Cultural misunderstanding hurting league

acism in sport is a real problem, and rugby league is no different. I think people need to understand about the implications of racism in sport and how the progression of people has been halted by those at the top of the game.

It’s not just about players being treated differently, it’s about the misunderstanding of your talent because of the colour of your skin. Players, and administrators, are pigeonholed because they are a different culture or colour. You aren’t given the same opportunities.

It is a real problem in New Zealand, and with league. It’s a faceless problem and it has a tonne of heads.

In the National Football League (NFL), in the States, they have this thing called the Rooney Rule which has helped stamp out institutionalised racism.

The rule came from a guy called Dan Rooney who was the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the chairman of the league’s diversity committee.

Rooney, and the Steelers, had a long history of giving African Americans opportunities to serve in team leadership roles. They understood the colour of the game was changing, they understood they needed to move with the times.

Now the Rooney Rule requires NFL teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior operation jobs.

In rugby league I reckon we are at least 50 years behind the NFL.

When I started playing in 1988 there was probably only about 2 per cent of players that were of indigenous origin.

Today that number has swelled to probably about 40 plus, yet at the top level it has barely changed.

Over the years there have been half a dozen or so indigenous coaches – the likes of Arthur Beetson, Mal Meninga, Laurie Daley, myself, Stephen Kearney – but that has been about it.

The game is changing yet the people that run it aren’t.

You could give the Storm’s Craig Bellamy a pat on the back because he was one of the first guys that saw the problem and he rectified it by putting Stephen Kearney in as assistant coach and getting Tawera Nikau in to help with the Polynesian guys. That to me was a snapshot of the Rooney Rule playing out.

But that sort of thing doesn’t happen in too many other clubs and the Warriors are included in that.

I amtalking about the top

It’s not just about players being treated differently, it’s about the misunderstanding of your talent because of the colour of your skin.

positions, not the token positions, there are just none of these guys there. It’s hard enough getting to that position but then to be left out because of the colour of your skin? It’s blatant racism.

I spoke to a top NRL recruitment officer a couple of weeks ago and he told me that the clubs just don’t get it. The clubs just don’t understand how these kids operate.

It has a massive ripple effect. You are taking these kids out of their natural environment and culture and expecting them to become professional footballers without proper support or understanding. It’s a minefield.

Arana Taumata is a prime example – here is a kid who has come out of Wellington and he has been sacked by almost every NRL club around because of the issues he is having.

If you had someone who understood him, nurtured him, he could still be in league. You need to have those people in there so you can understand what is going on, otherwise there will be serious consequences.

I think there is an awareness at the top level in the NRL that something needs to be done. The NRL would show great leadership if it were to take a step and introduce something like the Rooney Rule.

It would have a ripple effect down through all the structures.