Fair hit, Benji

 
Ryan O'Connell Columnist

By , 7 Mar 2011 Ryan O'Connell is a Roar Expert

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Whilst the complete story has yet to be told, we do know that Benji Marshall has been charged with being involved in an altercation early on Saturday morning (3.20am to be precise) on George Street in Sydney’s CBD.

All the facts are yet to be revealed, however, it has been alleged that Benji hit another man in the face after he was racially taunted, and Benji’s manager has confirmed at least that part of the story.

Regardless of what other details are revealed, you can be sure that over the next couple of days or weeks, you’ll hear multiple versions of the following types of comments in the media:

  • “Bloody rugby league players, always in trouble”
  • “Why are rugby league players always getting drunk?”
  • “What was he doing out at 3am in the morning?”
  • “Why didn’t he just walk away?”
  • “Violence isn’t the answer to racism”
  • “The curse of being the ‘face of league’ strikes again!”

Etc, etc.

Essentially, anyone who isn’t a fan of rugby league, Benji Marshall, Wests Tigers or common sense, will join in with those media identities who love the sound of their voice, to create a wave of criticism against Marshall and rugby league.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Freedom of speech is one of the many qualities that makes this country great. Unfortunately, it’s the same quality that enables people to get on their high horse and pass judgement, instead of sensibly and objectively viewing incidents like the one Benji was involved in.

Benji had been hosting a charity function earlier in the night, where he had helped raise $250,000 for the Children’s Cancer Institute of Australia. His duties had finished around midnight, and he decided to have a few drinks with his girlfriend and some other friends. On their way home after 3am, they stopped to get some McDonalds.

It was there that the incident allegedly occurred, when a group of 8-10 people allegedly called Benji a “black Kiwi c–t”, and told him to “go back home to New Zealand.” Benji shrugged off the comments the first two times, but a third racial insult was one too many for him, and he is alleged to have retaliated.

The man that was allegedly struck then reported the incident to police, and that is where the matter now lies. As he went to police, they’ll obviously have his name on file.

As such, his name should be released to the media. If Benji is going to cop some flak for an alleged mild assault, then this individual should be named and shamed as a racist (assuming he did in fact say this as has been claimed).

I think we need to ask what reaction the alleged racial taunter was expecting. In his world, I’m guessing the ideal response from Benji would have been for him to get straight on a plane to New Zealand, and never come back. Or maybe it would be for Benji to have changed his skin colour and nationality on the spot.

Seriously, when a drunken yobbo racially taunts someone, he’s looking for a reaction. Well he got one, and then he whinged to police about it. The minute he allegedly yelled out “black Kiwi c–t”, he was asking to be punched.

It’s pretty simple really – if you’re in a pub and order a beer, you can’t complain when you get served a beer. This guy got his beer.

I don’t condone violence, but I’ll be honest and say that there is a large part of me that applauds Benji for defending himself and allegedly giving the guy a tap on the nose.

Why? How else were these guys going to learn that racism isn’t OK? If Benji had gone to the police to complain about the taunts, nothing would have happened.

If Benji had simply walked away, like so many people say he should have, then those guys would continue to believe that it was OK to racially abuse someone. It seems Benji took a stand, and let these guys know that what they were saying wasn’t right. And I for one applaud him for it.

Yes, applauding violence is politically incorrect. Whatever. But you won’t change my mind that the guy seems to have got what he asked for.

I realise that confronting racism via violence is hypocritical and counter-productive. I realise Benji is a role model, and punching someone sends the wrong message to children. And in light of such terrible incidents like David Hookes’ sad death, I realise that suggesting it’s OK to punch someone is just plain wrong.

I also understand that the situation could have gotten out of hand very easily, and someone could have been seriously injured, or worse.

I can’t dispute any of those points, nor can I defend violence in any form.

But I’m also a realist.

And the reality is, assuming the events played out as media reports appear to show, then the guy deserved to be held accountable in some way for what he apparently said. You may not agree with me, but really, it’s not about you, and it’s not about me.

Some things are bigger than your or my opinion. Some things are bigger than political correctness. Some things are bigger than rugby league. Some things are bigger than the ‘image’ of the game. Some things are even bigger than a little punch-up.

Racism, and standing up to it, is one of those ‘things’.

Chances are, if you’re a white Australian, you have no idea what it feels like to be racially taunted. As such, I think it would be difficult for you to truly comment on what you would have done, or what Benji should have done. You can certainly disagree with what he did, but you need to be careful passing judgement if you’re not entirely ‘qualified’ to speak about your personal reaction to racism.

David Gallop needs to be measured in his response to this incident. Let’s be honest, in the file of NRL atrocities, this hardly rates a mention.

Whilst it’s never good for the game to be in the papers for something other than the game itself, the truth is, this isn’t a bad look for the game, it’s a much worse look for our country and the perception that we’re racist.

There will be no long term damage to the game. Sponsors are not going to drop off because of this incident. Crowd numbers are not going to drop because of this incident. TV ratings are not going to drop off because of this incident.

The vast majority of Australians, not to mention New Zealanders, will understand Benji’s reaction.

Not all will agree with it, but I don’t think Benji is going to lose any fans over this incident. In fact, he’ll probably gain some.

The NRL, the police, media and fans should all keep this incident within the perspective it deserves.

Give Benji a slap on the wrist, and then jog along.

Let’s get on with the season.

Follow Ryan O'Connell on Twitter: @RyanOak
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