BY JOHN DAVIDSON
Exclusive: Catalans Dragons winger Tommy Makinson has thrown his support behind teammate Luke Keary, who has been fined by the Rugby Football League (RFL) £3000 for comments he made about Super League.
The RFL has slapped Keary with the maximum fine for an off-field misconduct charge after he criticised the competition earlier this month and backed an NRL takeover in a controversial interview with an Australia-based website.
Keary told Wide World of Sports: “If the NRL don’t buy it [Super League], they’re in a lot of trouble … all the players are open to it. I’ll go on the record saying [Super League] is in such a bad way, the game is horrendous over here.
“It’s the product, the coverage, the news around the game, there is zero. There is zero. Just the top teams have [strong] support and that is it. You watch the games, they’re near unwatchable.
“The way Sky do it now, or whoever’s got it, it’s near unwatchable, and the players all know it.”
The RFL decided to sanction the playmaker under their operational rules, alleging that he had engaged in conduct that is prejudicial to the interests of the game, brought the game into disrepute, or constituted improper conduct. Keary is fighting the charge.
The Australian has received public support from his former Catalans coach, Steve McNamara, and now also from Makinson. An England international and five-time Super League grand final winner, Makinson left St Helens to join the Dragons at the end of last year.
The winger has defended the 33-year-old playmaker as a devoted rugby league individual and as someone who actually wants to see the UK competition grow and thrive.
“Luke’s a passionate bloke,” Makinson told rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads.
“What he said probably came across a bit too steep, but I know Luke, I know what he’s getting at.
“It’s just exactly what I’ve said really, he loves the game but he’s probably just a bit disappointed how it’s been perceived at the minute.
“The NRL, they’ve seen the drop [in Super League]. In the NRL they’ve had a boom, the figures are through the roof. There’s so much money, so much sponsorship in the game.
“They probably look at Super League and have watched it go the other way. Everyone in rugby league wants a strong international game and a strong Super League.
“I think Luke was getting at that. He probably got his point across very strongly, but I don’t think he meant it in the way he’s come across.
“But he certainly made people stand up and listen.”
Keary’s comments provoked a strong backlash in the sport in the UK, with the Australian attacked on social media and criticised in the media.
Rugby League Commercial managing director Rhodri Jones defended Super League and told the BBC Keary’s views were “disappointing” and “over-dramatic”.
In recent years numerous incidents involving off-field behaviour by players in Super League have gone unpunished by the RFL, including drink-driving and a viral video of one player performing a sex act behind a Greggs.
Sky Sports pundit Brian Carney has also defended Keary and believes the big fine given out to the halfback is harsh.
“Luke’s comments were poorly worded and left open to misinterpretation,” Carney told rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads.
“He accepts that. Luke has made clear his intent and I believe that has been accepted as not malicious in any way. ‘Over-dramatic’ as described by Rhodri Jones is appropriate.
“The maximum fine is heavy handed and may be counter-productive when all this is considered.
“I fear that while players may learn valuable lessons on the importance of choosing appropriate language, they may also be put off from raising subjects for discussion and offering honest opinion.
“I believe Luke is appealing the punishment and I applaud him for doing that.”