NRL player boycott: How the media should respond to shock blackout

OPINION

At last glance, journalists were rated somewhere between real estate agents, politicians and Jeffery Dahmer on one of those "most trusted professions" list. In fact, it looks like Dahmer has gone ahead of us on the back of the Netflix series which introduced his handiwork to a new generation fixated on his unique skin fold tests.

So, forget about eliciting sympathy from fans in the wake of the RLPA's move to ban players from speaking to the media before/after/during matches. Journos and media outlets might care but no-one else does – not supporters, not the players nor their union.

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We're all cockroaches, after all, so we can scurry back under the skirting boards we emerged from. But is the RLPA that devoid of ideas in pushing its CBA claims it needs to ban the media to hold a flame to the NRL's feet over the protracted talks?

Do you really think that's going to have Andrew Abdo waking in a cold sweat rushing to the negotiating table? Why doesn't the RLPA call a strike like a fair dinkum union?

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Fans are happy for the media to be sacrificed but what do you reckon the reaction would be if million dollar players downed tools and brought the competition to a grinding halt? Suddenly, Channel 9 missing out on an all-in interview with a nobody from Wests Tigers three days out from a game against the Knights at Campbelltown means zilch.

Here's what I love to see happen when the RLPA eventually lifts its pathetic ban. I'd love the media to send the players and their clubs a collective GFY.

Get the heads of print, radio, television and online together in a room and tell the players to jam it. Outside of the actual game, the media should boycott all press conferences with sponsor backdrops, refuse to reproduce images showing any form of sponsorship and devote more space to more welcoming sports.

Go even further and take a leaf out of the ABC's book. Allianz Stadium becomes the Sydney Football Stadium, Accor Stadium is now Homebush Stadium, 4 Pines Park goes back to Brookvale Oval etc etc.

If you're a player and only willing to talk because you're on the media's payroll, you're a hypocrite. Media outlets should tell those players their services are no longer required.

And don’t tell fans where and when games are on – let them work that out for themselves. They don't need the media, remember.

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