Managing media relations a part of the game

BOB CASEY DIARY:Journalists' opinions on a player or a game will naturally vary and, in the end, it's up to the player himself to honestly appraise his own performance

IT WAS strictly a work-related directive that allowed me to pass an enjoyable night in The Gateway pub in Reading in the company of Brian Blaney and a group of London Irish supporters. The club runs these evenings at what are termed London Irish pubs, establishments that sell tickets to our matches and also organise minibuses to get there.

The question and answer session threw up some interesting enquiries, one of which was about how players react to the press. It got me thinking about the role of the media and the part it plays in the life of a professional rugby player and how it can have both a positive and negative impact, the outcome occasionally dictated by the attitude a player has in dealing with the press.

The first step is to understand journalists’ opinions vary just like those of players with regard to how they analyse a game. Alex Corbisiero was given four out of 10 in one newspaper’s player ratings and eight in another. So what’s he to believe? The answer to that question lies in the honesty with which you as a player must appraise your own performance.

If you don’t do that then you’ll have your head turned by every little bit of flattery or criticism. Alex is a level-headed guy and his attitude was that just as he enjoyed the rave reviews of his first few caps he must accept the criticism when the team underperforms.

Shontayne Hape, soon to be a team-mate, has come in for some serious flak over here in the newspapers but in talking to some of the England internationals they’ll tell you he’s an integral part of the team. He trucks up ball, makes his tackles and is a good communicator. There has to be something else though and a player who is held in high regard by his team-mates might be afforded that status for reasons away from the match arena.

Every team has its share of non-flashy players but who have a big role to play in the collective; it can be down to someone who has a positive effect on team spirit or is a good motivator, qualities other than his playing ability that make him valuable to a team, particularly in the week leading up to a game.

Some supporters’ websites should carry a government health warning as far as players are concerned. Individuals take a peek and can get adversely affected by it. Many players don’t have the time or the inclination for ‘sappers’ (people who drain your emotional energy with relentless negativity as it is primarily a distraction from what should be the main focus; your team-mates and your coaches.

One former Leinster player was known to log onto websites of that ilk under a pseudonym and add in the odd positive comment about his performance. Another would log on straight after a game to see what people were saying about him.

I don’t because there’s nothing constructive there for me. I had a few bad experiences in the early days of my international career with one Sunday journalist in particular.

In extreme cases players can band together, putting up a barrier and refusing to cooperate with an individual. This is a last resort and isn’t instigated on foot of legitimate criticism.

Some teams look to the old Millwall philosophy ‘of nobody likes us but we don’t care’. I was very impressed with the way the Ireland squad handled themselves during the Six Nations Championship. The coach, captain and players backed what the squad were trying to achieve without burying their heads in the sand and ignoring the shortcomings of some performances. No one ignored the elephant in the room; the penalty count that was undermining Irish ambition.

The top players invariably deal well with the media and it comes from two things; a player’s attitude to this particular task that falls within his remit as a professional rugby player and also education and upbringing. If a player is amenable and generally receptive to enquiries when dealing with the media then he is going to be cut more slack than someone who is monosyllabic and aloof. It’s human nature.

If you view dealing with the press as a negative part of your job and unwelcomingly intrusive then it is going to have a wearing effect emotionally and be a huge mental distraction. When I started my career and was in the IRFU academy, Stephen Aboud ensured that one of the modules was media training. I remember being interrogated by RTÉ’s Jim Sherwin and in response to one particular question unintentionally ratting out Peter Smyth, much to the amusement of the rest of the Ireland under-21 squad.

There is an element of treating journalists as you would like to be treated on a human level until a point comes that becomes impossible for a variety of reasons. Players differ in their approach not only to media duties but to what they’ll read.

Mentally weak players will place far too much store on what’s written, positive or negative and that’s counterproductive to the balanced outlook you would hope to have.

It’s important journalists do not possess all the information in terms of the team dynamics. For example under a previous coaching regime at London Irish we had players known as ‘elite carriers,’ and another group called ‘elite cleaners’. I was in the latter category and my primary function was to clean out at rucks: we’re not talking Jeeves here.

My own carries would arise from being in the right place by accident. I was supposed to be somewhere else. I used to joke that I only wanted to be captain because it would get my ‘touches on the ball category up’. Whenever we were awarded a penalty I would grab the ball and appear to be considering the options.

In times past with Ireland, the day after the Six Nations finished to be specific, the squad would meet in a Dublin pub and the player ratings were pinned to a wall behind where the person was standing having a drink. I remember Frankie Sheahan having had a bad day at the office and standing in front of a rating of three or something like that. A sense of humour is important in dealing with the media . . said the poacher turned gamekeeper.