TBH it’s not just Wigan who can be on the receiving end of negative reporting in the Guardian.
I feel sorry for Andy Wilson
He must have got the gig with the guardian and been so happy to be in a position the spread the RL gospel in one of the Uks leading publications. I bet when he told his mum and dad they were so proud of what their little boy had achieved.
I bet he turned up on his first day and churned out a lovely little RL related story, took it to the chief sports editor (an absolute rah rah zealot) who allocated him 2 dozen words worth of column space
I can imagine this scenario playing out over his first few years at the paper, along with having to put up with snide comments about RL from his yawnion loving peers. It must have been hard for a poor little northerner with zero backbone to keep fighting the RL fight.
I can see people starting to avoid him in the work canteen, not inviting him to work parties and even leaving rude post-it-notes on his monitor.
Eventually a story broke about Long and Gleeson, who had been accused of placing bets on their own team!!. "Goodness me" he though. What a terrible event, one that could only bring shame on RL!! "I hope the nasty big boys in the office don’t find out about this!!"
But they had....
The Chief sports editor calls Andy into his office and tells him he wants an in-depth gritty article about these scumbag northerners having a pee pee on the memory of William Webb Ellis, with their gambling!!!
Andy was confused, never before had the Head of sports seemed so interested in RL?
He was torn between sticking up for the sport he loved and gaining acceptance of the public school attending colleges in the office.
The next day he handed a gritty account of the story to the editor who was rubbing his grubby little hands with the document, “a full page spread indeed!!!” declared the bigwig.
Then it clicked!!
Andy would try to his best to bring up every controversial event in RL (Wigan in particular)in the safe knowledge that he would be guaranteed more column inches!!!
The next few years where a boom time for Andy. Firstly there was the Wigan salary cap cheating, then there was there crowd trouble at the Hull game, Homosexual chanting at a Rugby Union legend (manna from heaven!!) and on and on and on.......
He had lost the respect of the entire RL community and had lost all self respect
BUT!!!!
Finally he had the respect of his colleagues in the office!!
Everyone’s a winner!!
(this is not factually correct!)