League's Vanishing Man

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday April 14, 2001

Steve Mascord

The NRL has turned Trent Barrett and his fellow league standard-bearers into almost faceless men, reports Steve Mascord.

Trent Barrett he bestowed the new season upon us. Now, it seems, he has left it to fend for itself. A trivia question: what is the NRL's slogan for the 2001 season? No, not ``Blow that whistle, ref"'. Not ``Simply The Best". Not ``Two Tribes Go To War". Nor ``It's My Game".

Give up?

It's ``Who's Side Are You On?"

That was the catchphrase used to promote the season-opening double-header, the day St George Illawarra five-eighth Barrett gave a nicely delivered speech at the Olympic stadium to launch the third year of the National Rugby League.

They warned us, the game's officials, not to expect glitzy TV ads, insidious jingles and saturation promotion this year. This was the year of grassroots, of player-focused marketing, of feel-good ``media opportunities".

Fair enough. So where have Barrett and fellow standard-bearers Nathan Hindmarsh, Brett Kimmorley, Matt Gidley et al been since February, aside from playing very well in front of the converted? If they are the faces of the new season, why is the season a little faceless?

When Brisbane's Gorden Tallis and Shane Webcke wrote an open letter to NRL players two Mondays ago imploring them to do more to improve the game's image, it was almost a cry for help, as if they were saying, ``Please give us something to do".

In the face of bum poking and drug taking and coach quitting, they wanted to remind us all that most footy players are really well-intentioned fellows who have accepted a life of discipline rather than indulgence.

On Friday, Barrett was understandably more worried about his appointment with the Parramatta Eels at WIN Stadium on Saturday night than the marketing strategy of the NRL. He never expected to take the place of Tina Turner, and since he wasn't being paid, why should he?

``I've done a few things," the 22-year-old from Temora in western NSW said. ``Between the NRL and the club there's a fair bit of it, but I don't mind."

Barrett's most unusual engagement: spending a day with the Prime Minister. As part of a segment on The Footy Show, he was shown around The Lodge by John Howard, attended a party strategy meeting, sat next to the PM during a round of radio interviews and got in trouble when he tried to follow him onto the floor of Parliament.

This, says the NRL, got Barrett in the news pages for free. Part of an overall strategy to give the game back its place in the public consciousness? Maybe. Cheap? Definitely.

On Thursday, Tallis and Brad Fittler were kept very busy indeed by the NRL. They held a media conference at Moore Park that promoted the new sponsors of the State of Origin series, Friday night's game between their clubs and the public sale of tickets for Origin I. All at once.

NRL media manager Paul Ritchie says neither were paid.

When Barrett attended a media conference along with Brett Kimmorley in the lead-up to the clash between the Dragons and the Eagles, it was held at the new ``official sports store of the NRL".

In the old days, the NRL was investing money in promotions while the players were investing their time. Now, as the game recovers from the ``war", most promotions are generated by sponsors.

Meanwhile, the game's stars are limited in how much money they can earn from club sponsors this is to go up from $75,000 to $200,000 next year. If Rebel Sports Warehouse wanted to pay Barrett for his appearance three weeks ago, it had better not also sponsor the Dragons or it will come off the club's ``third-party" payment ceiling.

``That's a bit of a touchy one," said Barrett, who has a column in the Illawarra Mercury and endorses adidas boots.

``It's in the NRL contract that the League can use the players for whatever they like but the players can only do certain promotional work. I don't think there's a lot of dollars out there to be earned from endorsements but I probably don't think it should be included in the salary cap.

``But that's for the Players' Association and the managers to work out, not me."

NRL chief executive David Moffett explains that the limit on third-party agreements is to stop players getting dodgy jobs such as in the old doorman-at-the-League-Club ruse.

Players such as Barrett can earn as much as they like from footwear manufacturers as long as their club jersey doesn't appear in any of the advertising.

But is the league protecting its ``intellectual property" with one hand while relying on inexpensive publicity stunts such as a tug-of-war on the NSW-Queensland border before the State of Origin to improve the value of that property?

Must all promotions be aimed at dragging people through the gate tomorrow, only to claim, when not as many show up as you'd like, that crowds are not the only indicator of success?

Moffett says the AFL has also adopted this change in philosophy, towards a more humble image. But he concedes: ``We don't have the bottomless pits of money. Television advertising soaks up so much money."

However, several ideas were about to ``come online".

The NRL has a list of players, which it is reluctant to discuss, that it prefers to call on for promotions. Most are quietly receiving media training at their clubs.

The list includes Tallis, Fittler, Barrett, the Bulldogs' Braith Anasta, Kimmorley, Hindmarsh, Brisbane's Darren Lockyer, Melbourne's Scott Hill, Gidley and the Sharks' Mat Rogers.

But when you spend money on big advertising campaigns, you have control over some part of how some of the people perceive you.

The NRL deserves credit for its organic approach to its public image, but by eschewing hype it is lumbering its players with responsibility for the game's image and it is not a responsibility they are used to. One, well-intentioned star will eventually lead the way. It hopes.

The NRL wants ``senior players" to take the lead, of their own accord. But the players don't want to come across as bigheads in front of their teammates when telling of charity work and the like.

But the Australian Sports Drug Agency, the judiciary, the police and the media keep working as they always have.

Whether it's a player or an official, it's time for someone to overcome their shyness.