Noqu Masu

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=502292901780930

I am often asked why I love Rugby League, as it is after all, a minority sport.

For me, having been invested in the Sport for forty plus years the answer is simple. As a spectacle it is quite simply the most beautiful of games. To see the skill, strength and competitive spirit of the incredible athletes that play in this sport is something special. The women, men and wheelchair athletes that are putting their skills on show at the Rugby League World Cup (held over to 2022) are providing high calibre entertainment in their respective competitions that are physical beyond belief. Eighty minutes of hard endeavour that tests their capability to the limit as two teams seek to wrestle the initiative to their advantage.

As athletes, they are the best of the best.

However, Rugby League and it's cousin Rugby Union is so much more. The supporters who watch this entertainment are from all walks of life, women, men, children and families, who thankfully, have have escaped the mindless influences of other sports that seem unable to tackle (pardon the pun) their demons, to bring communities together in the spirit of sporting contest.

On Saturday evening I watched an incredible game between Fiji and New Zealand and before the game both teams performed their spiritual rituals. The Noqu Masu ceremonial Hymn by Fiji and The Haka by New Zealand, as their challenge to compete for the ultimate prize. In a game of high physical intensity, and my goodness they put their bodies on the line in this one, New Zealand edged victory by great skill, prowess and sheer determination. They also enjoyed some good fortune along the way.

After the game, and when most of the crowd had departed, The Fiji team who were devastated at their loss, invited their opponents to join them on the field of play to sing with them a reprise of their ceremonial Hymn, Noqu Masu.

This is why I love Rugby League.

In a world where we are constantly striving to be better than the next person, to gain a material advantage over one another, or to seek to be stronger either physically or mentally than each other, then please take a life lesson from this that we are pulling in the same direction.

Regardless of the outcome, by sharing in one another's experiences we can make the world a better place and for anyone who witnessed this moment I imagine it will leave an impression on them forever.

Our sport has been enriched by this moment, and it shows that however hard the battle, the spirit of togetherness can remain strong long after the contest has been decided.

Thank you to the players of Fiji and New Zealand for the most memorable of games that lasted eighty minutes, but more importantly for this two minutes of beauty that represents all that is great in the spirit of our humble game.