The past couple of weeks in footballing circles have served as a reminder of the divisions and issues faced by our game. Old rivalries and attitudes have shown that they are as prevalent now as they have been in decades past.
The first issue is the Slater and Foster debacle, of which much has already been said. I call it a debacle as it crossed the line between spirited debate and something more destructive. Indeed, there have been follow-up articles as recently as today continuing this personal feud.
Both Robbie Slater and Craig Foster have contributed immensely to Australian football. However the latest feud is typical of our almost uncanny ability to shoot ourselves in the foot. Yet again, the broader Australian community is front row and centre as the footballing community airs its dirty laundry.
Yet again, this division in our code will be promoted and laid out for all to see, as the protagonists, caught up in a wave of emotion, seek to justify their ends at the expense of the game they and we love.
The second incident, or more correctly incidents, were a couple of articles by the great man himself, Les Murray. Of course Les’ contribution to Australia’s football is huge, and football would be all the poorer without his tireless efforts.
But his recent articles firstly attacked the anti-football media, and then the fans of the game who questioned his piece. He claimed many had become complacent, and that their belief that footballing bias had receded served as an indictment of attitudes that are holding our game back.
Is there an anti-footballing element to the media? I believe so, and I am sure many would agree. But constantly bemoaning this, year after year, in what looks like a victim mentality, truly serves no purpose.
In fact, it takes away time and effort that could be well spent addressing key issues of our beloved game. I would hazard a guess that fans are aware of the bias, they just don’t dwell on it. They see their time better spent enjoying their game and contributing to its development. As in any business or area, it is in your benefit to be aware of problems that exist, but to be consumed by them is to lose your direction and distract from your strengths.
Given the events of the past two weeks, my assertion is simple. Our ability to shoot ourselves in the foot, to bicker, to divide, and to subscribe to a siege mentality has done far more damage to Australian football then has any media element with an anti-footballing agenda.
Instead of thinking of our game as one being limited by others, we should think of it as one being limited by us. The sky is the limit, we just have to believe it.
Football debate is vital for our game. But often personal grudges and long-held animosities mean we can’t see what our game really needs.
Futbanous
Guest
Les has his finger on the ball or the future (being Asia for us)with this article:- http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/les-murray/blog/1090687/Future-is-A$ia More of the same please Les.
Bob
Guest
I wouldn't say a free ride, they have often been very critical of the governing body and the standard of the A-league.
Qantas supports Australian Football
Guest
Hear, hear, Mahony---spot on and good comment to remind us all what SBS is all about.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Mahoney we all understand this, but the point remains that SBS has given soccer a free ride at taxpayer expense for 30 years, so it's ludicrous then for Les to complain about lack of media coverage, especially when he is foolish to make comparisons with the BBL without even knowing the relevant attendance figures and ratings -and then to jump from that directly into conspiracy theories of the media picking out the BBL for special treatment and pumping it for all its worth, rather than the media jumping on board because it's POPULAR!
mahony
Guest
Read the following and then make some informed comment for goodness sake. SBS covers football (and Australian football rather modestly) for some very good reasons - namely, it has a statutory obligation to do so. Some of the footballphobic stuff on this site knows no rational bounds at times. It is also important to remember that much of the fotball coverage on SBS is sponsored these days so the critics of SBS can just take a Bex and have a good lay down. The world is comming and no end of denial wil prevent it. There are dozens of other chanells that cover what I call the "domestic" sports - SBS has a job to "bring the world back home" and generaly does a wonderful job. SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE ACT 1991 - SECT 6 Charter of the SBS (1) The principal function of the SBS is to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians, and, in doing so, reflect Australia's multicultural society. (2) The SBS, in performing its principal function, must: (a) contribute to meeting the communications needs of Australia's multicultural society, including ethnic, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities; and (b) increase awareness of the contribution of a diversity of cultures to the continuing development of Australian society; and (c) promote understanding and acceptance of the cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity of the Australian people; and (d) contribute to the retention and continuing development of language and other cultural skills; and (e) as far as practicable, inform, educate and entertain Australians in their preferred languages; and (f) make use of Australia's diverse creative resources; and (g) contribute to the overall diversity of Australian television and radio services, particularly taking into account the contribution of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the community broadcasting sector; and (h) contribute to extending the range of Australian television and radio services, and reflect the changing nature of Australian society, by presenting many points of view and using innovative forms of expression. (3) The principal function of the SBS under subsection (1) and the duties imposed on the SBS under subsection (2) constitute the Charter of the SBS. (4) Nothing in this section imposes on the SBS a duty that is enforceable by proceedings in a court. (5) A subsidiary function of the SBS is to carry on, within or outside Australia, any business or other activity incidental to the fulfilment of the Charter.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
Maybe not fully funded, but still significantly funded by the gov. from: http://www.dbcde.gov.au/television/abc_and_sbs_television "SBS is funded primarily by the federal government through triennial funding arrangements. SBS's total funding from government in 2009–10 was $211.8 million. For the three years to 2012, government funding to the SBS is in excess of $650 million". ( The ABC will get 2.85 BILLION over the same period)
Stevo
Guest
Thanks for the article Nick21. I think it's all but over for Les if he keeps up with his 1960s view of 2012 Australia. Yes I can appreciate what he is saying because I lived through it and played wogabll in primary and secondary school when it wasn't all that cool - and I wasn't alone either. But geez, it's 2012 and a lot of good stuff has happened and football didn't get this much general media coverage pre-HAL. If Les spent time in the active supporter groups of just about any HAL team he'd find a bunch of fresh faces who wouldn't have a clue what he was talking about. They just love the game and the atmosphere and keep coming back. These are the people that are the future of the game in Oz not Les and his out-of-date conspiracies.
