League Unlimited

When Carole King and Gerry Goffin sat down to write ‘I wasn’t born to follow’ in the 1960s, I’m pretty sure they weren’t thinking that it may one day relate to our celebrated code. It is a song however that has had resonance around the famous South Sydney Rabbitohs this week.

Let me explain my bizarre allusion. Five of the Rabbits decided after their most recent loss that they would have a few beers despite the fact that they had a self imposed alcohol ban in place.

Self imposed? Well more accurately the ban was placed on all squad members by all players after discussions with their captains. Yes that’s captain with an ‘s’ on the end, David Kidwell and Roy Asotasi are both co-captains of the club.

Four of the players- Eddie Paea, Jaiman Lowe, Fetuli Talanoa and Ben Rogers were stood down for this weeks clash with the Cowboys while Kidwell, who also failed a breath test, was demoted as captain.

Booze ban or no booze ban the story seems to highlight one confusing and somewhat annoying trend in the game. Co-captains, leadership groups, player committees and the like appear to be overrunning our clubs like the other rabbits did before prior to myxomatosis.

What happened to the days when a club had a boss, a board and a captain, with all three giving each other and the players a bit of slack when it can to minor misdemeanours?

In an effort to involve players more in the decision making processes of the club, many teams have created a bunch of confusing layers of authority. These days, depending on the club, you may have to talk to as little as one or as many as four players if you wanted to talk to the team captain(s).

This confusion came to a head later in the week when one of the dropped Rabbits, Ben Rogers, spoke to the Daily Telegraph about his frustration with the implementation of the no-booze rule. I’m assuming he spoke to the paper because he was wasn’t sure whether to discuss the matter with Co-Captain #1, stood down Co-Captain #2, himself (as one of the players who decided on the rule), the coach, the CEO, the Owners, the Executive Chairman (who is also an owner) or Reggie the goat (being the longest serving and fastest employee).

It was with genuine goodwill that the clubs (not just Souths) allowed their players say into the running of the club with committees and leadership groups, but enough is enough. I’m sure if all players were asked they would say they want to be managed by a captain and a coach who can both be approached if any issues need to be discussed.

Otherwise with a squad of 25 leaders there may be no-one left to follow...