Between rounds - Try and be nice

"...there are so many other quite valid reasons to hate North Melbourne; it disappoints me that any of our number would resort to race."

Mutual R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
-photo: foxsports.com.au

Caroline Wilson reported in The Age yesterday of an AFL proposal to enlist high profile players to lead a campaign to stamp out abuse of opposition players at football matches. All very admirable and right up there with AFL campaigns to say no to racism, promote gender equality, tackle homophobia and resolve the civil war in Syria. Such is the scope and breadth of their extra-curricular interests and activities; it’s easy to forget that the AFL is actually a sporting organisation rather than a Government agency, left-wing think-tank or guild of ethicists.

Of course announcing such a plan on the morning of the day Collingwood is set to take on a St.Kilda side boasting the re-inclusion of Stephen Milne might be a little misguided.  It’s asking a bit much of Collingwood fans to completely rewire their thinking overnight and give Milney an ovation as he comes off the bench.

As it transpired they didn’t. Footage of Milne lining up a shot from the boundary line in the third quarter as the Saints challenged showed a female Collingwood fan – who looked a bit like Joffa's disgruntled sister – leaning over the fence waving a ‘Go Pies’ placard in his face and mouthing off in his ear. I can’t lip read but I suspect she wasn’t enquiring after the health of his family or asking if he’d read any good books lately. I’d be impressed if Milney had read any books lately, let alone any good ones.


Reasons to hate North Melbourne

Having said that, it was concerning to hear reports of racial abuse at the both the Collingwood v Essendon and Hawthorn v North Melbourne matches on the weekend. While some might argue that it’s no surprise to learn that Collingwood fans were implicated, after all, they’re the original and best at this sort of thing, as the famous Winmar jumper moment at Victoria Park illustrated, it’s perhaps more disturbing to hear that Hawthorn fans were also reported to have racially abused North players.  I mean there are so many other quite valid reasons to hate North Melbourne; it disappoints me that any of our number would resort to race.

Boomer Harvey for one, James Brayshaw, Wayne Carey, the 1975 Grand Final and 1977 Preliminary final (no, I still haven't got over them); more recently the 2007 semi-final. A veritable cornucopia of loathing opportunities. Why would you need to target Majak Daw and Daniel Wells (presumably) - two players who are among the most exciting in the competition to watch. Sure Wells was playing annoyingly well, but that was partly Hawthorn’s fault. Plus, we still won.

It’s no defence that Daw and Wells are perhaps the only recognisable players in North jumpers, given that the rest of the team are all WASPy no-names.  It defies logic though that supporters of a team that relies on Buddy Franklin, Cyril Rioli, Shaun Burgoyne and Bradley Hill could muster a racial taunt without their internal hypocrite gauge causing their brains to explode. Between them, this quartet is probably responsible for over 80 per cent of our scoring opportunities. Even if Andrew Bolt was a Hawthorn supporter he’d be on his feet cheering them.

Caroline Wilson’s article highlights that Brad Sewell “condemned racial abuse on Fox Footy”. Does she mean he condemned it while he was appearing as a guest on Fox Footy, or that he condemned endemic racial abuse taking place on Fox Footy?

Equally puzzling, she goes on to say that, “Xavier Ellis tweeted another message to Hawk fans on Thursday”, which raises interesting questions as to who is following Xavier Ellis on Twitter? And why?

Who is so bereft of news input and commentary that they would need to follow Xavier Ellis, be it on Twitter or anywhere else? Don’t get me wrong, I love the X-man. Perhaps no one loves him more, but as for wanting access to his every thought and philosophical speculation… call me shallow, but I’ll stick to following Jaimee Rogers on Instagram.