Yesterday the AFL released an Apology to Adam Goodes for not standing by him. 

For the final years of Goodes' decorated career they receded into the background and did nothing while he was being vilified by crowds at games and by 'personalities' in the media and effectively hounded out of the game. 

The AFL has had 4 years to apologise but has not.  This week two docos are released on Goodes last years in the game.  They are docos in which the AFL and some key people in the industry, by their own actions and words are complicit in and added to the trauma Goodes endured.  I haven't seen the docos so can't comment on them.

But I will say they AFL should be supremely embarrassed that it has taken 4 years to apologise.  Its hard to think there is much sincerity let alone contrition in the apology and its timing suggests it is to preempt the docos tarnishing of its 'reputation' and divert attention from the docos.  The AFL are controlling 'the optics' as usual!!

Whatever one thinks of Goodes or how he played the game its hard to accept how he was neglected by the AFL and those it can influence.  I find the belated apology shallow and opportunistic.  I would have applauded the apology had it been made when Goodes retired.

Not saying the AFL should be the moral flag bearers of our society.  But it should stand up and be counted when it comes to any of its players let alone one of its champions.  How does the saying go:  the standards we walk past are the standards we accept.   Now, the apology is, imv too little, too late.

Edited June 7, 20195 yr by Lucifer's Hero

Since I started following footy I have observed; Hamilton, Oakley, Jackson, Demitriou and now Mclachlan. My view is that McLachlan is out of his depth and has the wrong vision for where the AFL should be going. His record is dismal on so many issues; oversaw the doping scandal at Essendon, introduced the current rule changes, AFWL, AFLX, stance on same sex marriage, score review system etc etc. he is lucky he overseas a monopoly, if he had real competition he would have been sacked years ago.

seems to me he is hell bent on change for the sake of change without due care to the unintended consequences. policy on the run at its finest. Case in point- the rules of the game should only be changed are careful consideration and reluctantly. To have the wholesale changes introduced this season was caviller. 

‘So it’s no surprise to me that he was clueless with the Goodes issue. Can’t believe I’m going to say this, but, I preferred Demitriou- although the Acqure debacle found him out in the real world of commerce

 

 

 

view 

Agree with the above. Gil is just trying to leave a legacy and be able to say i did this, this and this. I dont think he has done anything great for the game, Womens footy is growing at grass roots but they still cant get it right with the conference system and its timing. The rule changes didnt do what they intended, MRP is a joke, AFLX is a joke, Score review system is a joke, playing in China is a joke, Umpiring is seemingly worse then ever.

Unfortunately Gill blows with the wind, and it's an ill wind blowing on the back of the Goodes doco's...

I'm not sure he's ever stood up for anything unless the numbers stack up and to me that's not what a leader is.

The AFL is rudderless under his tenure.

This is a quote from his first interview after assuming the CEO role.

"For me, that vision is about having an unassailable hold on the Australian community. In women, in children, as much as men, from the north, to the south, in all communities.

"Success in delivering on this vision will mean ultimately three things; we are truly national, we are truly representative and we are truly connected to the community.

"If we do that, I believe we will fill every stadium and success will follow."

Absolutley NOTHING about the actual game of Footy - His speech could have been made by someone who just got the gig as head of a Charity, Government Depatment, Union, in fact any QUANGO you would like to name :)

"Since becoming COO he has been vital in bringing the Gold Coast Suns and Greater Western Sydney Giants in as the 17th and 18th teams in the league and securing lucrative stadium deals.

He also led the AFL's negotiations with Essendon during last year's ASADA/supplements scandal, investigated claims of tanking by the Melbourne Demons and has been pivotal in improving the media and broadcast deals." Not exactly beathtaking results for a CV

I have nothing to go on but perhaps Gill may get a gentle push in the next year.

While the financial KPI's are good there has been some stuff ups that haven't' done the "brand" much good. If I was a club chairman I would want to know why we weren't onto this concern some years back. The apology now runs hollow as LH says.

The turning point if not before may be the next round of TV rights negotiations. It may not be pretty.

Adam Goodes  played for frees and flopped as often as any player in history, and was rightfully booed for it.

Great player though, too bad he ruined his legacy with all the acting, much like Joel Selwood has ruined his.

Edited June 8, 20195 yr by Petraccattack

I wondered how long it would be before a knuckle dragger brought up this red herring.

If that is a reason for sustained booing, why didn't other "floppers"  (eg.  Matthew Lloyd)  cop it? 

Further, if it were the real reason, why did he not get booed for all of his career?

 

26 minutes ago, Petraccattack said:

Adam Goodes  played for frees and flopped as often as any player in history, and was rightfully booed for it.

