Goodes

[Bexl]

I was sitting 8 rows behind them and at the time I said to the person next to me that she is only young, 16 at the most, give her a warning and some education and that should be enough.
I did think it was strange that an adult did not go with her as it was plain she is a minor but now I read that mcg security told her adult relative to stay in her seat.
This treatment of a child is a more serious issue to me than the original issue. I hope this is looked into and is fixed.

[Meg]

I think it has been an extraordinary AFL Indigenous Round w/e. Fri night saw Adam Goodes play as well as he did in his Brownlow Medal years to absolutely dominate the match as best on ground. As we all know sadly this was followed by awful racist abuse which has unfortunately dominated reporting of the Swans' match ever since. The Hawks got a real scare from the GC Suns but Buddy Franklin was one of the Hawk stars that got them home in the second half. I watched the Essendon/Richmond match last night - the so-called Dreamtime Match and they had a really moving Aboriginal ceremony/celebration before the match. The best 'Welcome to Country' introduction I have ever seen. Also Richmond wore a beautiful guernsey with a black Aboriginal motif snaking down their usual yellow diagonal slash. And I just watched the Crows v Nth Melb match. Lindsay Thomas starred for North and North were up by 30 points half way through the last quarter only for the Crows to come storming home in an amazing finish to win by one point. And the Crows' player who kicked the winning goal in the last minute of the game? Jared Petrenko, an indigenous player.

Hard not to think this was a very special w/e for indigenous players.

[ScottH]

I think it has been an extraordinary AFL Indigenous Round w/e. Fri night saw Adam Goodes play as well as he did in his Brownlow Medal years to absolutely dominate the match as best on ground. As we all know sadly this was followed by awful racist abuse which has unfortunately dominated reporting of the Swans' match ever since. The Hawks got a real scare from the GC Suns but Buddy Franklin was one of the Hawk stars that got them home in the second half. I watched the Essendon/Richmond match last night - the so-called Dreamtime Match and they had a really moving Aboriginal ceremony/celebration before the match. The best 'Welcome to Country' introduction I have ever seen. Also Richmond wore a beautiful guernsey with a black Aboriginal motif snaking down their usual yellow diagonal slash. And I just watched the Crows v Nth Melb match. Lindsay Thomas starred for North and North were up by 30 points half way through the last quarter only for the Crows to come storming home in an amazing finish to win by one point. And the Crows' player who kicked the winning goal in the last minute of the game? Jared Petrenko, an indigenous player.

Hard not to think this was a very special w/e for indigenous players.

Yes. Besides a silly girl it was a great w/e of footy and the indigenous!!

[poundpuppy]

This treatment of a child is a more serious issue to me than the original issue. I hope this is looked into and is fixed.

The mother also claimed the girl was interviewed by police for over 2 hours but I would assume that was with an appropriate adult present. She is looking for an explanation now and I can't say I blame her ... seems a bit over the top.

Which is ridiculous.
Given she was a a child. I would have insisted i went with her. Even if she was not a relative.

Grandmother said she she was so shocked at what was happening she didn't know what to do. And some older people can be a bit intimidated by authority figures and may not want to challenge them.

[Meg]

Yes. Besides a silly girl it was a great w/e of footy and the indigenous!!

And my Port Power supporting sister in Adelaide tells me that Chad Wingard was their best player in what was otherwise a rather sad loss.

[billyboob]

And some people can be a bit intimidated by authority figures and may not want to challenge them.

Fixed it for you.

[DamY]

And my Port Power supporting sister in Adelaide tells me that Chad Wingard was their best player in what was otherwise a rather sad loss.

He's got superstar written all over him.

[Triple B]

I strongly suspect we may have all learned a lesson. I for one will be a bit more careful with the words I use to describe umpires.

Agree Prim, it's only a matter of time before a group of maggots speak out about being constantly associated with umpires and who could blame them....

[goswannie14]

Agree Prim, it's only a matter of time before a group of maggots speak out about being constantly associated with umpires and who could blame them....

[mcs]

There is always one idiot in the press that will sell out for a headline, and quite often it is Andrew Bolt:

No Cookies | Herald Sun

Whilst there are people like him still in the press, there will still be people out there that think its 'ok' to say things like what was said on Friday night.

But then again, he has history in this area, so I shouldn't be suprised.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-28/bolt-found-guilty-of-breaching-discrimination-act/3025918

[dimelb]

Full time professional jackass.
What can one expect from Rupert's Rags?

[ShockOfHair]

Good old Bolty. Year in year out, when the Brownlow for 'Australia's Most Stupid' is handed out, he's in with a chance.

[Xie Shan]

Serious question... if you saw or heard any instances of racial abuse at the footy, would you speak up? I've thought about it, and while normally I'm the low key type who wouldn't rock the boat, I think it's important that we set a boundary of what's right and wrong. Thoughts?

[ScottH]

Serious question... if you saw or heard any instances of racial abuse at the footy, would you speak up? I've thought about it, and while normally I'm the low key type who wouldn't rock the boat, I think it's important that we set a boundary of what's right and wrong. Thoughts?

Personally, I don't like to see people hang over the fence and hurl any sort of abuse at players.
This needs to be stopped.

As for racial abuse. I would like to think I would, but it all depends on the situation. You don't want to put yourself in a vulnerable situation.
Most venues have a Text line where you can SMS them about anti social behaviour.

I took my father-in-law to the VFL GF at Etihad a few years ago.
He said quite loudly to me that their were a lot of Indigenous people(replaced this with the 3 letter, 4 for plural, abbreviation commonly used to describe them) around. After quickly looking around to see if anyone had heard, I said you can't say that. "Why Not?" was the reply. sheesh.
He did a similar thing last year in Harrods, which is owned by Arabs, about the young girls wearing head scarves shopping there.
My wife and I casually stepped away. Some people will never learn.

[Primmy]

Serious question... if you saw or heard any instances of racial abuse at the footy, would you speak up? I've thought about it, and while normally I'm the low key type who wouldn't rock the boat, I think it's important that we set a boundary of what's right and wrong. Thoughts?

I have turned around and given a few knife edged comments in the past which shocked most around me; no applause but the more racial abuse settled. Nowadays I could probably just say "What would Adam think of you?" if its our mob, and "not acceptable" if its their mob. And get the men in charge if it was truly awful.

I have also called Richo a sook, Lloyd Precious and James Hird a Precious Poppet. Not sure anymore what constitutes abuse. Can I keep calling Ballentyne a little twerp? or the umps maggotty bastards? Probably not. Probably do my blood pressure a favour anyway.

This whole thing keeps ticking over in my mind - where do I stand, where have I stood, what am I going to do in the future. Not a bad thing.