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From: Ian Heads - Sports Journalist
TO: Rugby League Supporters & Voluntary Workers Association

Firstly, my apologies for not being with you tonight - and my best wishes for the challenge you are undertaking........of giving the `grassroots' ....the voluntary workers and the supporters of the game a genuine voice in the shaping of rugby league's present and future.

Rugby league is lucky to have you. Without the wonderful network of selfless volunteers......and the supporters who have the quality of sticking through thick and thin (and I'm thinking of the appalling Super League years when greed seemed the only game in town) ......well, there wouldn't be a game......and certainly not one at the level that exists today.

I think it's a great thing that you are working towards having a voice in the game - and not leaving it all to men in suits in the rarefied atmosphere of boardrooms.......who I must say in their defence find themselves under pressure at all times from the likes of the parochial interests of individual clubs.....loud media voices.... strong-willed coaches coming from a particular angle......and the small army of player agents, representing a particular agenda, who sprung up in the past 10 years.

Because of the many narrower agendas that exist - some in the game will too often miss what should be (every time!) the key issue for all: THE GREATER GOOD OF THE GAME.

I would imagine that is the great advantage you have - in the great (collective) quality of opinion that you can bring to bear ......that from your perspective, working in and supporting the game, you bring a very real and special knowledge - and your view is inevitably based overwhelmingly on that great question of.... the `greater good'.

People in an association such as yours are part of a long and special tradition....and you might want to pause and think about that.

The game would not have kicked off in Sydney in 1908 without people of belief in rugby league - and people prepared to back that belief with hands-on support. I would remind you that many who made `decision for rugby league' back then did so in the face of hostile opposition. The powerful rugby union organisation and sections of the media (The Bulletin and the Sydney Morning Herald on that side of the fence).....railed against the `new game'. Rugby players considering switching to rugby league were threatened with the loss of jobs in some cases .........and there are instances where the threats were carried. But in Sydney and then beyond...........in Queensland and through the country districts............the True Believers.......the workers and supporters stood firm ....worked hard, and ...against the odds, got rugby league going.

And so it has been down all the years........that while the players (obviously) and the administrators are at the higher end of the rugby league triangle........ the volunteers and the supporters (& the media) have always been such an integral part of the mix too .......and must always be.

I see a great case for an organisation such as yours having a strong voice in the game. I know it is in your statement that you are not in any way some rabble out to make trouble (and you're not!!!) - and it's vital to present yourself as a responsible, intelligent, cohesive force...... comprised of people who just happen to care about the game and happen too to be in the unique position of being able to offer opinions from a strong & special perspective.

The first task, I guess, is to build your own strength.....i.e. recruit numbers ......via the web.... via media attention...maybe via brochure handouts at games etc . The League (s) (and with the lines blurring at times it's sometimes hard to tell who runs what...ARL...NRL etc) would ignore at their own peril an organisation of `true blue' league people representing many members......and offering a unique perspective.

Frankly I would love to see a large and democratic RL Supporters and Voluntary Workers group offering the League opinions (representing many!) on such things as the (miserable ....my personal view) mid season trading that the League allows..........on a player draft......on scrums.......and on a myriad of other `concerns' in the game. What a cat that would put among the pigeons if you could go to them representing the voice of thousands and say......look, we HATE this mid-seaon trading and the way it deflects attention from the season (or whatever causes you chose to run with).

I wish you well. The game needs you.....and I urge an adventurous, energeticand enthusiastic spirit in the cause.
For the book on which I worked with George Piggins a couple of years back I found a great and inspirational quote, which is pertinent to what you are setting out do. Anthropologist Margaret Mead wrote the words, and they were these:
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.

Good Luck.

Ian Heads