Great player though, too bad he ruined his legacy with all the acting, much like Joel Selwood has ruined his.

Come on mate, that's not an excuse for the booing that Goodes attracted.

I hear the odd boo for Selwood and in some particular cases when he ducks for a free but not the systematic booing that Goodes got.

There was much more to it.

'Tracca..... if you don't get it I have to wonder where you have been for the last fifty years.

There is no room for what happened to Goodes. It is an event albeit small in comparison to the events of the last two hundred years that should make us all stop and reflect.

Sure there may be room for discussion about what changes should flow but definitely there should be change..

Did the booing really escalate after he called out the young girl? I can’t rememberer. If yes, than racism seems to be behind what occurred. 

A large Victorian club had a screening earlier this week. All employees attended.

At the end everyone felt very bad. Someone I know and respect was there. The person was almost in tears as he told the story. At the end the president stood up to speak and I was told every single person thought that he, like the silent hundreds in the room, should own the hurt and bigotry shown to Adam Goodes and show remorse.

The person there said the president did not "own it". He made excuses. Thats what hurt him as he thought if this does not change Australian attitudes, nothing will. Ive never seen my friend quite so upset to be honest.

 

1 hour ago, demonstone said:

I wondered how long it would be before a knuckle dragger brought up this red herring.

If that is a reason for sustained booing, why didn't other "floppers"  (eg.  Matthew Lloyd)  cop it? 

Further, if it were the real reason, why did he not get booed for all of his career?

 

All valid questions. But in asking them you also have to field questions which fit don’t fit the narrative. 

Why were/are other indigenous players not bood?

What percentage of those booing Goodes were genuinely racist and what percentage were booing for football related reasons? 

What effect did the actions of Goodes himself, both in terms of his off field style of communication and in his decision to engage in the mock spear throwing etc, have in terms of fanning the flames of the situation? 

Is Australia the ‘racist nation’ that the narrative of this film would have viewers believe, or is it an astoundingly tolerant nation albeit with a checkered and troubled past? 

Unfortunately no amount of belated, forced sorry’s and mea culpas from the Gillon and his ilk are ever going to adequately address any of those queries. Nor the questions  you ask. 

What I do know is that reality is far more complex than that seen through one film director’s prism of story telling. Rare indeed is the documentary which gets at an issue from an array of angles and standpoints. 

Edited June 8, 20195 yr by Matsuo Basho

So he was Booed because he is black? So bizarre. Wtf would someone be thinking doing that?

id be interested to watch the movie to see what went on from his perspective. 

12 minutes ago, Matsuo Basho said:

All valid questions. But in asking them you also have to field questions which fit don’t fit the narrative. 

Why were/are other indigenous players not bood?

What percentage of those booing Goodes were genuinely racist and what percentage were booing for football related reasons? 

What effect did the actions of Goodes himself, both in terms of his off field style of communication and in his decision to engage in the mock spear throwing etc, have in terms of fanning the flames of the situation? 

Is Australia the ‘racist nation’ that the narrative of this film would have viewers believe, or is it an astoundingly tolerant nation albeit with a checkered and troubled past? 

Unfortunately no amount of belated, forced sorry’s and mea culpas from the Gillon and his ilk are ever going to adequately address any of those queries. Nor the questions  you ask. 

What I do know is that reality is far more complex than that seen through one film director’s prism of story telling. Rare indeed is the documentary which gets at an issue from an array of angles and standpoints. 

Q1) because they didn’t have an excuse to boo the other indigenous players. 

I think that the people who claim booing Goodes had nothing to do with his being indigenous genuinely believe that. It’s not that they’re lying about their motives. Everyone consciencely knows being racist is bad, but the generational bias that populates the subconscience takes years to beat out. My mother is a lot less racist than my grandparents were and I’m a lot less racist than my mother, but it will take more generations of social evolutions before this kind of problem is eradicated. We have to recognise it and rally against it in the meantime.

Q2) he contributed to it by being born Aboriginal. This question is victim blaming. 

Q3) until incidents like this cease happening all together, yep, Australia is a racist country. 

14 minutes ago, DubDee said:

So he was Booed because he is black?

No, he was booed because he was a blackfella that had an opinion and spoke up about the disgraceful treatment his people had and still do endure from the less enlightened members of society.  Those people objected to an "uppity black who didn't know his place".

Anyone suggesting it wasn't racially based because other Aborigines weren't booed is missing the point entirely.  As if you have to abuse every member of a minority group before it's considered racist behaviour.  FFS.

When the docos go to air, it's a safe bet that those would benefit most and learn something from watching them will be the least likely to even tune in.

