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{{data.paywallPrompt.callToAction}}This was published 20 years ago
Old school rules
The 2004 sports year effectively started with sexual assault allegations against the Bulldogs; the same time last year it was Shane Warne's drug positive and accusations of infidelity. Instead of celebrating achievement, sport is now all about big money, giant egos, extreme vanity, pampered lifestyles, distance from the community and disrespect for authority.
Yet, with the 97th season of rugby league in Australia kicking off tonight with Penrith hosting Newcastle, one man offers an antidote for the malaise which saddens the game.
Premiership coach John Lang is a triumph of dated virtues, a man who began work at 15, married at 22 and whose father died of emphysema at 67.
"He gave up smoking on a Friday and died on a Monday," Lang said.
"He said on the Friday, 'I think I'll have to give them up this time'."
Lang is the least vengeful man in the most vindictive of codes.
For nearly a decade, he coached the Sharks, a club yet to win a premiership. He was replaced by Chris Anderson, a two-time premiership coach at Canterbury and Melbourne, and moved to Penrith, who were wooden spooners the previous season.
Last year, Lang's Panthers won the premiership, the club's first in 12 years, while Anderson, who accused the Sharks of having a "losing culture", failed to make the finals and was sacked.
Lang's reaction to this Trading Places scenario demonstrates why the game needs good men, never more so than now.
"I never took what Chris said personally," he said. "He was never going to do things at Cronulla the way I do things. If the Sharks wanted someone to do it John Lang's way, they would have kept me.
"Chris sees the Canterbury culture as the way to be successful but I move my ideas with what is there. There is a lot to like with the culture of the Sharks. I don't think Chris was aiming it at me but I will say Chris is a very poor salesman.
"You've got to sell your ideas and, with his comments, he taints everyone who plays for the Sharks. Two of the toughest blokes I ever saw were Les Davidson and Gavin Miller. Are they losers?
"Chris came from the Bulldogs where they have influence and money, particularly when Bullfrog [Peter Moore] was in charge. The Sharks have no influence and no money.
"They have spent half their history staving off bankruptcy. Some seasons have been a success just to exist.
"Chris put a lot of lead in our saddlebags. You know the biggest reason we won here and not at the Sharks? We had a better team."
Teamwork, hard work, persistence and honesty are his eternal verities.
His thoughts impose order after a chaotic pre-season. He has this to say about the game's so-called 10 commandments.
1. Winning a premiership is self-handicapping. It becomes a burden, with every team lifting themselves against the premiers. Lang said: "When Brisbane won their premierships, it was a case of Brisbane against the world. We haven't climbed to the status of a Brisbane yet. It's so hard to repeat as premiers, not because of any jinx but because of the evenness of the competition. It's hard to win once and, if you haven't, there's the burden of that.""[American football coach] Vince Lombardi said you must go out on every play to win and on that basis I can't justify being away."
Off contract this year, Lang said: "I'm not worried. I'm in a better position than I was in the past."