Luke Keary defends his “unwatchable” Super League rant as England legend agrees with comments

Former Catalans Dragons half-back Luke Keary has defended the comments he made earlier in the season that slated the Super League competition.

The ex-NRL Grand Final winner was fined £1000 for an interview he gave to Australian media, whereby he stated the Northern Hemisphere competition as “horrendous” and “unwatchable” in a scathing review of the division.

Berating almost every part of the game, including on-field product, media coverage and the TV broadcast, Keary, who was at the Dragons at the time, was hounded by the UK fans and media for his views, but has now revealed he still stands by what he said.

The former Sydney Roosters and South Sydney Rabbitohs man was a guest on James Graham’s The Bye Round podcast, as he discussed his overall time in Perpignan, as well as the benefits of a potential NRL involvement in Super League.

“It was awesome,” said Keary, discussing his overall time in the south of France. “It was just great to experience it all. It was challenging at the start, obviously I got myself into a bit of trouble for being a bit too honest, but it was awesome.”

“The Super League, even the crowds… it’s so different over there to here in Australia. The fans, they’re just mad, they’re singing the whole game. It was full of great moments, but it was also a pretty challenging year on the field.”

Graham dived into the interview the recently retired playmaker gave back in May, and revealed that he actually agreed with what he said.

“You made those comments about the Super League and you said you were too honest. When I read them, I actually thought you should be applauded for your honesty,” said Graham.

“I care about the game on both sides of the world and I want to see it get better. For me, I was like, maybe they should listen. Maybe they should take that on board.”

Keary, who does admit the way he gave his views came across badly, explained how he still believes his comments are still worthwhile.

He said: “I stand by the points inside it and a lot of people reached out, the same as you, Jimmy, who have watched that game over there, been a part of it, and want to see it do better. They could see where I was coming from.

“I’ve watched the Super League ever since I was a kid. You get up, you watch all those NRL boys go over there and play and you admire it from afar, but had no idea about how it was run or any of the intricacies inside, or the RFL, or anything like that.

“It was just a huge shock to be about what was going on over there and what people were putting up with and even the way Catalans were being treated during it all. It all came to a head in that interview, but it was the way it came across, I really regret that.”

He went on to say how Catalans have to pay for every Super League club’s travel to Perpignan, and also defended fellow French side Toulouse, with the Championship Grand Final winners receiving half as much funding as the rest of the competition, making for an uneven playing field before a ball has even been kicked.

Graham replied: “I’m 100% with you. It was funny, because your comments were made and some of the responses were ‘who’s this Aussie coming over here, telling us how rubbish the comp is and you should be grateful’. But then [Peter] V’landys goes over and… basically says it needs to be rescued and it’s like ‘oh, he’s the saviour’.”

“You asked about the running of the game over there. I genuinely don’t know who is in charge, which is the unfortunate thing.

“…When I watch the game over there, there are just a few little things that can make a huge difference and wouldn’t require a lot.”

Check out the latest episode of The Serious About Rugby League Show on our YouTube channel here.