16 minutes ago, Nasher said:

>>>>>>

Q3) until incidents like this cease happening all together, yep, Australia is a racist country. 

so if there is any racists in the country then the country is racist?

i struggle with this hyperbole. there is no need to exaggerate just to make a point. by this definition there wouldn't be a racist-free country in the whole world......and is in itself a prejudicial opinion which potentially just creates more division... focussing on the positive gains (and they are there) is more likely to achieve better cohesiveness and outcomes 

you were right in your analogy that it will be a multi generational solution, but it is moving in the right direction (at least so far) even if it does feel as slow as treacle.

16 minutes ago, Nasher said:

Q1) because they didn’t have an excuse to boo the other indigenous players. 

I think that the people who claim booing Goodes had nothing to do with his being indigenous genuinely believe that. It’s not that they’re lying about their motives. Everyone consciencely knows being racist is bad, but the generational bias that populates the subconscience takes years to beat out. My mother is a lot less racist than my grandparents were and I’m a lot less racist than my mother, but it will take more generations of social evolutions before this kind of problem is eradicated. We have to recognise it and rally against it in the meantime.

Q2) he contributed to it by being born Aboriginal. This question is victim blaming. 

Q3) until incidents like this cease happening all together, yep, Australia is a racist country. 

Answers 1 and 2 are opinions which may or may not have validity. Not enough empirical data to say definitively.

As for answer 3 - by that logic, any situations or demographical trends which indicate an ability for Australians of different races to get along and live harmoniously with one another, are pointers to the absolute opposite. That this is indeed a tolerant country.

So which is it? 

My point is obvious. Reality in it's totality can't captured through the lens of one perspective only. No matter how emotive or 'right' that view may be presented as.

Unfortunately we live in an age where we just can't deal with that degree of nuance. We need our information wrapped in neat little bows. In black and white, literally.

 

59 minutes ago, Sargent Shultz said:

Did the booing really escalate after he called out the young girl? I can’t rememberer. If yes, than racism seems to be behind what occurred. 

Unfortunately yes, the booing of Goodes expanded to a level I've never witnessed in any other game for any other player. Not even single occasions, after some particularly ugly early incident in a game where a player was booed for the rest of the game.

I have literally never heard the kind of booing that Goodes received.

It was the calling the girl out, it was the dance, it was that he didn't back down on it when the nuff-nuff army demanded it.

Ugh, I'm still recalling the sick feeling up at a Sydney game, when the Hawthorn portion of the crowd ramped it up. The ball was out of play, nothing was happening, people where I was were looking around and up at the replay trying to figure out if there had been a trip or someone had been thrown into the fence. Nope, just Goodes, not even involved in the play, happened to be standing near a segment of Hawthorn reserved seating. There was a tangible sadness across the rest of the crowd (including, maybe especially, many other Hawthorn supporters) as they realised what was happening. It actually sucked a lot of life out of the crowd atmosphere for a while.

Not like any other booing I've ever witnessed.

3 minutes ago, Matsuo Basho said:

All valid questions. But in asking them you also have to field questions which fit don’t fit the narrative. 

Why were/are other indigenous players not bood?

What percentage of those booing Goodes were genuinely racist and what percentage were booing for football related reasons? 

What effect did the actions of Goodes himself, both in terms of his off field style of communication and in his decision to engage in the mock spear throwing, have in terms of fanning the flames of the situation? 

Is Australia the ‘racist nation’ that the narrative of this film would have viewers believe, or is it an astoundingly tolerant nation albeit with a checkered and troubled past? 

Unfortunately no amount of belated, forced sorry’s and mea culpas from the Gillon and his ilk are ever going to adequately address any of those queries. Nor the questions  you ask. 

What I do know is that reality is far more complex than that seen through one film director’s prism of story telling. Rare indeed is the documentary which gets at an issue from an array of angles and standpoints. 

Acknowleging that more than a few people out there in the poltiical world have run off with this to use it as leverage, I'll try to run through my own thoughts in the spirit of honest engagement and all that.

Other indigenous players generally weren't booed or abused (well, less so since the late 90s at least) because they weren't being, shall we say, 'uppity'. There's a pretty obvious unwritten code that you'll be welcome as long as you keep within the nicey-nicey political correctness realms. Think 'theme round' and special guernsey designs. That 'keep it nice' issues kind of answers the next question, about Goodes fanning the flames. No doubt it did increase the sense of confrontation, even if it was wildly overblown by the people so 'offended' by it, but I suppose the question Goodes might ask is 'why am I expected to have to worry about fanning such a stupid flame?'.

