Indigenous All Stars player Wendell Sailor breaks throiugh during the Indigenous All Stars v NRL All Stars match at Skilled Park on the Gold Coast, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
For all the success of the NRL’s inaugural All Stars match – a bumper crowd and thrilling match – there’s a flaw in the concept that will blight our nation should it continue into the future. By pitting the best Indigenous players against the best of the rest, the NRL will continue to segregate race and colour – something sport shouldn’t stand for.
It is a difficult subject to broach, but one that deserved a proper public discourse (is the Australian ‘tabloid’ press capable of such a debate?) as part of the build-up to last night’s match – beyond just the sports pages.
With the future of the concept seemingly guaranteed beyond its initial three years thanks to the media traction it has attracted for the NRL on the eve of its season – particularly when compared with the AFL’s lacklustre NAB Cup – we need to ask the question whether it’s appropriate for the game to continue to segregate Indigenous and non-Indigenous players, particularly if the clash develops into an intense rivalry between the two.
While there was undoubtedly immense pride from the likes of Preston Campbell, who spoke eloquently about his pride in playing for the Indigenous team, it says a lot about Australia’s relationship with its Indigenous population that we continue to differentiate between Indigenous and non-Indigenous athletes.
As a celebration of the anniversary of the apology to the stolen generations, the game served a purpose. Going forward in years to come, the game and Australia as a whole should move forward under the one umbrella of a united Australian identity.
This doesn’t mean the All Stars game doesn’t have merit; just that it should move away from this racial divide.
There’s no concrete evidence to suggest the popularity of the All Stars match was solely the result of the Indigenous concept.
As my Roar colleague Steve Kaless noted, part of the reason for the popularity and fanfare caused by the match was its appeal to younger generations, particularly with the popularity of such concept matches in America, with Australian sport embracing more of the attributes that define their American counterparts.
Incidentally, the NRL’s All Stars match coincided on the same weekend as the NBA All Stars weekend.
One can only imagine the outcry if NBA commissioner David Stern announced his league was forgoing the West versus East conference battles for an All Stars match pitting the best African American players against the rest.
It reminds me of the controversy surrounding the opening of the Harvey Milk High School in New York, America’s first public school for gay and lesbian kids.
Rather than trying to educate younger generations about accepting those with different sexual orientation, it seems the creation of the school is, sadly, taking the easier option of dividing rather than accepting difference.
Positive discrimination is still discriminating by segregating.
The NRL All Stars match, by dividing the cream of League’s talent along racial lines, will do the same if the concept continues for years to come.
Sport, for all its commercial corruption, should be egalitarian at heart.
It should never create rivalry by dividing race and colour
EA
Guest
You probably should take into account the fact that he is actually a security guard... The connotations you read into it are your problem.
EA
Guest
That's a cop-out rugbyfuture. I didn't think anything would surprise me as far as Rugby Union's elitism in this country was concerned, but I was wrong. Rugby Union in Australia is stuck in the 1950's, in more ways than one.
Crosscoder
Guest
Just to reinforce my argument as per a message from the PNG NRL Bid team a couple of extracts http://pngnrlbid.com/ PNG has a pop approaching 7 million 50% of the pop are under 18 years of age Every school participates in rugby league competition There are thousands of registered players across 280 clubs
J
Guest
its quite sad that you choose to look it like that DOW, so thats the only thing he was implying, for him to get a job????
Crosscoder
Guest
Siva Like the official 4billion TV viewers that supposedly watched the 2003 RWC.,when the final cracked 33million.i want that calculator ,it is better than the share market.
rugbyfuture
Roar Guru
or just don't play it? because of a large weight towards league in aboriginal areas, ie. QLD and NT
dasilva
Guest
Let just say I don't generally liking the concept of being proud of your ethnicity It's neither something to be proud of or ashamed of. It's just the fact of who you are.
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
I think your the one jumping the gun. All EA did was make a comment towards another poster, your the one who says that it's a racial slur. Last time I went to K-Mart it was only mothers and teenagers guarding the door. From what I can see, he is asking Siva to get a job.
Siva Samoa
Roar Pro
there are also thousands and thousands of kids playing rugby union in samoa, fiji and tonga not included in the figures. lets just stick to whats the official numbers and leave the pipe dreams and fantasy calculator for league unlimited.
Crosscoder
Guest
J Speak to people who have spent time there including a friend of mine once on the Embassy staff,including people from the ARL. Of course other codes are played there as other codes are played in Fiji including rugby league now into some union schools,and other codes are played in victoria and Sth Australia.Not every kid in Australia plays soccer/or AFL/or rugby league for that matter.The population is 6 million not 700,000. At last reports rl is the national sport,and it is the national sport for many reasons,the number of clubs,the financial support form local companies,the passion of the kids in the villages and the towns,the treatment of NRL players as some kind of gods. And of course we have Siva's impeccable and irrefutable statements to emphasise the point,as he will use Wikipedia for his argument and his world travel experience .
PastHisBest
Roar Guru
If you don't know mate YOU should take the time to educate yourself.
rugbyfuture
Roar Guru
crosscoder, you again forgot to look at the context of this discussion, the point was made by red cap that Rugby was an all white game, so excuse me if i defend it with the high amount of islanders and africans playing it. again, i could equally say look at south africa, or New zealand, or japn, namibia, Argentina, protugual, korea, brazil........ start reading the conversation and not the sentence.
J
Guest
Crosscoder but how do you no that? not every kid plays rugby league in PNG i understand that they play football, rugby and AFL. there could be 1000's of other kids that play different sports there too.
EA
Guest
What racial slur would that be? Pease, take your time.
Crosscoder
Guest
Siva That is a load of rubbish.There are thousands of PNG kids who play rl ,not included in official figures,and more so than the Fji in numbers.The population of Fiji is about 700,000. Oh! of course you have coached and trained players in both rugby codes in PNG.I forgot.
EA
Guest
Yeah, no Mitzter. 1(less than 1%) Indigenous player in Super 14 has come through the Rugby Union ranks compared to 11% in both Rugby League and AFL. Those are facts. F A C T S. What would you call it? Accidental? That tells me one simple thing, Indigenous Australian kids aren't welcome in Rugby Union.
J
Guest
and yet EA it's okay for you to throw racial slurs at other people? double standards here man
oikee
Guest
You also left out Jennings and Blair.
EA
Guest
lol @ siva. Poly, K mart needs a man out front to catch the shoplifters, are you that man? Methinks you are....
Crosscoder
Guest
EA and to think I left one Benji Marshall out of the names of the all stars.So much for his Maori heritage.