Tweet
found this in the fitz files from yesterdays herald
Kokoda cop-out
Listen, on this subject, TFF makes no claims to being dispassionate or even remotely objective. As one writing a book on the battle of the Kokoda Track - where in New Guinea in 1942 a vastly outnumbered group of Australian diggers fought magnificently against overwhelming odds to see off Japanese plans to invade Australia - my admiration knows no bounds for those now elderly gentlemen. Many Australians feel the same way and all of us were thrilled last year when the Sydney Swans committed for five years to having an annual Kokoda memorial game between the Swans and another AFL team at the Telstra Stadium to honour them. Sixty diggers were flown in and tribal dancers from New Guinea. The Department of Veterans Affairs got behind it, and diggers who wore their medals got in for free. Australia Post ran an education program and produced a series of special stamps. Things were moving. The diggers were being celebrated and acknowledged in the way they always should have been. The commitment and initiative of the Swans, backed by the AFL, was warmly applauded by all and sundry. Not only that, but over 40,000 people attended that game, in part because they were drawn by the legend of Kokoda, and what the Swannies were doing to highlight it. This week though, with no apology, the Swans and the AFL suddenly made it known that they were going to renege on their commitment to stage the Kokoda memorial game. Concerned that the level of sponsorship wasn't what they were expecting, they simply pulled the pin. Finished. Kaput. One of the many tragedies of what happened on the Kokoda Track was that the diggers were at first ignored and then betrayed by petty officialdom. This decision is extremely disappointing.
Kokoda cop-out
Listen, on this subject, TFF makes no claims to being dispassionate or even remotely objective. As one writing a book on the battle of the Kokoda Track - where in New Guinea in 1942 a vastly outnumbered group of Australian diggers fought magnificently against overwhelming odds to see off Japanese plans to invade Australia - my admiration knows no bounds for those now elderly gentlemen. Many Australians feel the same way and all of us were thrilled last year when the Sydney Swans committed for five years to having an annual Kokoda memorial game between the Swans and another AFL team at the Telstra Stadium to honour them. Sixty diggers were flown in and tribal dancers from New Guinea. The Department of Veterans Affairs got behind it, and diggers who wore their medals got in for free. Australia Post ran an education program and produced a series of special stamps. Things were moving. The diggers were being celebrated and acknowledged in the way they always should have been. The commitment and initiative of the Swans, backed by the AFL, was warmly applauded by all and sundry. Not only that, but over 40,000 people attended that game, in part because they were drawn by the legend of Kokoda, and what the Swannies were doing to highlight it. This week though, with no apology, the Swans and the AFL suddenly made it known that they were going to renege on their commitment to stage the Kokoda memorial game. Concerned that the level of sponsorship wasn't what they were expecting, they simply pulled the pin. Finished. Kaput. One of the many tragedies of what happened on the Kokoda Track was that the diggers were at first ignored and then betrayed by petty officialdom. This decision is extremely disappointing.
Comment