Bizarrely, I think Goodes found himself in the bind that mostly people with quite opposite views find themselves in; you say or do something a little controversial to begin with, the twitter storm erupts out of all proportion, everyone starts volunteering any excuse they can to heap more confected shame upon you, and if you don't back down then you officially become the worst person in the world.

As for 'how racist is Australia really'... definitely not as racist as many like to claim, definitely more racist than others like to claim.

Thinking hard here... hmmm... on the one hand, Australia has made such tremendous progress on racial and cultural issues in just a couple of generations, and could make a realistic claim to being the world's least racist nation overall. Trouble is, that isn't a smooth result and there are still many filthy horribly racist corners, and there are still some really obvious racial glass ceilings. But because it tends to happen in one organisation at a time or one group of bastards at the end of the street at a time, it has very low visibility anywhere else.

One way to put it - it is no longer 'normal' to be racist in Australia, but, for Aboriginal people, it is still very 'normal' to come up against really horrible racism in both personal and professional life, and to be left on your own to deal with it.

So then Goodes comes out and says 'racist' - the backlash comes from not only the grubby core of actual racists (and society's layer of people who just like to hurl abuse at anyone they can find an excuse to), but also a share of the people who are proud of their own improvement and their country's improvement and don't appreciate being told that colelctively they still suck.

For Goodes, the personal experience is one of having society tell him he hasn't experience the racism which he most definitely has, and then Goodes gets publicly abused and ostracised for the very act of saying what he is experiencing.

For the rest of the Aboriginal community, they see that happening and are reminded that society will deny the racism that does exist, and punish them for mentioning it.

Anyway, I quite agree that the documentary is unlikely to hit all these nuances, but at least it might help more people realise the normality of experiencing racism, even in an ostensibly not racist society.

As you say, the mea cuplas from Gil the Dill and the like do nothing - in fact they even reaffirm the starting position 'oh yes, we have totally learnt and wont be like that again, for real, I don't invite racists to any of my dinner parties'. And this pathetic 'leadership' takes us back to this easy, cosy pattern of he comforting, plausible, not-racist image of Australia, which has still not come to terms with the idea that experiencing racism is still quite normal for Aboriginal people.

You could say, Australia is not a racist society, but it is a society where the remaining racists can often expect to act our their noxious attitude without being penalised, and where the lifelong victims of racism feel that if they speak up about it they will be penalised. And that is pretty much the heart of why Goodes felt so alienated at the end of his career. And why the AFL should be so ashamed that they failed this simple test of solidarity, even as they kept decorating their brand with Indigenous-themed confetti.

Powerful sentiments Little Goffy.... but damningly accurate:

4 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

You could say, Australia is not a racist society, but it is a society where the remaining racists can often expect to act our their noxious attitude without being penalised, and where the lifelong victims of racism feel that if they speak up about it they will be penalised. And that is pretty much the heart of why Goodes felt so alienated at the end of his career. And why the AFL should be so ashamed that they failed this simple test of solidarity, even as they kept decorating their brand with Indigenous-themed confetti. 

 

We are a racist nation, what more can be said.

16 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

Unfortunately yes, the booing of Goodes expanded to a level I've never witnessed in any other game for any other player. Not even single occasions, after some particularly ugly early incident in a game where a player was booed for the rest of the game.

I have literally never heard the kind of booing that Goodes received.

It was the calling the girl out, it was the dance, it was that he didn't back down on it when the nuff-nuff army demanded it.

Ugh, I'm still recalling the sick feeling up at a Sydney game, when the Hawthorn portion of the crowd ramped it up. The ball was out of play, nothing was happening, people where I was were looking around and up at the replay trying to figure out if there had been a trip or someone had been thrown into the fence. Nope, just Goodes, not even involved in the play, happened to be standing near a segment of Hawthorn reserved seating. There was a tangible sadness across the rest of the crowd (including, maybe especially, many other Hawthorn supporters) as they realised what was happening. It actually sucked a lot of life out of the crowd atmosphere for a while.

Not like any other booing I've ever witnessed.

Acknowleging that more than a few people out there in the poltiical world have run off with this to use it as leverage, I'll try to run through my own thoughts in the spirit of honest engagement and all that.

Other indigenous players generally weren't booed or abused (well, less so since the late 90s at least) because they weren't being, shall we say, 'uppity'. There's a pretty obvious unwritten code that you'll be welcome as long as you keep within the nicey-nicey political correctness realms. Think 'theme round' and special guernsey designs. That 'keep it nice' issues kind of answers the next question, about Goodes fanning the flames. No doubt it did increase the sense of confrontation, even if it was wildly overblown by the people so 'offended' by it, but I suppose the question Goodes might ask is 'why am I expected to have to worry about fanning such a stupid flame?'.

