http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/why-do-afl-nrl-flagwavers-denigrate-soccer-at-every-opportunity-fox-sports-football-commentator-simon-hill-asks/story-e6frf423-1226073107942Well, wasn't that a super night's entertainment at Etihad Stadium? Top-quality football, two committed sides, a vibrant atmosphere, and some real stars of the future on show.
At least, that’s the game I thought I had attended along with 28,000 others - until I read one of the following days AFL-centric Melbourne papers.
To my horror, I discovered I must have been dreaming.
Apparently, I had been among a hate-filled seething mass, intent on causing trouble, stirring up ethnic tensions and wrecking the stadium; it’s a good job the roof was closed because clearly the sky was falling in. Wow, the things you miss!
In the battle of the Australian football codes, all's fair in love and war. But if it's a war against football ... maybe it's time the fraternity returned fire.
Now it’s true that there were flares, and I’m not condoning the few idiots who saw fit to throw them near the pitch. But that’s exactly what they were; a few idiots among a colourful, noisy, well-behaved majority.
I’m sure fans of SANFL club Central Districts would agree; after all, some of them regularly let off flares, an action described in glowing terms in one of SANFL’s own publications as “celebratory”. (Go towards the end of page 4, if you are at all interested.) There’s even You Tube footage of them doing it at the 2008 SANFL grand final.
We should also condemn the moron who saw fit to drape a “Free Mladic” banner from the stands on Tuesday night. It was taken down by stewards inside five minutes. But then, so was a banner saying “Nauru detention just isn’t cricket” at the MCG back in 2003. Political messages have no place in sport.
And neither does racism.
Perhaps that’s why the paper in question, along with a Melbourne radio station (both of whom have form in sticking the boot into football), were so keen to deflect the public wrath towards what they call "soccer" given the AFL’s recent racial vilification issues involving supporters of their game, and players Lance Franklin and Majak Daw.
It was really interesting reading the public responses to the two - extremely inflammatory - topics.
The events (such as they were) at Etihad attracted some of the following remarks: “Get rid of this ridiculous ethnic bigotry” ... “This is Australia, leave your problems where you immigrated (sic) from” ... “Soccer is rubbish with people that are full of hate following it" ...
Now, let’s consider some of the responses to the AFL racial vilification scandal in the same publication a couple of days earlier: “Aboriginals should have a thicker skin. So you get called names, so what?” ... “Can’t say this to this person, can’t say that to that person, all because you might upset somebody" ... “So, one person making stupid comments makes the sporting code racist does it?” ...
Spot the difference?
For the record, Football Federation Australia has confirmed that fans arrested at Etihad will be barred from all future international and domestic games. No questions asked.
The Aussie Rules fan who racially abused Majak Daw? He’s welcome back at games as of next season, so long as he undertakes a “re-education” program and says "sorry".
The rabble-rousers love to pick up on specific incidents to try to paint football in a poor light, but the facts of the matter are these: The A-League has the lowest number of fan ejections pro rata of any of the four football codes, while your average AFL blockbuster sees around 50 fans thrown out for drunkenness, a dozen for swearing and offensive behaviour, plus a couple for violent assaults.
In the battle of the Australian football codes, all’s fair in love and war.
But if it’s a war against football, (and in some cases it clearly is), then maybe it's time the fraternity returned fire.