LeagueNews.co | Cooper McEnroe
Systemic immunity: The NRL's recycling plant for redemption
In rugby league, forgiveness isn't earned.
It's automatic.
Frequently, NRL players find themselves entangled with the law, yet they often undergo a lengthy path to reintegration, only to return to the field with their legal matters resolved.
The problem is that this isn't true redemption; it's recycling.
Within a sport that is often referred to as the 'people's game', rugby league has honed an unsettling systemic reality: no player is ever truly finished, provided two conditions are met:
1. They are still viable in the market.
This recurring trend highlights a notable pattern-essentially a talent economy of forgiveness.