OPINION: Going to the footy and boisterously supporting your team while jovially taking the mickey out of the opposition should always be a part of Aussie Rules.
But in light of the AFL's recent crackdown on verbal abuse, The Rushed Behind's Jack Alfonso undertakes a sustained examination of the role abuse plays in the modern game and why there's strong retaliation in stamping it out.
In this four-part series, we'll look in-depth at the numerous issues which have divided fans and caused a great deal of controversy across our game.
One of the earliest, most basic concepts of humanity, and in the vast majority of life, is the pack mentality.
As an individual, a weaker target is presented, however as a pack, a stronger, tighter, diminishing presence is exerted.
Dogs, dinosaurs, fish, lions, and the vast majority of animals pertain to this theory; humans are no different.
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When we are young, we form alliances with people who are like-minded.
As we get older, we either join a pack or start our own in the workforce, because working together is essential to get the best results.
And yet, as we get older, we find ourselves belonging to different groups of people simultaneously, whether it be a political group, whether you prefer to go out on a Saturday night or go to church on a Sunday, the sports you follow, the teams you support because there is strength in unity.
In the AFL, it is no different.
There are constantly opposing parties vilifying each other, whether it be on the most recent rule changes, the verdict from the MRO, the way the score review system is being implemented etcetera.
And now, I present to you potentially the most divisive and destructive pack mentality prevalent in the AFL at present time; the boo boys.
People will get out of their seats to boo anything these days; some of it is warranted, some of it is not.
Say, for example, booing a player who took a cheap shot on the field at one of your own; okay, an act of thuggery on the field deserves a hostile reception.
Booing an opposing team’s song blaring as they walk out onto the field is also a part of the game, in relation to creating a hostile environment for the opposition to walk into and accentuating the all-important home ground advantage.
Then we get to the more ridiculous notions, such as an umpire accidentally bouncing the ball the wrong way, a slightly contentious free-kick going to the opposing team, the score review system not going your way despite it literally getting the call right; petty stuff, creates a toxic environment, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s not the worst thing in the world.
Scott Pendlebury
But the boo boys are now tightening their grip on the football world.
Case study number one presents itself in the form of Scott Pendlebury’s Anzac Day speech after his side just clinched a thriller in Round 6 against the Bombers.
After a few calls went uncalled for both sides in the dying stages, because Essendon lost, they apparently felt the most hard-done-by out of the two fans.
Thus, they vented their frustrations on losing the game not on the fact that they let Collingwood kick out to a 33-point lead halfway through the second quarter, but on the Anzac Day medallist who had just amassed 38 disposals in a typical composed-yet-clinical performance, drowning out his classy acceptance speech with their howls of despair.
Of course, the Bombers’ contingency accentuated that it was directed at the umpires, who exited the field a full five minutes prior to said speech.
Essendon’s fans, united in their derision of one of game’s greats of the last decade, let their feelings get the better of them, and multiplied by their thousands, who was going to say otherwise?
But, in the words of Nathan Buckley:
"Shame on anyone who booed a champion.”
As expected, this statement was met with a fresh round of vitriol, from those identifying as one in the pack, where people will always feel at their most powerful, where even the crudest of practices will be condoned.
Adam Goodes
This is a case that, when it first arose for the AFL, presented a problem that, had it been dealt with immediately, would have endured some backlash but would have been better for the greater good.
This case, while pertinent to the boo boys, starts to ripple the surfaces of some deep and uncomfortable truths some Australians are yet to come to terms with, and exacerbates just how bad the pack mentality is in the AFL.
A brief overview of Adam Goodes’ career follows as such:
- Round One, 1999; Debuted (not booed) - 2003; Brownlow Medal No.1 (not booed) - 2006; Brownlow Medal No.2 (not booed) - May 24th, 2013; Calls out a girl for calling him an ‘ape’ (booed thereafter) - S.F 2015; Retires, citing booing as the main reason
The pack mentality claimed its first victim.
Adam Goodes, not only an elite football player, but a proud indigenous man, and footballing icon for indigenous communities, was booed out of the game by the pack; better known as every single opposing set of fans.
As a Carlton supporter, it borderline shames me to say this nightmare for one of the game’s greats came originated when the proud indigenous figure, in indigenous round no less, celebrated a goal by performing an indigenous war-dance toward the Carlton faithful.
As a pack that felt threatened, the Carlton supporters united in their efforts to deride a man celebrating his heritage.
“He was throwing a spear, we felt entitled to respond”, people would claim.
Yet no one raises any objections at the Kiwi’s performing the haka before every rugby game, a tribal war-dance with the underlying message of death in the ensuing battle.
It could have been stopped in its tracks there.
But the AFL did not protect Adam Goodes, instead leaving him high and dry.
Thus, when Goodes called out a 13-year-old child for calling him an ‘ape’, there was only one thing for the fans to do.
THE FINAL QUARTER: Adam Goodes' documentary set to air on television (courtesy of 10)
Already on opposing sides of the racial battle, supporters from 17 other teams came together as one to persecute a champion of the game for calling out something so blatantly wrong, even Donald Trump would have a hard time denying it.
The arguments were always the same; “She was just a kid”: in an interview on the 25th of May in 2013, Goodes states no less than 28 times that he did not blame the child.
“We’re only booing him because he’s good”: prior to 2013, he won two Brownlow Medals, two premierships, three B&F’s and was an All-Australian four times without being booed.
And yet, despite this, the booing continued until a great was forced out of the game.
People like to identify with others of similar ideologies, and once formed into a unit, nothing is invincible in their eyes.
Every game Stephen Milne played after his trial would be accompanied with the usual jibes of playing for Barwon reserves, or the simplistic cry of “rapist!” despite being charged with indecent assault (two very different things).
People are only too happy to brand Dustin Martin a “flog” when he’s playing at his best due to his superstar potential and excessive skin decoration, while ignoring the multiple accounts of his humility and reserved nature.
And yet, could you imagine a single person, whether it be the boo boys of Gary Ablett, Scott Pendlebury, Stephen Milne, Dustin Martin, or Adam Goodes, having the guts to come up and say it personally to their target’s face?
People will always be vocal about what they believe in, get confrontational when there is a conflict, start abusing others when there is a disagreement – no matter the cost.
It is something the AFL is working on eradicating, yet it is something that needs to be eradicated now.
'Part Three: The Screen' releases tomorrow at 6:00pm, exclusively on The Rushed Behind.
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