Tall poppy syndrome alive and well

It doesn’t get much better than a great sporting debate in Australia. At the pub, around the dinner table, in the change rooms or indeed on The Roar we all love to pump up the tyres of our favourite athletes and sporting team.

Unlike Americans who have typically followed the Chicago Bulls, LA Lakers and now Miami Heat Australians love the underdog.

There is nothing that unites the country like the battler come good, apart from perhaps the support we show to those that are perceived to be hard done by.

On the flip side Australians are relentlessly savage in their pursuit of tall poppies that we think to have had things easy or begin to appear to big for their boots.

As a microcosm of Australian society The Roar reflects these attitudes.

Take the cricketing discussion over the past month for example. Usman Khawaja was puzzlingly left out of the Australian Test side in Sydney, given a One Day International debut and then dropped after one game.

Obviously this has violated every Australians right to a fair go and thus the cricketing forums have duly descended into a monotonous commentary.

Many good points have been raised in the one-sided debate, for example; Usman averages above 40 for the season across all forms of the game, he has developed his ability to rotate the strike and perhaps improved his attitude to running between wickets and fielding.

However Usman has hardly set the world on fire. Being the best of a mediocre bunch of reserve batsman does not mean you deserve an extended crack at Test or ODI berths nor does a Shield average of a tick over 40.

We’ve heard it all Summer, Usman scored 130 and Tasmania scored only 90.

This does not make him Don Bradman.

If we look objectively at the situation we can conclude playing five bowlers in Sydney was a disgrace and Usman should have played. But he has had more opportunities than most and is yet to truly grasp one. The only currency in Australian cricket is runs, Usman simply needs more.

Simply put, the constant whining and moaning is embarrassing. He may very well be the answer to our middle order deficiencies but he hasn’t earned the spot.

There may be spots available but he isn’t bashing the door down and demanding inclusion, rather plodding along just doing enough to stay at the head of the line.

At the other end of the spectrum we have two clear examples amongst the dozens and dozens of Australian sports people that are regularly targeted for abuse.

Glenn Maxwell is the obvious candidate from the cricketing world, aptly described as the antithesis of Usman Khawaja, while Lucas Neill’s return to Australian shores has been met with less than welcoming arms.

In relation to Glenn Maxwell, I’m going to confess I have never seen him play red ball cricket. Not once. I have seen him play some truly disappointing and somewhat embarrassing innings in limited overs cricket however.

But I’ve made a distinction between the two. As a one day cricketer Australia is seriously struggling if he is in the top 15 players. However, he averages 42 with the bat in the Shield and the Australian panel of selectors have adjudged him ready for the Test arena.

Based on my, and your own, lack of exposure to Glenn Maxwell the first class cricketer we should perhaps ease off with the mud-slinging and voodoo dolls.

He is a young bloke dreaming of wearing the Baggy Green that just wants to do as well as he possibly can personally and for the team. For some this isn’t enough and I only hope they are deriving fulfilment and enjoyment from the pack mentality attacks upon a fellow Australian.

If you haven’t seen him play first class cricket at least a dozen times, perhaps reserve judgement before shooting from the hip. If given a chance I hope he does well, simply because it will give us a better chance of winning.

Lucas Neill is a completely different kettle of fish. Here is the current captain of the national team and veteran of two World Cups returning home to play in his home town in the A-League.

Think about that sentence and then question why it hasn’t been celebrated in the fashion that it has deserved?

The ‘Luca$’ jibes are tiresome and stink of pettiness and jealously. Besides the fact there is no basis for the nickname.

As members of the sporting public it won’t surprise you that we aren’t privy to all that goes on behind closed doors.

People want to cite Neill’s move from Blackburn to West Ham as evidence of ‘Luca$’ putting money above football. But he went on to captain West Ham in the Premier League, a huge honour that he will take with him for the rest of his life.

You expect him to forgo that opportunity to play Cup football at Liverpool?

Then there is the oft mentioned but rather inaccurate ‘long ball Lucas’ brigade or those that sprout he is only here as a last resort and couldn’t cut it in the Middle East.

Many a person more intelligent than myself has commented on his ability to play football from the back but when something like this grabs traction it’ll take a lot more than reality to halt it.

As for the Middle East, the competition for foreign player spots is fierce for most window-to-window propositions as teams look to attract more glamorous players with big money.

The experience of HK in the A-League would be enough to discourage most Socceroos from returning particularly when juxtaposed with the altar worshipping of Del Piero.

Furthermore if you put yourself in their shoes — Lucas or Tim Cahill’s, for example — in the twilight of your career with perhaps 18 months of professional football left, having played in the biggest league in the world who wouldn’t want to experience new cultures and get acquainted with new cities and avenues for post football life while still able?

Australia will always be here and often players look forward to moving back and spending time with family and friends once their careers have finished.

These players have delivered two and eventually — hopefully — three World Cups to a country that had previously experience one.

Yet all we do is pick them apart and kick them down to make ourselves feel better spewing clichés like Des Hasler on a Monday morning with talk of ‘giving back to the game’.

Hogwash, it’s us that owe Lucas and the Golden Generation some respect.

It’s great to have an opinion. But as the saying goes everyone’s got one.

While there is nothing better than cheering home the underdog our propensity to cannibalise our own is seriously depressing.

Here’s hoping to continued Australian sporting success – tall poppy or underdog.