EDITORIAL: Red flag on white shorts

Editorial & Letters|Friday, Jan 13 2012 | Free article|Subscribe for full access

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TEXT THE EDITOR3

By Paul Mitchell

On paper, forcing all RFL Independent football teams to wear 'away' shorts seems like a sensible idea.

Nobody enjoys watching a sporting game featuring two teams whose outfits clash.
On TV, it looks particularly bad, as evidenced a couple of times last year in the national netball and rugby league competitions.
On the field, if uniforms are too similar, intentionally firing out a reflex pass to an opposition player can be a reality, albeit rare.
However, while no-one doubts local lawmakers are introducing the 'white shorts rule' for the right reasons, it could in fact make life more difficult for certain clubs.
Finding enough players to field a team each week is a perpetual problem with many country sports, and local football - particularly at Independent level – is no exception.
For those coaches and officials struggling to scrape together a team and keep their club alive (and bet on that happening on at least a few occasions during season 2012), the white shorts rule could potentially be just another hurdle to overcome.
Footballers (be they juniors, past players, learners or otherwise) often are called in at the last minute, from all corners, to ‘fill in’ for a week or two.
If the RFL – quite rightly – decides to police the rule to the letter of the law, odds are not all players will be able to ‘comply’ with the white shorts rule all the time.
These players could be denied the chance to help out their clubs, which in turn would make fielding a team that much harder.
Furthermore, adding white shorts to the required equipment needed to play footy is another cost – about $20 – for regular players, on top of boots, socks, mouth guards, subs and anything else.
It may not sound much to some people, but it could be enough for others to say ‘couldn’t be bothered’.
Clubs may ultimately need to shell out for their own supply of white shorts to ensure anyone willing to play is able to play.
Regardless, one would thing making it easier for people to play footy (or any sport), rather than harder might be a wiser move.

Footnote: Pioneer editor Paul Mitchell coached RFL Independent club Moorook-Kingston from 2001 to 2005.