Six things we didn't miss about sport - and why now's a good time for change

Sadio Mane,, of Liverpool, goes down under a challenge from Frederic Guilbert, of Villa, before being booked for diving. Photo / Photosport

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a particular way of highlighting long-existing flaws in society – and sport has been no different.

As the country and the rest of the world braces for sport's return - to screens at least - here are six things sports fans haven't missed about sport (and why now is a good time to change them).

The stadium experience

Sports attendances at stadiums and arenas around the country have been plummeting for a while now.

Part of that is due to the changing technological landscape, which has made the stay-at-home experience so good that the prospect of making the effort to get to a stadium has become less attractive, despite live sport's unique ability to thrill and create a sense of community.

But the biggest barrier for most sports fans has been a lack of accessibility when it comes to the sports-going experience.

Getting to games isn't always easy; parking can be a nightmare and public transport isn't the seamless experience advertised. The astronomical food and drinks prices – let alone the quality – make the experience even less attractive to the average punter.

At the same time, sport has become less of a family-friendly environment as most games are on late, which brings us to the next thing …

Late games

TV rights are now the main revenue stream for most sports. So it's easy to see why evening kickoff times have been the norm for rugby and most other sports, considering it's the prime-time slot for broadcasters.

But, at the same time, that's left entire generations of fans out in the cold (literally), with many not knowing what it's like to watch an All Blacks test on TV or at a stadium.

Late games also make it less attractive – or even impossible – for many fans to actually go out to a Friday or Saturday night match, especially for families.

If sports like rugby want to stay relevant, more afternoon/day games would be a great place to start.

Rugby delays

Oh boy, I do love a good scrum reset – said no one ever.

Sports like rugby and football are great because of its free-flowing nature, its value proposition over many other sports.

But for some reason, rugby has had a particular fascination with constantly changing rules to make the game even more complicated.

Some of it is because of safety, which is important. But things like scrums could be easily streamlined and fixed.

On top of that, fixing scrums in rugby could also make players safer in the corona age, according to medical advice.

A report, produced with feedback from more than 80 medical examiners, suggested that banning scrum resets in rugby – which were found to take up 3.6 minutes of game time – would reduce high-risk transmission exposure for players by 30 per cent.

Rugby has no excuse now.

Israel Folau

Speaking of issues in rugby, homophobia is definitely something we haven't missed in sport.

Israel Folau, Australia's controversial crusader who was sacked from the Wallabies for his social media posts, is now plying his trade in league in France, and has learned to keep his views to himself.

But the issue still exists. And Israel Folau still didn't have an issue finding a new job in sport, despite his continued insistence on projecting his views to his millions of followers.

The ugly, discriminatory side of sport still exists from the professional level to the grassroots. And a lot more could be done to stamp it out.

Football simulation

The ESPN and Netflix documentary, The Last Dance, told the story of one of the most competitive athletes in history, Michael Jordan, a man so hungry for success that he couldn't help but being a little abrasive – to say the least – to even his own teammates.

The documentary basically argues that those traits are inextricable from being one of the greatest athletes in history.

In football, diving and simulation comes close to that idea – that it's a byproduct of ultra-competitiveness. Players will do everything they can to win, and unless there are measures to discourage it, diving and simulation will continue to taint the beautiful game.

Retrospective bans were introduced in 2017 by England's FA, but it didn't appear to detract from the practice. VAR (video assistant referee) has sort of helped referees spot more infractions, but, well, VAR isn't exactly a shining light of the game either.

Whether the sport can clamp down on one of its most infamous issues will remain to be seen, but the sight of a limp body curled up on the ground after a dive has certainly not been missed.

The NRL judiciary

It's part and parcel of an NRL season.

A player gets put on report and after facing the judiciary is then handed a totally different ban, or no ban at all, compared to someone who made the identical transgression earlier in the season.

Usually, the Warriors get a raw deal most often on these occasions while State of Origin stars seem to benefit from the old "blind eye" when facing the panel. It gets even more complicated for followers of rugby league when you bring in the points system and whether a player has a good record.

Sadly, there probably isn't a solution to make it better - which is great news for Sydney-based lawyers.