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Sport in Australia is an institution; a major part of Australian culture and our identity. So what are the issues at present? With so many different sports and the strange relationships between codes, how do we make sense of the growing competitive sporting climate that encapsulates our national identity?
With expansion on every competitions agenda and derogatory comments thrown against rival codes, what purpose does such a competitive and bullying culture between codes and leagues serve?
Firstly, I believe in the media and in certain groups there is this idea about codes and sports that people only support one thing.
There is this misconception that people are only able or choose to follow one code or variety of sport and that they are incapable of following more than one club, code or national team in a season, or at all.
Most people do not have an exclusive allegiance to one code and embrace our national sporting teams of all varieties at the biggest events.
People from all walks of life, from all codes and clubs put down their affiliations when the Socceroos are playing a knockout clash in the football World Cup or when our national cricket team is playing the fifth test against England to decide who will take home The Ashes.
Anyone watching the English supporters at The Ashes this summer wouldn’t be surprised to see a football shirt on every second English fan, Birmingham City or Arsenal- they all love their cricket and stand side-by-side to support their national team.
Whether it’s the Wallabies against New Zealand, rugby league against New Zealand or netball against New Zealand, everyone will get behind our national teams particularly in the biggest rivalries and sporting events at the international level.
This is why it was so shocking when the multi-million dollar earning Andrew Demetriou made slanderous comments against our national football team, who were playing a pre-World Cup farewell match against New Zealand at the MCG.
To talk down an important Socceroos fixture just for the self-benefit of his code or some random status principle is immature and undermines the common AFL supporter, telling them they aren’t allowed to follow the Socceroos if they ‘really’ care for their brand of ‘footy’.
Not only was Demetriou undermining one of Australia’s most popular national sporting teams, he was showing that the AFL felt intimidated and concerned about footballs growing support, particularly in Melbourne.
But what’s the problem? Why should other codes feel so intimidated from not even a league match but a national team fixture?
Most codes don’t treat other sports this way and it shows that the AFL has some real issues in terms of the way it views Australian society and how they take the Melbourne public’s support for granted.
Apparently, according to Demetriou, “Soccer wants to kill your sport (AFL)” and there is by no means room for two Melbourne A-League clubs to play in summer, in the AFL’s off-season? Let alone the occasional Socceroos match that gives the MCG a whole new atmosphere.
You never hear the AFL complaining about the Olympics and how it might steal their supporters once in every four years. Of course this would be ridiculous, but so is the fact that the AFL is intimidated by football and the A-League which is played in the summer and has a schedule clash with matches for about two weeks.
A clash most likely avoided through a schedule change for next season, hardly stressful competition for fans.
So what is the point of all this bickering and in-fighting in the broader context of Australian sports? Not much really.
Why should a competition in summer hinder crowds or support for the main codes of winter? Shouldn’t other summer codes be more concerned? Well I could say quite surely that most of the smaller codes in Australia (i.e. everything but AFL and NRL) try to work constructively in the general sporting community and help each other grow.
The AFL can’t bash on every code, whether it’s rugby league or football like it’s the only important thing in Australian sports.
With the least international competition out of all the major leagues you’d think the AFL would be trying to make friends rather than excluding and bullying alternate codes for their weaknesses, for example the AFL constantly taking the moral high ground in contrast to the NRL which has actually had less controversial issues in its history.
Alternatively, the NSW Swifts netball team has a logo of the Sydney Swans on their kit which shows a partnership that can help both codes gain support and identity within the jungle of sporting teams in the largest cities, an example of constructive leadership where the AFL is a minority code in NSW.
If someone wanted (although unlikely) they could probably attend every match of their cities sporting team in five different codes. There aren’t many direct scheduling overlaps and most games are held on different days if there is a week/round clash.
It all comes down to the individual and how much of a ‘sports’ enthusiast they are in general. People won’t experience the same thing if they go to a basketball match compared to a rugby league match so why should people have to choose?
You could say Melbourne is largely an AFL city, but it still draws over 50,000 to rugby league State of Origin match, supposedly a foreign sport.
People like different sports for different reasons and want to have a variety of ‘sports cultural’ exposure.
To say one city only supports one code is narrow minded and people should start to be defined as sporting enthusiasts rather than an AFL enthusiast who might watch the occasional cricket match to entertain themselves during the warmer months.
Sports are just too different to say they compete directly with each other whether its surfing and hockey, boxing or F1; sports in this country will never be solely dominated by one code and you can’t ask the public to choose.
People will always have their main love, be it football or ice hockey but you can’t turn around and tell these people they shouldn’t be watching the Olympic swimming or Melbourne Cup just because they have a direct passion for one particular code.
Australia might have too many codes for our population, but as long as the sports hungry public show their passion for whatever they love, and how ever many teams they love; whether its Collingwood and the Wallabies or Brisbane Roar and Mark Webber, sports will still be strong and we will dominate multiple codes for years to come.
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