RUGBY league great Phil Gould has launched an extraordinary attack on the NRL's administrators, writing in The Sydney Morning Herald that they had failed to properly protect and develop the code in western Sydney and left it vulnerable to "the AFL machine".
Gould, general manager of the Penrith Panthers in the city's west and a former NSW State of Origin coach, says programs in the region are "leaderless, disorganised and under-resourced" and unable to combat the arrival of Greater Western Sydney.
"If you ask me to name one man who has taken responsibility for this all-important role of devising a strategy for rugby league to maintain its stake in the west; well, I couldn't tell you. Rugby league needs someone with the leadership skills and the courage to say, ''The buck stops with me!'
"Let me tell you, the AFL has got one! Everyone answers to Andrew Demetriou. He also has the ear of our government leaders."
An independent commission will take over the running of the NRL on November 1, but Gould writes that it is two years too late.
"Make no mistake; the NRL is directly responsible for the ease with which AFL has infiltrated the sporting fields of western Sydney. If you don't believe me, take a drive around the western areas to see for yourself.
"Any rubbish you hear about the AFL not being a threat to rugby league in western Sydney or that the AFL is struggling to make inroads into this one-time rugby league stronghold is wishful thinking, naivety, or deliberate misinformation.
"Quite simply, the AFL is a monster. You have no idea how powerful, how well resourced, how well connected and how determined this code is in its aim to not only be the No.1 sport in Australia, but to totally obliterate rugby league in the process. The AFL has parked itself at Blacktown, the fastest growing area in the country.
"In doing so, they have strategically cut Penrith off from the rest of the Sydney NRL clubs. They are advancing through the growth areas of western Sydney at an alarming rate. They have wooed councils, schools, licensed clubs and many of the major corporate businesses in the area.
"They have local councils and community-based clubs, many of which used to have a strong link to rugby league, now advertising the AFL and GWS brands, their memberships, their sponsorship options and their merchandise. There are AFL goalposts sprouting up like mushrooms. And this, my friends, is only the beginning. "
Gould then declares that the AFL "is all about ripping the heart out of rugby league"
"I guess the final straw for me came a few weeks ago when I learned the AFL was proposing to build a $32 million centre of excellence at Blacktown as the hub of its western Sydney operations.
"I understand this precinct in Blacktown was years ago offered to the NRL to build itself a showpiece academy in its western heartland. The NRL, for reasons best known to itself, chose to build its new administration block (not a rugby league academy), at Moore Park on SCG Trust land.
"This is not only a terrible commercial decision, it is the worst strategic decision any sporting body in the country has ever made. End of story."
Indeed.
Players on a go-slow
Research commissioned by the AFL has shown that the average speed of players has declined slightly this season, The Age reports.
An interim report covering the first half of the season from GPS tracking expert Ben Wisbey confirmed the slow down, which was one of the objectives of the introduction of the substitute rule for 2011.
AFL general manager of football operations Adrian Anderson said it was the first time for a number of years that player's average speed had not risen in the interim report.
He also said injuries were slightly down on last year's mid-year figures, "but you know it's only the halfway mark and we'll need to do a lot more work on that.
"It's the first time in a number of years that that figure would … not have increased at the halfway mark because the trend every year, as interchange has been going up in recent years, has been for overall injury rates to go up."
Umpire not flagging
Eight weeks before the Toyota AFL Grand Final, the Herald Sun has made a bold prediction and declared one umpire virtually over the line for a spot between the sticks.
Glenn McFarlane says Chelsea Roffey is set to become the first female to officiate in a Grand Final if she maintains her form over the rest of the season.
AFL umpires' manager Jeff Gieschen told the newspaper Roffey, 30, who was an emergency for last year's Grand Finals, was having another good season.
"It is up to Chelsea to maintain that consistent form through to the finals, and if she does that, then she has a chance to go deep into the finals," Gieschen said.
"She is a real professional, a perfectionist, and she is reaping the rewards of that."
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
Disclosure - the author is a former colleague of goal umpire Chelsea Roffey