Midfielder
Guest
Good article Nick.... our Football media especially SBS still has a lot of growing up to do...
Cpaaa
Guest
QSAF is right. SBS is no longer fully funded by the Gov, The Gov slashed its funding for SBS and therefore we are seeing advertising on the network to compensate. Its sports report is a realistic and fair report on all sports, afl, league and rugby in their relevant seasons.
Futbanous
Guest
Whilst one must respect past history of the game in Australia & that include the NSL(that produced many Socceroos) Its also fair to say that opportunity for growth was pretty much zero until we joined the AFC. So whilst not forgetting the past & its contributors, I find it much easier to assess the progress of football if I measure it post 2005 when we were accepted into the AFC. In that sense the Slater/Foz stoush is positive in that it reflects debate about football & how to improve the current standard of play. Agree or disagree with either,consider both or one a prat it doesn't matter they add to the debate after 2005. Now what Les is doing is going back pre 2005 & bringing the past negativity forward into an era when it serves absolutely no purpose. The reason football detractors grated in the past was because the game was a lost soul ,neither here nor there & deep down we knew it. Now I see them as entitled to their opinion for whatever reason or agenda they have in mind,because I'm perfectly happy with the way Football is progressing since 2005. In fact where as before you could often see its deficiencies & couldn't see a way around them,today IMO its very clear as their are bars being raised continually. Not quick enough for some,but it is happening. Jump past 2005 Les & see where the game is at not where it was.
Dean
Guest
"There's a general expectation that news readers, especially those on Government funded channels, present news with no hint of bias." Yet, the ABC & SBS tv are both constantly accused of having strong "left-wing/socialist", rather than "right-wing/capitalist" agenda/sympathies. George Donikian is a former chairman of Sth Melbourne (Hellas) FC and was also news reader on SBS World News. So what? Lee Lin Chin is an excellent news reader on SBS World News. I don't know if she likes any sport; I think she's more interested in the arts/music. So what?
The Cattery
Roar Guru
There's a general expectation that news readers, especially those on Government funded channels, present news with no hint of bias. You can't present the political news on the ABC if you are known to publicly support one side of politics or the other. That's the problem with Fozz. It's not my problem, I don't watch SBS news, it's a problem for the credibility of the broadcaster - but no one watches - so I agree - it doesn't matter.
Punter
Guest
The Cattery, Craig Foster is the head football analyst for SBS first & foremost, he also backs up a the Channel's news reader. He also writes a for the Sunday Herald. The fact that when he reads the sports news you see him as an anti AFL person because of his writings in the Sunday Herald, that is your issue. The fact that I see Kevin Sheedy as anti RL & anti football person & not a AFL coach (not that he is no good) like Paul Roos is my issue
Punter
Guest
Yes I agree a well written article that just about covers it, you are correct, we now have a sport that is now in the mainstream, the A-League is still a competition that is still a very long way from being the best in Australia, but is coming on nicely, but has tripped over some of the hurdles put in front of it. Then we have the national team that peaks at World cup time, Australia is still getting the grips with the Asian cup & of course we have qualifiers now, so much more than 1 game every four years prior to us qualifying into the Asian confederation. Then we have the O/S competions, still as strong as ever.
Qantas supports Australian Football
Guest
SBS also give up to date coverage to AFL, NRL Rugby and Cricket etc. during the winter and summer seasons----a plethora of sports are covered. The ABC are the only tax paid for network. You may be surprised to hear on SBS there is now a commercial advertising department that pays for a lot of the programing which includes Football.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Punter 1. Caroline Wilson is The Age's Chief AFL writer, and she sits on an ABC sports panel show as an AFL expert. Her writing in The Age is exclusively about the AFL. 2. Craig Foster is a sports news reader on a government funded station, and normally, it is beholden on news readers to deliver the news without favouritism, except every second week, Fozz is writing articles belittling other sports, the very ones he is delivering news on! In one sense, you are right, it doesn't matter, because no one is tuning in, but it's questionable whether a government funded news reader should behave in that manner.
Punter
Guest
1. We are a free country & allowed not to just follow like sheep. Caroline Wilson is on the ABC (funded by taxpayers) & she is very pro a certain sport you like & shows disdain about a sport I like. 2. You will find that most football fans has issues with mainstream media, SBS is not mainstream, they are also part of the enthic, football, falefal eaters that the mainstream (like Eddie Mcquire) like to ridicule.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Good link, an intelligent article on the subject, written by a soccer fan no less, underscoring how silly it was for Les to ponder why media was devoting more inches and airtime to the BBL, and even insinuating that the media picks who they want as a winner, then goes for it (which is the gist of Les' argument), rather than the media running with what is actually popular right here, right now. Anyway, it's refreshing to see soccer fans imploring others to just drop it - drop the whole victim mentality, the conspiracy theories, and work hard on building your sport, as the AFL shows, with a 100 year planning horizon, a lot can be achieved. Speaking of conspiracy theories, Les pulls out the ol' channel 7 chestnut, the smoking gun that shows once and for all that 7 hid soccer to benefit the AFL (it didn't work I mght add, channel 7 lost the rights to 9). Of course ratings had nothing to do with 7's decision.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Punter Yes, you are right on who is paying for the articles, but two points: 1. The taxpayer is still paying for the SBS sports news reader to present sports news, and it's someone who on a weekly basis expresses his disdain for the sports that the majority of Australian love and follow; and 2. it further weakens the argument about soccer not getting a fair go in the media.
Redb
Roar Guru
A good blog on the subject. http://afewsportingthoughts.posterous.com/why-perpetuating-the-anti-football-conspiracy