Graham Lowe: Wanted: New age gladiator

One of the most interesting sights of last week's 14th round of the NRL was the image of Hollywood gladiator Russell Crowe, stubbie in hand and smile on his dial, celebrating a most unlikely win by his newly acquired South Sydney side over the high-flying Brisbane Broncos.

Crowe looked completely chuffed, like a man who was enjoying stepping up to a key role in what was his heritage, and watching his beloved Rabbitohs deliver the first repayment of his faith in the once-great club.

For all the bravado Crowe so expertly portrayed in the blockbuster movie, he doesn't really have a background in the game of league.

Instead, firstly his interest, and then his passion, were fuelled by the gladiators he watched playing the game as he grew up in Sydney; and when, as a young kid he actually had the chance to visit the Souths dressing room and meet some of the club's legends.

With that, his love affair with the red and greens was cemented.

To shake the hand of the toughest of the toughest of front-rowers, Rabbitoh captain John Sattler (who famously played 75 minutes of a winning grand final with a busted jaw), then legendary Australian loose forward Ron Coote, with the other stars of the great Souths side of the '60s and '70s left an indelible impression on the young Crowe.

In fact, it was a meeting that could now be said, some three or four decades later, to have saved the South Sydney club from extinction.

While Crowe wasn't a league player, he grew to love the game, and especially the many characters in it.

It begs the question, would the same thing happen these days - some budding young kid, destined for greatness and great wealth, standing in awe of the many legends that graced the game, and finding the passion so strong that it remained in his blood so long he literally bought the club?

I don't think so. The great characters of the game, the huge hitters, the gnarled old props, the enforcers, and the sheer flyers on the flanks, are sadly missing today.

There's the odd exception.

A young fella meeting Andrew Johns would be similarly over-awed, but the bar is being lowered when we are looking for names that will live forever as legends of the game.

Can the modern players of that stature please stand up, because the game desperately needs you.

I'm looking at many of the unpredictable results this season and wondering where the consistency of great teams has gone.

Even more importantly, where are the game's modern-day legends?

I'm not only talking about the Warriors - but every NRL club.

There is plenty of hype coming out of the NRL in relation to the expansion of the competition from 15 to 16 teams in 2007, but it brings a massive problem with it.

As the 16th team, the Gold Coast Titans will attract plenty of interest, mostly because there have already been a couple of outfits crash and burn on the Gold Coast.

But that's not the main issue. What concerns me most is where are all the players coming from?

The Titans will need 25 players but that's only half the first-grade standard players the game will need to find.

Fifty is a more likely number because the Titans' 25 will need to be replaced, mainly from the pool of existing NRL players.

After the first few rounds this season I thought the NRL competition was destined to enjoy one of its best seasons but I've changed my mind.

The game in general is becoming ordinary. Here's a test. Name four modern legends who could sit alongside stars like Alfie Langer, Wally Lewis, Mal Meninga, Gorden Tallis, Trevor Gilmeister, Terry Lamb, Ray Price, Mick Cronin, Brett Kenny, Peter Sterling, Paul Harragon, Michael O'Conner, Mario Fenech and David Gillespie.

These were all guys who wouldn't go a single game without some piece of bravery, cheek, skill, nerve and even humour.

And I've resisted going an era further back to the great Langlands, Smith, Raper, Gasnier, McCarthy, Coote, Fulton and Sattler period.

The NRL player quality issue is one that needs addressing if the game is going to retain the popularity it has always enjoyed in Australia.

Worryingly, the average crowd to a game this year is down by 1000 people, and that says something to me. Alarm bells should be going off at NRL headquarters this year.

You only have to look at the State of Origin this year - even in this country, it has created nowhere near the interest it used to.

However, Queensland's thumping 30-6 victory over NSW at Suncorp on Wednesday night will have shown Origin Football is still very much alive.

An ordeal shared

The Ponsonby club in Auckland is the oldest league club in New Zealand and boasts a wonderful history including the most Kiwis and titles won. It is similar to the Australian foundation club South Sydney in that respect.

Ponsonby will be 100 years old in 2008 and the club is trying avoid being relegated to a level it has never occupied before.

A 16-14 win last Saturday over Ellerslie last weekend plucked Ponsonby out of the danger zone and given them confidence. Victoria Park in Auckland is a long way from the Stadium in Sydney, where the Warriors, sharing Ponsonby's plight, got a result. Ivan Cleary's players responded to his calls for a desperate effort. And now a win against the Knights this weekend would really kick-start their campaign.