Millie and star mates go bush
After years of reckless and damaging off-field behaviour which stained rugby league, it seems the knuckleheads have finally learnt.
The anti-social idiots who previously dragged rugby league through the sewer have eventually grasped what destruction they did to our game.
The behaviour of NRL players through the 2023-24 off-season has been exemplary with NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo claiming it’s the result of rugby league’s “no-nonsense” approach.
Usually a time for shenanigans and unwanted headlines, the players’ conduct when free and unrestrained through summer has been faultless. That’s four months – 120 days – mischief-free for a sport known for its drama.
Remember the 2019 off-season from hell when the NRL dealt with a whopping 24 off-field incidents?
No one is naive enough to think that player atrocities have forever ended but, for now, they are setting new standards in professionalism and manners.
Rugby league endured 66 scandals between 2015 and 2019. Twenty-one of those allegations involved assault. Let’s not regurgitate the worst of them because rugby league’s image right here and now is squeaky clean.
As an NRL reporter for 35 years, I cannot recall a more disciplined offseason from our stars.
The only text messages I have received through summer have pointed out how and what players have accomplished in the community.
Players have regularly disgraced themselves, their club and the game from November to March when away from the daily discipline and structure of their clubs. It was a time of highjinx and buffoonery.
After being told repeatedly how their ugly exploits mutilated the game, it would appear the message has finally been digested. It took some time and patience, but we finally got there.
“I’m confident our policies, education programs, and a no-nonsense approach to misconduct is now second nature to everyone in the game,” said Abdo.
“The players are professionals and partners in the game. The NRL, clubs and RLPA work together to maintain the standards expected in a professional environment.”
NRL historian David Middleton added: “It would have to be the quietest off-season for player trouble in living memory. That’s not to say something won’t happen at some point but the off-season has been a dream for the NRL.”
A big worry does loom when four excited teams head to the bright lights of Las Vegas, all players under strict instructions about the severe ramifications of off-field indiscretions. The NRL is selling itself to a giant, foreign land and will not tolerate some fool landing in a police cell.
Dragons player Junior Amone was
She’s one of the biggest stars in women’s rugby league and Millie Elliott is putting that power to good use.
With no rugby league playing commitments until May, the NSW and Sydney Roosters prop has organised a tour of regional NSW to promote inclusivity among people who need connection the most.
The Game Changers program, run by Elliott’s not-for-profit organisation The Trainer Group Foundation, will hold sessions in small towns to help promote team work and connection to people with disability and access requirements.
It’s an issue close to her heart. Elliott’s younger sister Hannah has Down syndrome, while her new brother-in-law James has autism.
The 25-year-old recently married Newcastle forward Adam Elliott and changed her surname from Boyle.
The Game Changers program will visit nine towns starting in Bega on February 5, and finishing in Tweed Heads on February 23.
She’ll be joined by fellow NSW Origin stars Kezie Apps, Emma Tonegato, Keeley Davis and Olivia Kernick to deliver the programs aimed at children and adults who have left school and miss a sense of community. “It’s so special,” Elliott said. Westpac, which last week was named as the jersey sponsor for NSW women’s State of Origin, is helping deliver the programs along with NSWRL.
“It’s something that has been in the works for a little while and something that’s very close to my heart and I’m very passionate about it,” Elliott said.
The five NSW Sky Blues stars are all from rural areas and have special experience in working with the community. deregistered in December for a hammer attack but the actual incident happened in November, 2022. Val Holmes’s white powder drama last year occurred in-season during September.
Although rarely troublesome, the NRLW players were also controlled through the summer months.
“Every weekend we get to see the superb performance of our players on the field, however the contribution they make to their communities is sometimes hidden from view. So many players lead wonderful community initiatives in their spare time and those interactions help change lives,” Abdo said.
Technically, rugby league’s off-season ends when trial games kick off in mid-February.