AS WE THINK about the new season and heading into a whole new era, it’s worth reflecting for a few minutes on how we can promote the best possible behaviours in rugby league, bearing in mind it often involves 17 stones of masculine muscle & bone running headlong into another chap.
And I think we can learn lots about ‘good’ behaviour from primary school playgrounds.
1. You should all run around and play and enjoy it.
2. There is a friendship bench for when you are tired and need a sit down
3. You should not hit people. Even if they have tripped you up. You tell the Supervisor, you do not retaliate.
4. If your friend is hurt, you should tell the Supervisor, not hit the person who hurt them.
5. You will be written in The Book, or sent to see the Head, if you are rude to the Supervisors. This may mean you spend some playtimes inside.
6. If you are racist, or call people gay, or are nasty to people because they wear glasses or have a false leg, you with be in Big Trouble and Be Inside For A Lot Of Playtimes.
(Calling people gay is like "relationship racism" I'm told by a 9 year old. Spot on description.)
There are other truths too - like if you are frequently naughty then in a 50:50 call, you'll come off worse if there’s ever some uncertainty about naughtiness, and if you are Very Naughty Outside of School Time, even if you’re not wearing uniform, then there will be additional school-hour repercussions.
The codes of good behaviour aren’t tricky. Following them through might very occasionally drive the most saintly to nod a little too forcefully when asked a question at a play-the-ball, or the fire of a grand entrance may heat tempers to punching point, or it might be that your unorthodox way of removing old internal joinery doesn’t really fit with your team’s view of home improvement. But if we keep thinking key stage 1, we know how we all need to act.
So, class. Out into the playground then?
And I think we can learn lots about ‘good’ behaviour from primary school playgrounds.
1. You should all run around and play and enjoy it.
2. There is a friendship bench for when you are tired and need a sit down
3. You should not hit people. Even if they have tripped you up. You tell the Supervisor, you do not retaliate.
4. If your friend is hurt, you should tell the Supervisor, not hit the person who hurt them.
5. You will be written in The Book, or sent to see the Head, if you are rude to the Supervisors. This may mean you spend some playtimes inside.
6. If you are racist, or call people gay, or are nasty to people because they wear glasses or have a false leg, you with be in Big Trouble and Be Inside For A Lot Of Playtimes.
(Calling people gay is like "relationship racism" I'm told by a 9 year old. Spot on description.)
There are other truths too - like if you are frequently naughty then in a 50:50 call, you'll come off worse if there’s ever some uncertainty about naughtiness, and if you are Very Naughty Outside of School Time, even if you’re not wearing uniform, then there will be additional school-hour repercussions.
The codes of good behaviour aren’t tricky. Following them through might very occasionally drive the most saintly to nod a little too forcefully when asked a question at a play-the-ball, or the fire of a grand entrance may heat tempers to punching point, or it might be that your unorthodox way of removing old internal joinery doesn’t really fit with your team’s view of home improvement. But if we keep thinking key stage 1, we know how we all need to act.
So, class. Out into the playground then?