the competition can be completed in this coronavirus-affected year. Three games are scheduled, while another two are expected in Round 18.
There hasn’t been regular season NRL game in Cairns since 2018. South Sydney played six games at Barlow Park from 2013 to 2018, while the Cowboys have brought trial games up on a semi-regular basis.
A blockbuster pre-season trial between the Broncos and Cowboys, which doubled as Valentine Holmes’ first game since his foray into the NFL, attracted a decent crowd to Barlow Park at the start of 2020, despite poor weather.
There are no NRL games on Cairns’ schedule at this time.
According to figures released at the start of the year, AFL clubs in Cairns have more registered players than any region outside of the southeast corner – just shy of numbers on the Sunshine Coast.
There might not be a huge amount of kids swapping their Michael Morgan jersey for a Charlie Cameron guernsey, but that’s because they’re already wearing Cameron’s No.23.
V’landys, and others in rugby league circles, can make their jokes, but perhaps they need to take a closer look at grassroots rugby league in the regions, before AFL has the last laugh.