Catalans Dragons half-back Luke Keary has clarified explosive comments he made in May criticising Super League, explaining that he never meant to attack the competition’s players or fans and only wants to see it improve.
Keary was fined by the Rugby Football League (RFL) for bringing the sport into disrepute after a interview he gave with Wide World of Sports last month where he described the state of Super League as “horrendous” and slammed the product, the news and coverage of the competition.
The 33-year-old told The i Paper he was “really disappointed” with how the interview came across and that the manner of what he said “overstepped the mark”.
“The interview that I did wasn’t about Super League at all, it was a tiny snippet, a loose discussion at the end and that was what got printed,” he said.
“That’s on me, I’m old enough and experienced enough to know what you can say and what you can say, and that overstepped the mark. I’ve let that be known to the people that need to know.
“It was more a personal opinion and an emotional observation at the time. Some of the stuff that was presented in that article I stand by, but the way it came across was not my intention.
“The way it came across wasn’t good and I understand that. But some of the points I was making, and people have reached out and said they could kind of read through it and get some of the stuff is probably not up to the standard that maybe the fans and the players and the different clubs deserve over here.”
The Aussie star was fined after describing the state of Super League as ‘horrendous’ (Photo: Getty)Keary insists his words did not come from a place of hate of Super League.
“It came from a place of care, I really do care about our game and I care about growing it and showcasing it, it didn’t come from a place of hate or dislike of Super League,” the Dragons playmaker said.
“There are a lot of great players over here in Super League, and I feel as a game we can all do a better job of uplifting and showcasing different players, teams and coaches.
“My views in the article came from observations I had made walking into a new environment. There were things I thought that could have been done to improve the game on and off the field.
“Some people took it as an attack on the players and the quality of players over here, but it wasn’t. It was more an observation of what I’d experienced in my first few months of being here.
“It wasn’t constructive criticism. But I love rugby league, I grew up with rugby league, and watch every game of NRL. I used to watch reserve grade, Under-20s, we used to watch Super League all the time.
“Rugby league as a product, we saw it in Las Vegas when the two English teams went over there, is so good to watch when it’s free-flowing and it’s on. Even these games over here in summer they’re really good to watch, they’re free-flowing and a lot of attacking footy.
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“The game of rugby league over here should be put up on a pedestal and showcased to as many people as possible, everyone involved in the game should always continue to strive for a higher standard on and off the field.
“I’ve seen in Australia the media is just saturated, flooded in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne is starting to get a bit like that, flooded with footy.
“Flooded with news, podcasts, TV shows, radio. I get it’s different here, I get Europe is so big and there’s so many different sports, but it came from a place of I want to see Super League do well because it’s a massive part of rugby league.
“It’s a massive part of the whole of rugby league becoming a global sport and there’s no way you can do it without the presence here in the UK, in Europe, in France.”
Keary remains a supporter of the NRL taking up an ownership stake in Super League.
“I stand by saying that I hope something comes to fruition with an investment from the NRL because I’ve first-hand witnessed what they’ve done to our game in the past five, six years,” he said.
“And I was there through that period, I debuted in 2013, and I’ve seen what Peter [V’landys, NRL chairman] and Andrew [Abdo, NRL chief executive] and this new regime have been able to do to the game since Covid.
“How big it has grown and how popular it is, how ambitious they are and what their aspirations are so I know it will be a positive for the game.
“I hope one day something does happen and it is a positive for the Super League.”
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