NRL Reputation in Tatters But Lessons Learned

NRL Reputation in Tatters
But Lessons Learned?

The drunken rampage in country NSW by players from the National Rugby League's Newcastle Knights involving allegations of vandalism and sexual assault has again seriously damaged the NRL's reputation.

One year after the Canterbury Bulldogs plunged rugby league into a crisis following allegations of players raping a female fan, the NRL at the beginning of a new season must have felt is was "groundhog day".

Or was it?

While the behaviour of the Knights' players is inexcusable and impossible to comprehend after last year's debacle, it appears the NRL management and Club CEOs at least have learned from the Bulldogs fiasco.

Managing crises and events that seriously threaten one's reputation are always difficult and poorly done can cripple an organisation.

While never on the balance sheet, an organisation's reputation is its most valuable asset and needs careful nurturing and management.

Last year's Bulldogs saga did enormous damage to the club and NRL's most significant asset.

It appears though that through better issues management following the latest revelations, the NRL has begun to at least work on rebuilding a seriously flawed and damaged reputation.

The Bulldogs and initially the NRL last year appeared to adopt the typical reaction when under public attack and scrutiny in a crisis.

In many respects, it was the textbook lesson on what not to do in a crisis.

First, some in the NRL or Bulldogs initially tried to ignore the situation with some downplaying the allegations.

Hoping such serious allegations will just go away never works.

Next, a veil of secrecy surrounded the situation. It was difficult to get details of the activities of the players and events, let alone the allegations and the Club's response.

Then, legal arguments were used to stall and avoid confronting the issue. Claims that nothing could be done until the "legal processes" had taken their course were never going to quell public and media outrage.

Most damning, and in a classic "what not to do" approach, critics of the Bulldogs were attacked and denounced. The scurrilous attacks on the character of the alleged rape victim on the front page of Sunday papers added fuel to an already raging inferno.

Fast forward 12 months and the NRL is confronted with similar allegations of player drunken rampages and sexual assaults.

Faced with the staggering stupidity of the Knights players, at least the team management and NRL had learned what to do this time - even if the players had not.

The Knights' and NRL's response, on the face of it, appears to have done much to prevent a total melt down.

By contrast to 2004, their response adopted many tactics regarded as critical for successful issues management when an organisation's reputation is at risk.

Quickly, the Knights and NRL appeared to have collected full information about the incident. Their response time this year was significantly reduced.

And perhaps more importantly, the organisations actively sought to reveal rather than conceal what they knew.

Both organisations were proactive in the responses and led the discussion on who was involved, what happened and most importantly what they intended to do in response.

They accepted the criticism, but similarly both were at pains to demonstrate what action they had taken over the past 12 months to demand and expect behaviour changes from their players and teams.

Critically, their immediate response and actions included further measures they were taking to continue the demand for behaviour change.

The swift penalties imposed on the Knights and players were an attempt to reinforce that perception.

No one is suggesting that the NRL or its teams escaped unscathed. Or that their reputations if not in tatters were seriously damaged again.

That many in the community may consider rugby league players as moronic thugs, paid too much with little regard for women or others and the clubs have an unhealthy male-dominated culture involving binge drinking is one brought about solely by the players own behaviour.

The NRL and team management at least appear to have learned some lessons on how to deal with crises as a result of their chargers' stupidity.

The game's and organisation's reputation would stand in much better stead if the players could also learn a thing or two.

Maybe they should start by learning about what is right and wrong.