Tradition a thing of the past?

AS I fast approach my third decade, the old-fashioned ways of doing things seem increasingly appealing.

A wink and a handshake always strikes me as the best way to celebrate a rare scorcher in five-a-side, for example, unlike those overblown, mugging-to-camera routines favoured by today’s modern superstars.

Admittedly, there aren’t many flashing lenses or screaming hero-worshipping fans around at the damp and slightly decrepit indoor warehouse where my team of podgy could-have-beens tread the artificial turf. I reckon Old Trafford’s showers probably don’t take 15 minutes to warm up, either, before producing nothing more than a Cesc Fabregas-style dribble.

Back to the point, though. When it comes to sporting competitions, going traditional is often the best route.

Which is why it is such a shame that those supporters of sides who have made it through to the last 16 of rugby league’s Carnegie Challenge Cup this year are to be denied the drama of nervously listening in to a live broadcast of the draw in order to find out who their team has been put up against.

The RFL were holding the event at an RAF base in North Yorkshire at 2.30pm today, for some bizarre reason, after which time the news of the outcome would be made available on the press wires. A televised “package” was set to be shown after the event on local news channels, meaning those who have access to the web or radio at work will uncover the line-up sooner than those who don’t.

A fudged effort, then, which is barely satisfactory for a competition of the Challenge Cup’s standing, especially after a weekend containing some absolutely outstanding contests.

Live draws play a big part in the mystique of knockout competitions right across the sporting world. So if television channels aren’t interested in a live broadcast in the evening — as they weren’t, apparently — surely local or national radio could have filled the gap for the RFL? Alternatively, it could easily have taken place straight after yesterday’s BBC double bill. It is all very, very strange.

STICKING with rugby league, despite the game between Leeds and St Helens being a cracker, there was one aspect which didn’t sit right with it.

Namely, the continued involvement of Saints half-back Leon Pryce. The England player recently pleaded guilty to assault, along with former Bradford and Great Britain team-mate Stuart Reardon, after the pair had paid an unwise visit to the home of Reardon’s estranged wife. Both men were told to expect custodial sentences when they return for sentencing on April 23.

Yet despite his admittal, Pryce was in the St Helens side which faced Wakefield in a televised Super League clash a day after his trial and was back on our screens in the big Challenge Cup game on the BBC on Sunday afternoon.

If Saints weren’t prepared to do the right thing and suspend their player following the verdict, the RFL certainly should have. Instead? Nothing.

Mind you, ‘Rugby League World’ and ‘League Weekly’ both saw fit to hand Pryce their player-of-the-month awards for March, so it seems this turning-the-other-cheek isn’t limited only to the clubs.

Arguably, these publications can’t be expected to provide moral guidance when St Helens haven’t bothered.

In any case, there is a big poster of Pryce in the centre pages of RLW that is just perfect for impressionable kids to stick up on their bedroom walls.