ETHAN Natoli would take the prize of being Super League’s most frustrated player – at club and Test level.
For the London star cannot see why the top flight is not backing the Broncos, who were seemingly condemned to relegation before a ball was kicked.
And after seeing Italy barred from the Rugby League World Cup, he feels the sport is shooting itself in both feet!
If it was not for his performances for his heritage nation in the 2022 tournament, he would be playing in Sydney parks while working as a plumber.
Now he is part of a team looking to build on its first success in Super League at the 11th time of asking and defy the lowly IMG grading of 24th to stay up.
Natoli cursed ahead of today’s meeting with Hull KR after defeating Hull FC: “I’m always someone who wants to prove doubters wrong. I definitely use that as motivation.
“It’s hard to invest in a season when before it comes they’re pretty much saying, ‘You’re not going to stay up.’
“How do you tell a 20-year-old kid whose dream has been to play in Super League – and there were plenty who worked their arses off to get up – that before you get your chance, you’re only going to have one year to prove yourself?
“Now the mood’s very different after our win, it’s a monkey off our backs. Pressure was starting to build up and you can forget how to win – there’s talent in the team but you can lose that confidence.
“Hopefully, we can kick off that energy and when I hear, ‘They’re just there to make up the numbers.’ No, we want to win games. There’s a lot of unearthed talent and that win will help us push on.
“In the grading under catchment area, they’ve just given us one area of London, which is pretty slack because our players from the south are from all over – Kent, Essex, Surrey, Northampton, Hertfordshire.
“The real catchment area is nearly a quarter of the country but they gave us a little slice and there are thousands of kids swaying between rugby league and union.
“If they don’t keep us in the top level, you don’t know what’s going to happen in five years – with the grading we have, it’s not looking too good for us to get to the top level again.”
If club obstacles were not enough, Natoli’s path to international glory is also blocked after Italy were one of the nations – including Scotland and Ireland – whose membership of International Rugby League were downgraded.
That means they cannot take part in the next 10-team World Cup – down from 16 – leaving the 29-year-old believing the sport is cutting its nose off to spite its face.
And he should know about the benefits having sides like Italy, Jamaica and Greece can bring.
He added: “It’s frustrating to watch what’s happening. The IRL is helping the Pacific teams, which they need, but five or 10 years ago, they were getting beaten by Australia by 50 or 60 points.
“They were in the same position as Italy and who wants to watch a World Cup with only 10 teams? Look at rugby union’s, that has teams getting smashed but they’re still entertaining games.
“The more people play the game, the better it’ll be all over. If you keep it to 10 teams, what’s going to make a younger kid represent somewhere when there’s no avenue for it?
“I went back to Australia and got the call to come to London. I was going to hang the boots up and play park rugby but thought, ‘I’m never going to get this chance again.’ So after speaking to my family, I took it and it’s changed my life – I’ve loved it.”