Bizarrely, I think Goodes found himself in the bind that mostly people with quite opposite views find themselves in; you say or do something a little controversial to begin with, the twitter storm erupts out of all proportion, everyone starts volunteering any excuse they can to heap more confected shame upon you, and if you don't back down then you officially become the worst person in the world.

As for 'how racist is Australia really'... definitely not as racist as many like to claim, definitely more racist than others like to claim.

Thinking hard here... hmmm... on the one hand, Australia has made such tremendous progress on racial and cultural issues in just a couple of generations, and could make a realistic claim to being the world's least racist nation overall. Trouble is, that isn't a smooth result and there are still many filthy horribly racist corners, and there are still some really obvious racial glass ceilings. But because it tends to happen in one organisation at a time or one group of bastards at the end of the street at a time, it has very low visibility anywhere else.

One way to put it - it is no longer 'normal' to be racist in Australia, but, for Aboriginal people, it is still very 'normal' to come up against really horrible racism in both personal and professional life, and to be left on your own to deal with it.

So then Goodes comes out and says 'racist' - the backlash comes from not only the grubby core of actual racists (and society's layer of people who just like to hurl abuse at anyone they can find an excuse to), but also a share of the people who are proud of their own improvement and their country's improvement and don't appreciate being told that colelctively they still suck.

For Goodes, the personal experience is one of having society tell him he hasn't experience the racism which he most definitely has, and then Goodes gets publicly abused and ostracised for the very act of saying what he is experiencing.

For the rest of the Aboriginal community, they see that happening and are reminded that society will deny the racism that does exist, and punish them for mentioning it.

Anyway, I quite agree that the documentary is unlikely to hit all these nuances, but at least it might help more people realise the normality of experiencing racism, even in an ostensibly not racist society.

As you say, the mea cuplas from Gil the Dill and the like do nothing - in fact they even reaffirm the starting position 'oh yes, we have totally learnt and wont be like that again, for real, I don't invite racists to any of my dinner parties'. And this pathetic 'leadership' takes us back to this easy, cosy pattern of he comforting, plausible, not-racist image of Australia, which has still not come to terms with the idea that experiencing racism is still quite normal for Aboriginal people.

You could say, Australia is not a racist society, but it is a society where the remaining racists can often expect to act our their noxious attitude without being penalised, and where the lifelong victims of racism feel that if they speak up about it they will be penalised. And that is pretty much the heart of why Goodes felt so alienated at the end of his career. And why the AFL should be so ashamed that they failed this simple test of solidarity, even as they kept decorating their brand with Indigenous-themed confetti.

Appreciate the reply LittleGoffy. Very well written and persuasive.

Don’t recall Goodes being booed before he was Australian of the Year and made a series of ‘controversial’ comments about Australia’s history.  In fact, don’t really remember much negativity about him at all prior to his AOTY.  Andrew Bolt, Alan Jones, etc then had him well and truly in their sights and the ‘school of hard knocks’ alumni on social media started drumming up the ‘un-australian’ sentiment online.

Seen plenty of players booed for an incident during a match.

Seen plenty booed for something they did to a team during a previous match.

Seen a player booed for something he did during the week leading in.

Never seen another player booed so consistently for something so ill-defined and non-specific as ‘flopping’ or ‘playing for free kicks’.

13 minutes ago, TeamPlayedFine39 said:

Don’t recall Goodes being booed before he was Australian of the Year and made a series of ‘controversial’ comments about Australia’s history.  In fact, don’t really remember much negativity about him at all prior to his AOTY.  Andrew Bolt, Alan Jones, etc then had him well and truly in their sights and the ‘school of hard knocks’ alumni on social media started drumming up the ‘un-australian’ sentiment online.

Seen plenty of players booed for an incident during a match.

Seen plenty booed for something they did to a team during a previous match.

Seen a player booed for something he did during the week leading in.

Never seen another player booed so consistently for something so ill-defined and non-specific as ‘flopping’ or ‘playing for free kicks’.

right-on. it really started to take off post the aoty

3 hours ago, Petraccattack said:

Adam Goodes  played for frees and flopped as often as any player in history, and was rightfully booed for it.

Great player though, too bad he ruined his legacy with all the acting, much like Joel Selwood has ruined his.

Plenty of players are flogs and don’t get booed and harassed as pathetically and brutally as Goodes did. 

Selwood doesn’t get booed, nor does Tony Greene and the list goes on. 

The treatment of Goodes was appalling and racist and the AFL community should be ashamed of letting an absolute champion retire under such a negative cloud.