Rugby League was born from political struggle. There are a lot of complexities, economic discussions and inferences about the relevance that has today, but at its heart, its very core, Rugby League was made by working class men demanding more from a political class who denied them the ability to live well.

Inclusivity is what Rugby League was made for. I’m not, and never have been, that much of a fan of sport. But I do love history, and that and the idea of home were what first caused me to be a Rugby League fan. You can’t disconnect an entity from its history. I grew up in Warrington, grew up seeing hundreds of primrose and blue tops round Golden Square, and I’m now a Warrington fan – it’s part of my history.

Entities adapt, sure, but the fact that most prominent RL clubs are based in areas of the UK that still suffer from economic deprivation is not accidental. That’s where Rugby League came from, and that’s probably where it will stay. Everything about RL is political. Everything about everything is.

To allow Israel Falua to play in the sport, in this country, is to betray the very foundations that the sport is underpinned on. I’m not saying it hasn’t ever been done before, because I’ve seen many fans arguing about the criminalities and discriminatory behaviours of other players from other clubs. More than one thing can be bad. That isn’t a difficult point to understand.

It’s fine, philosophically, to have the opinion that everyone should be able to believe what they want to. Except, this is the real world. There are real world consequences to the things that people say, and think, and publish on instagram. This is a man with a huge public following, who has already created a news story which will spread across the sports pages for days, weeks, maybe even months.

That’s what the RFL is, now. It’s an organisation that allows homophobia. Other organisations didn’t, and don’t. But the RFL does. What does that say? What does that say about the sport, about the ‘family friendly’ ethos the the RL family is seemingly so proud of, until it matters. We don’t care who you are, unless you play the sport. We don’t care if you’re gay, sum total. 

You can distance yourself from his words as much as you want. He’s said them. He meant them. He was accepted as a player with that as a proviso. I imagine it’ll be so much easier for Rugby League players to come out now they know their own dehumanisation by a fellow player is completely acceptable. That it will be so much easier for fans unsure of who they are to be suddenly told that they shouldn’t love themselves for who they are, and that they should burn in hell instead. No, it won’t. But it will be easier for bigotry, whether hidden behind religion or not, to be tolerated and to become acceptable. It doesn’t matter if you’re gay. You’re fair game for that too.

Wigan’s instant response was the best. Let’s make the Catalan game a Pride game, and show that your words don’t have a meaning here. Let’s show that those who are gay, players, fans, anybody, are more important than one man, or one club. But when your governing body doesn’t believe that, how far can that reach? And when your own fans excuse that with the phrase ‘well this player has done something bad as well’, then what does it matter what anyone does? Lets just allow anyone to do and say what they want, no consequences. The Rugby League family.