Goodes' celebration reminds us of racial divide

It’s fair to say I’m not the only person writing about Adam Goodes’ goal celebration this week, and it is that prolific outburst of opinion from so many that makes this incident an intriguing one.

A player celebrating a goal in an unusual way does not usually unleash the torrent of public thought; clearly there is more to the issue than meets the eye.

We’ve had players celebrate goals in unique ways before, ranging from the heart-warming crowd hugs of James Hird and Tom Hawkins to the jailhouse salutes and middle finger extensions of – well, I won’t name names, but there have been more than a few.

Even the worst of these has not drawn criticism and debate on this scale.

Let’s be very clear, I am certainly not of the crowd that wants to lump in all people who boo or criticise Adam Goodes as racists. To do so would be to make the kind of generalisation that itself makes racism such a detestable phenomenon.

I’m not a fan of booing, but no person is without their faults. Adam Goodes has played some incredible football over the years and his career achievements rate him among the best players our game has ever seen, but there are a few legitimate criticisms that can be made of him.

Like just about every footballer in the league, he’s not above accentuating a bit of contact in order to draw a free kick, and his form over the past few years has been inconsistent.

However playing for frees is – for better or worse – a part of the game, and Goodes has shown over the past fortnight that he can still have a serious impact on games, even if it’s not the same impact he had at the height of his powers.

Still, there are aspects of Goodes that are open to criticism, as is the case with any footballer, any person. And among the booing, condemning crowd, there are no doubt a number of individuals whose motivations do not go beyond that.

However, the disproportionate reaction to even the mildest of actions from Goodes shows that there are more forces at work than a mere criticism of him as a footballer.

And let’s not kid ourselves, Goodes’ goal celebration this week was fairly mild, as actions go. An Indigenous player performed an Indigenous-themed goal celebration in Indigenous round – if you didn’t see it coming, you might need glasses.

Eddie McGuire called it an “aggressive” act – as if that is a dirty word in this game. Do we not week in, week out ask for our footballers to show a bit of aggression? I don’t know about you but there is a reason I watch this sport rather than, say, lawn bowls.

In all fairness to them, I understand why the Carlton supporters were so upset. Seeing a player with a bit of pride and passion on the field must be so foreign to them at the moment, it would upset me a bit too if I were in their boots.

Snarky comments aside, a player stirring up the opposition fans after kicking a goal isn’t going to win himself any popularity contests. I’m not saying don’t do it – go for it by all means, it adds a lot of the theatre of the game – but don’t expect to be universally lauded for it either.

Still, players rub the opposition fans’ noses in their success on a weekly basis and it never blows out to this level.

The factor that underlies this issue is that Goodes is a symbol and reminder of the racial divide that still very much exists in our country.

There are a few simple facts about the history of this land that are far too often ignored and swept under the rug.

The first is that the land we now tread on was unlawfully and violently torn away from its native people by the 18th and 19th century immigrants from which many of us, myself included, descend.

The second is that even in this modern day, Australia still bears the scars of these bloody beginnings. These events may have happened more than a century ago but their presence can still be felt in how they’ve shaped our modern society.

There is still an enormous chasm between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians that decades upon decades of social policy has done virtually nothing to reduce.

But nobody likes to see scars, right? We like to keep them hidden and pretend they’re not there. For many of us among the footy-going public, the troubles of Indigenous Australians are out of sight, out of mind.

Adam Goodes, through his efforts to point out racism in society, and his work to improve the lives of other Indigenous Australians, has brought those scars out in the open in a way that some people are, understandably, not comfortable with.

Those people do not want to look at those scars, some of them still open wounds. They do not want to remember the past. They do not want to consider how it still affects our present.

The easiest way to sweep the issue under the rug is to find and attack Goodes’ flaws. Discredit the man, discredit the idea, and we can all return to pretending that our nation’s history is stain-free.

I’m not suggesting that footy fans are deliberately engaging in this behaviour, I believe it’s mostly subconscious. Our minds associate Goodes with the issues and ideas he stands for, that makes people uncomfortable, and their minds naturally seek ways of belittling him.

If you want to criticise Adam Goodes, go ahead. But don’t fall into the trap of believing that because he is flawed, the truths he espouses are also.

Our society still has scars, still has wounds, that have persisted over centuries. They simply will not heal if we ignore them.

(If you’re keen to read more about this subject, I highly recommend the book ‘Why weren’t we told?’ by Australian historian Henry Reynolds.)

Sandilands deserves a bit of love
Wasn’t Saturday night’s game between Adelaide and Fremantle an absolute ripper? Aside from being a little low-scoring it had everything you could want in a game.

Eddie Betts, Michael Walters and Michael Barlow all kicked some brilliant goals, and Nathan Fyfe and Patrick Dangerfield went head to head in one of the best match-ups we’ve seen in years.

In fact, there was so much to love about the game that one thing got overshadowed, and that thing in itself was simply astounding – Aaron Sandilands broke the all-time VFL/AFL record for most hit-outs in a game by a single player.

The previous best of 63 was set by North Melbourne’s Gary Dempsey back in 1982 in a game the Kangaroos lost to Hawthorn with the remarkable score line of 32.14.206 against 15.22.112.

Sandilands didn’t just beat Dempsey’s record though, he tore it to pieces, recording a total of 69 hit-outs for the evening.

That’s absolutely incredible and what makes it all the more impressive is the fact that he did it against one of the league’s best ruckmen in Sam Jacobs.

Remarkably, Sandilands’ display has gone under the radar for many, a feat that is pretty difficult to achieve for a guy who is 211cm tall.

So here’s a bit of love for you, Sandi. That was a bloody good effort and it left me with my jaw hanging wide open. Brilliant work.

Here comes the blowtorch, North
Those of you who see me around the comments section will know I’m always up to fight tooth and nail in defence of my club, but even I think it’s time that a bit of scrutiny was directed to Ardent St after the Titanic-level disaster that was North Melbourne’s second half against Collingwood.

The club can take a bit of consolation from the fact that it was missing some of its best midfielders in Andrew Swallow, Daniel Wells and Nick Dal Santo. However, if you’re leading by 39 points at halftime and then give up the next 10 goals without an answer, you cannot place the blame anywhere else.

The frustrating thing for dedicated Roos fans such as myself isn’t so much that there is an issue, but that it’s the same issue that has been plaguing North for a while now and the club can’t seem to overcome it.

Sunday’s game gave me flashbacks to some of the darkest days of North’s doomed 2013 campaign, in which time and again the club built a substantial lead only to inexplicably fall off the pace and get walloped.

Brad Scott will not coach North Melbourne for the next four games due to back surgery. While I hope Scott has a speedy recovery, I doubt I’m the only person who’s curious to see how a change of coach – even if only temporary – affects the team’s performance.

In the AFL, you really have two options if you want to avoid criticism. You can be young, or you can be good. At the moment, North Melbourne are neither. Because of that, the club is going to be feeling the heat over the next couple of weeks. Let’s see how they react.