The True Victims

I have been a loyal fan of Parra since I was about five (grew up in Fairfield West). I love my team, so to lose a Grand final to the Storm whom my young bloke adores was very painful. But.... the one thing thing that hurts more than losing that game is seeing my son (12) watching the news, and asking why, I don't understand, how, and asking me the question why did they do it? These questions as a parent and a lover of the game make it difficult to explain to my young fella why they would do it. The best way I found to explain it was to say this. If i was paying you and your brother the same pocket money each week, yes he answers, ok, well now what if you found out at the end of the year that i had been paying him an extra $10 a week to do they same jobs you had been doing, he answers I'd be furious, which made me laugh a bit. He kind of understood.

The problem is the fallout for this will be devastating to me & my two sons. The first being the Storm is everything to my son, the ball in his hand he is constantly emulating Slater or Inglis side stepping me inside the house (much to my wife's displeasure lol). And the second being that he plays for a jnr rugby league club in Melbourne's northern suburbs. Now lets assume the worst.
* The sponsors pull out
* News Ltd distance themselves from the club
* The club has no choice but to fold.
Now that's only the beginning.......as next come the Jnr leagues clubs, the VRL will cease to exist, and my two sons will be left without a club. This could only be described as heart wrenching. Sure some of the kids will start playing rugby union with the new Rebels club starting up, but league will be gone for good in the Mexican state of which we have chosen to live. This will hurt my son no end, and he won't play Union (thank god!)
Very sad day indeed if you consider what it does to the kids down here.
I will be one of a very low number attending the Storm vs Warriors this coming Sunday. It will be a very strange event, but I owe it to my son to take him, even though I don't like the storm............... this is about family.

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  • I feel for your young bloke Daz1970, hopefully it won't affect the junior clubs but when you think about it you can understand how the supporters/players etc of the Bears felt when firstly they had to merge with Manly (as if that isn't bad enough), but then after a while to be dropped out of the main game altogether. I suppose they were lucky they didn't disappear completely. And you never know if the NRL decide to shut the Storm down it might make way for the Bears to make a comeback. I know your along way from the Central Coast, but maybe your young fella might become one of the new supporters of the Central Coast Bears, after all kids are pretty resiliant. Good Luck.............GO PARRA
  • NIce to hear Daz, I think your doing the right thing. Love the metaphor for the payments too.

    As angry as I am, it's mostly directed at the Managers of were responsible, the players managers, the players who would have been getting a bigger slice and the coach (who i think knew)... I do feel sorry for the fans who have to go thru this with them. It's not fair.
  • Daz,

    For me this is the most shattering part of the whole scandal. As a huge Eels fan I would be absolutely shattered if this happened to our boys. For young kids it is even harder because the players are their heroes and the club is more than just a team. It is the supporters and the kids that suffer in a situation which they had no control over.

    I feel for you having to have that conversation with your little one, but I think the most important thing to emphasise is that this is not the norm. What the Storm did was a breach nothing like anything ever heard of in Australian sport. Reassure your little one that real heroes do still exist - men like Hazem El Masri, Darren Lockyer and Nathan Hindmarsh.

    I also feel for the NRL because all the work they have done to promote the game in Melbourne has been tainted and largely wasted. I hope for your little one's sake that this isn't the end of League in Melbourne and that the Storm can move past this. Your support on the weekend will mean the world to your little one and I am sure to the Storm, who need to focus and rebuild.
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