COMMENT

BY CURTIS WOODWARD

@woodward_curtis

Let women make decisions for women. That is the message from rugby league fans after the Parramatta Eels became the next NRL club to drop their cheerleaders.

In a world of political correctness and utter madness, the Eels have “dumped” their cheerleading squad on the eve of the 2021 season.

Whether you remember or not or have a bad memory – cheerleaders have been a part of rugby league for decades.

And if you haven’t noticed – they aren’t there for no good reason.

Before Twitter, Facebook and even mobile phones, these skilled dancers were the only excitement you really got between reserve grade games, horrible packages on the big screen (if the venue had a big screen) or an egg race at half-time between ‘John’ from Harris Park and ‘Mick’ from Como.

Ironically, the clubs that are cutting their cheerleaders think they are actually being inclusive.

How wrong they are.

Even funnier, they don’t understand that these ridiculously-talented women are journalists, lawyers, councilors. It goes on. This is time they give up because they love the game.

“Back when I was cheerleading there was the odd comment about our appearance but you’re right – times have changed,” Darcie McDonald told the81stminute.com.

From entertaining thousands of people on ANZ Stadium and cheerleading at the Canterbury Bulldogs for five years, McDonald is now a full-time journalist at Fox Sports and previously worked at Big League magazine.

“What really gets me about the whole culling cheerleaders for the idea of being progressive is that it’s actually the total opposite.

“Refusing a group of women a job in the game and making that decision on their behalf is not progressive, it’s completely backwards.”

But this is not a new issue.

Several clubs in the last few seasons have made decisions for the “greater good”.

“When it comes to cheerleaders, everyone speaks on behalf of them,” McDonald told Macquarie Sports Radio in 2019.

“No person is forced to audition, no one has ever been forced to wear a costume or wear their hair a certain way – this is all by choice. No one has spoken to the girls that this is going to affect, the girls are quite happy to be referred to as cheerleaders and that’s all that should matter really.

“I encourage these clubs in these situations to have a backbone, it tends to be an overly politically correct stance. What is so offensive about talented dancers who put so much work in behind the scenes?”

So who are making these calls?

Your writer while writing this piece, went inside from his man cave, and passed his fiancée.

She asked what incredible magic was being concocted just outside her master bedroom. It was explained, and, her response – without having the best knowledge of rugby league – was quite abrupt.

Asked about Parramatta’s decision…

“Who are these pricks in suits making decisions for the rest of their club?

“What about all the little girls hanging over the fence?

“They want to be cheerleaders!”

How apropos?

Hawaii, Shenzhen, Toronto and Istanbul: Remember these global rugby league events that never saw the light of day

Two years ago a jumper was pulled from Peter Alexander stores because of an online complaint.

Why?

The top sprawled the words, ‘Boys will be boys’.

Wow – how dare they?

Bloody boys.

It’s a confusing, ridiculous world.

The idiots at Peter Alexander ousted the top because of one Facebook complaint.

It appears, that literally… nobody… zero… not one person in the reality that we live in wants to remove cheerleaders from rugby league.

Just shows how much the fools in power at our clubs know about the people down here in the real world.

@woodward_curtis