Open the War Chest to keep Schifcofske

The Reds are making a move on the Raiders favourite son, as Paul Johnson reports, the battle has begun to keep Clinton Schifcofske where he belongs ... in Rugby League.

So the Queensland reds are trying to poach Clinton Schifcofske from Rugby League and the battling Canberra Raiders, but ultimately no one seems to care, well they should!

If people are true fans of Rugby League and love the sport they should care, and they should care on a level greater than they did when Mark Gasnier, Willie Tonga and Ryan Cross were approached for their services, and perhaps the NRL should use its authority and war chest to do something about it.

Schifcofske is the heart and soul of the Canberra Raiders team, when they look down and out he is the man who holds his head high and usually conjures a supreme effort to lift his team mates and keep them in the game, he is also to use the current popular term a ‘marquee player’. The only one the Raiders have got, and with the team struggling to attract players to the cold nation’s capital, the Raiders need him.

Admittedly, Schifcofske made a major mistake early on in his career, when playing with the South Queensland Crushers. He was found to be guilty of taking a prohibited substance (steroids), but as a mark of the man that he is he did not ever attempt to hide it, but in fact admitted it before the result of the drugs test became public knowledge.

A brief look at the history of sport will tell you that over 90% of athletes accused or found guilty of having a prohibited substance in their system deny it, despite irrefutable proof to the contrary. Schifcofske had the guts to admit his mistake.

While perhaps not a star at the level of Mark Gasnier or even Willie Tonga, Schifcofske has been a long time servant of the game, always doing good things on and off the field, and is a current State of Origin player for Queensland.

He deserves to be afforded a deal backed by the NRL to stay in the game, not only for the credibility of the NRL who helped the Dragons keep Mark Gasnier for a ridiculous sum of money, that he is clearly not worth. But also for the NRL to help the Canberra Raiders who are no longer the star team they once were and are facing dwindling crowds as well as the aforementioned inability to attract star players.

The losses of players from league to Union in the past few years while not large in number have been high on quality, Mat Rogers, Wendall Sailor, Lote Tuqiri, Ryan Cross and the exceptionally talented Berrick Barnes have all been lost to Union, and the loss of Barnes should sting the most.

He was a future star of the game and would have had the potential to draw huge crowds to games, but instead due to the tight salary cap, and potential glory on a greater World Stage he left for Union.

Now the same thing is happening with Schifcofske, the ARU want him and have tabled him, what can only be a very appealing offer. While he is at a different stage of his career, I would beg David Gallop, and the other heads of the NRL, to work in unison with the Canberra Raiders to keep Schifcofske in Canberra. He can help to grow the game there, and have a talented team built around his star value, or the team that was so successful in the early part of the 1990’s will continue to fade away to a shadow, along with the game in Canberra.

I give an open plea to the NRL, please act now before it is too late.

•  Have a view on this story? Send us your feedback!