ARE THEY EARNING THEIR KEEP?
AFEW weeks ago Eddie Hearn, the head of Matchroom Sports, made a withering comment on our game, saying in a rugby union podcast that: “Rugby League is absolutely bang in trouble.
“Stars are the most important thing (but) you don’t have any stars … for one of two reasons, one because maybe there aren’t any characters or personalities around any more, or two, they’re not accessible.”
It was a damning indictment from a man who had been linked a few years earlier as a potential recruit to help Rugby League gain a higher profile.
He was clearly speaking from a personal point of view, but in the same interview he went on to say that he couldn’t name any current leading Rugby League stars and that if he thought of the game at all, he still thought of players like Ellery Hanley and Martin Offiah.