Sporting Declaration: Have NRL players lost touch with the real world?

I was playing in a Canberra Raiders golf day, along with a fellow journalist and a couple of members of the Green Machine's first-grade squad.

As we reached a tee on the crest of a hill, and stopped to admire the view out over the Brindabellas, one of the players said casually to the other: "I wonder what the ordinary people are doing today."

His teammate, slightly awkwardly, then turned to us and said something along the lines of: "You guys have got good jobs, don't you?"

It was at this point that the real connotations of the throwaway line dawned on me.

The ordinary people weren't, as I initially assumed, anyone who wasn't lucky enough to be out playing golf on a glorious spring day. The ordinary people were those who had to work for a living.

Non-footballers, in other words.

I certainly didn't find the comment offensive. Amusing, if anything.

It was an insight into the mindset of young blokes who were living the dream, and who realised how lucky they were.

Just a few years earlier, these guys all had day jobs that they juggled with their football commitments.

At the time, only a handful of players were able to earn a living from rugby league.

But after the Super League revolution, suddenly they were all full-time professionals, earning lucrative salaries from a game they would probably have played for nothing.

It was almost too good to be true.

A quarter of a century down the track, for some reason I found myself reflecting on that golf day as I ponder the Rugby League Players' Association's ongoing collective-bargaining dispute with the NRL.

The RLPA last week announced that players would be boycotting certain media interviews, presumably in an attempt to raise awareness and put pressure on head office.

I'm not about to criticise the RLPA for taking whatever steps they deem necessary in their industrial action.

I've been on strike a number of times over the course of my career as a journalist, and as my former sports editor, Kevin Cranson, used to say, there's something empowering about collectively withdrawing your labour.

RLPA chief executive Clint Newton has come under fire, which is hardly surprising given that two of the main media outlets impacted by the boycott are Channel Nine and Foxtel, who just so happen to provide the NRL's financial lifeblood via their massive TV-rights deal.

From my experience, Newton is a good man, passionate, articulate and resolute, and exactly the type of leader you'd want on your side when push comes to shove.

But in this particular case, I can't help thinking the RLPA are kidding themselves if they expect to receive any sympathy from the general public.

By all means, I hope they win their battle and get what they are seeking.

But I suspect the vast majority of fans are looking at all this and shaking their heads.

At a time when people are battling to make ends meet, dealing with mortgage-rate rises and the cost-of-living crisis, many will find it hard to comprehend that players are receiving an 18 per cent pay rise.

To put it in context, my eldest daughter, three years out of university, is working as a nurse in John Hunter Hospital's intensive-care unit. When I told her that the minimum wage for NRL players this season is $130,000, she replied: "That's basically twice as much as I get paid."

And let's be honest, the minimum-wage players are either not much good, or kids straight out of high school.

The average wage next year will be around $400,000, and almost every club has at least one player earning $1 million-plus.

Now I get that the RLPA are saying their dispute is not about player wages. They are apparently fighting for hardship funds, and intellectual property, and financial transparency, and international payments and myriad other complex issues.

They clearly want a better deal for players who suffer injuries, or concussions, that then impact on their lives post-football.

That's all valid, but by the same token, everyone should be well aware by now that rugby league is a highly dangerous sport, and with that comes inherent risks.

If you don't want to gamble with your health and well-being, there are plenty of other sporting options to pursue.

The bottom line, for many, is that rugby league players seem to have forgotten what life is like in the real world.

The ordinary people are doing it bloody tough. It's a bit rich to be NRL players to be appealing to them for support.

IT was all looking good at 2-0 up, but I've got a sneaking suspicion the Poms could yet score a remarkable victory in this Ashes series.

While Australian fans were delighted with the victories at Edgbaston and Lord's, which gave the men in the Baggy Greens an apparently unassailable lead in the five-Test series, the loss at Headingley this week came as something of a reality check.

And with the benefit of hindsight, did the 2-0 lead flatter the Aussies? On reflection, we were pretty lucky to win the first Test by two wickets, especially given that England declared their first innings at 8-393 with Joe Root unbeaten on 118.

Had the home side batted into day two, and put a score of 450-plus on the board, it may well have been a different story.

And at Lord's, while Jonny Bairstow had nobody to blame but himself for his dismissal, had that controversial incident not occurred, would Australia have won by 43 runs?

If nothing else, the Bairstow drama galvanised the Poms and they completely outplayed Australia at Headingley, posting a win that suggested the balance of power may have shifted.

The inclusion of Mark Wood in their side has given England a new dimension.

If he is not the fastest bowler in the world, he is certainly in the conversation, and it's hard to imagine the remaining Tests at Old Trafford and The Oval will be played on docile, batsmen-friendly tracks.

Moreover, Australia will be without their world-class spinner Nathan Lyon, and his L-plate replacement Todd Murphy is unlikely to cause England's batsmen sleepless nights.

After three Tests, I'd argue that England have played the more positive cricket, and are gradually gaining strength, while Australia appear to be faltering.

Meanwhile, David Warner's form is like a black cloud hanging over the whole team.

I'd be dropping him for the fourth Test and promoting young Cameron Green to open, while retaining Mitchell Marsh at No.6. I would also leave Murphy out and go with an all-pace attack and Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne to bowl spin.

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