Last month, Essendon player Brendon Goddard launched a scathing critique on the AFL media, condemning their lack of empathy for his teammates who continued to play under the stress of the ongoing WADA investigation.
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Goddard pleaded for the media – and society in general – to view the players as fellow human beings: blood, flesh and all.
They have feelings, too, he said. They aren’t immune to the pressure and dislocation brought on by society’s gaze.
And it appears no one is immune. Not even the biggest name in the AFL.
Indeed, Lance Franklin’s startling admission of suffering from an ongoing mental health condition was as perplexing as it was grounding.
How could one of the highest paid players in the league – a dual premiership player with a beautiful fiancée and enviable life – possibly be suffering in secret?
As Swans coach John Longmire so aptly put it, Buddy is but one of many walking around pretending that everything is okay. Instead of asking, ‘why Buddy?’, why not ask, ‘why not Buddy?’
In the hyper-mediated world that we now find ourselves in, where every Instagram post and Facebook status is in some way tailored to portray a picture-perfect life, the pressure to replicate that doctored façade is not only crippling, but also inherently misleading.
It’s not only young footballers who feel the pressure to keep up appearances, but young people in general.
And it’s these social media platforms that have also opened up players to new channels of criticism – although the criticism itself is anything but new.
Less than two weeks ago, Essendon’s Courtenay Dempsey was the victim of a horrendous racial attack on Instagram.
In the aftermath of the vilification, Dempsey pleaded with the public to view him as a “human”, in the same vein as his teammate had only weeks earlier.
But wasn’t this all just a little bit of history repeating?
The slur directed at Dempsey came only weeks after Adam Goodes took leave from the game to deal with his own wellbeing after being the subject of racist abuse.
And while the majority of the AFL family have come out in support of Goodes – and labelled those who now boo him as racist, regardless of their motives – the Swans champion was still booed by parts of the St Kilda crowd in Round 22.
The thought of Goodes travelling to Perth this weekend to play in the first qualifying final against Fremantle scares many. In many ways it will be a return to the crime scene, where another young Indigenous man in Lewis Jetta took it upon himself to make a stand.
It won’t be surprising if Goodes is again booed, such is the lack of humanity that has come to characterise the 2015 AFL season.
Sport is so often labelled as a vehicle for social change and a microcosm for society and the issues that dominate it.
This year, it seems the AFL has held a very ugly mirror up to our society and the issues that not just dominate it, but plague and degrade it.
Phil Walsh’s untimely death reminded us of the frailty of the human existence. Yet, even this tragedy did little to deter our own inhumanity at times this year.
ProfVonSchrodinger
Guest
Terrific response, have a cookie.
Mark
Guest
I bet you use the phrase "I'm not racist but" daily.
Mark
Guest
Troll of the year, surely?
andyl12
Guest
"You guys have no idea what goodes has done for the indigenous community. Look up the GO Foundation, which he founded with Micky O. Look at the work he does in schools and in indigenous communities. He’s done a lot for a very good cause." Plenty of other people have helped the indigenuous community too, it doesn't mean they'd make respectable footballers. What happens on the field and what happens off the field should be totally different things.
Stewie
Guest
I agree that booing isn't racist, but it's the reasons behind it. When it comes to Goodes, people make excuses that it's because of diving, playing for free kicks, etc. Well if that's the case, boo him when he actually does those things, not whenever he touches the ball! It also doesn't help that Goodes is one of the most outspoken players about Indigenous issues. You'd never see Cyril do anything like Goodes has. He just keeps quiet and plays his footy, and the crowd respect him, because how dare a player call out the mob when one or more of them do something wrong? For them, Indigenous players are meant to be seen and not heard.
Stewie
Guest
You guys have no idea what goodes has done for the indigenous community. Look up the GO Foundation, which he founded with Micky O. Look at the work he does in schools and in indigenous communities. He's done a lot for a very good cause.
andyl12
Guest
"If WC ran the peptides program instead of EFC which Victorian based journalist would have stood up for them?" Exactly my point. Many in the media assumed that because it was Hird and Essendon, they must be innocent. The same way many people think that because Goodes is an asset to the game in NSW he should be found not guilty of anything he does and nobody is allowed to voice an opinion on him.
ProfVonSchrodinger
Guest
I'm not white, I'm of a minority ethnicity with darker skin tone than Goodes.
Jarijari
Guest
That's cool Sarah, but us old bluggers have problems too.
Abg
Guest
Alex L can you elaborate on Melb fans - referring to Hawks, Pies and Bombers? Fans of those clubs pioneered the all-in every touch boomorathon & social media dribble. Hawks link it to a Gibson knock 2013 (unlike Hodge no MRP but Dermott discredits Goodes & MRP - nil from Derm 2015 on Hodge & MRP. Leigh casts 'protected species' tag, Warne bags player on social media. Praise the lord I don't know the gutter trash lies from Ed or his cross dressers on the footy show. Hawks fans take disrespect to unfathomable heights GF14 (not a wimper GF12). Pies boobrigade emerge post 2013 Indigenous round & Bombers Indigenous round 2014. Carlton join party Indigenous round 2015 'before' the dance, meltdown post dance...Hawks rise to the disrespect again in Jul, player welfare alert as no rhyme or reason at Domain with WCE. Jetts meltdown - Goodes portrayed as sook, etc. Accused of ruining Selwoods night with shared banner... By your own admission it is silly & juvenile (it being unprecedented treatment that bears no comparison to past, current (300+ games, Rising Star, dual premiership & BM players, etc) nor umpiring decisions, reflects poorly on any fanbase & ruins game day for at least 50% of the crowd.
jax
Guest
Cousins has a'disease and you're saying that he deserved to be booed. You might want to reconsider that. "Addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences to the addicted individual and to those around him or her." http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/understanding-drug-abuse-addiction So they have a brain disease and we treat the disease by putting them in a prison where they mix with all manner of other hardened criminals - that doesn't make a lot of sense now does it? Look deeply into almost any policy and I think you will soon find that very few policies make any sense at all. There is always two or more sides to every story. Cousins was booed because he had a brain disease! That's doesn't seem warranted to me. Prohibition has existed for over 100 years and it's clearly not working so it's the people of Australia and many different Govt's that have failed him and every other person suffering from this disease. We have also failed Goodes and his people so the parallel is more relevant that you might have at first imagined.
shirtfront
Guest
I think Adam got Australian of the year as a token gesture by the do-gooders for being racially vilified by a 13 Y.O girl. In that same year Shane Crawford rode a bike from Melbourne to Perth for breast cancer. If any sports identity deserved Australian of the year, it should have been given to him! Adam Goodes divided Australians, his speech was them against us. The aboriginal peoples need to forgive what our forebears did and stop making this generation feel the guilt, Adam was not booed for his colour, especially when other aboriginal players are so revered. The media and football hierarchy need to stop fanning the fires and accept that supporters will always boo, whether it be umpires, stagers for free kicks, or great players. We must be the only game in the world where supporters can sit side by side without anomosity. Please do not sanatise our great game so that supporters would rather sit in the comfort of their own homes than go and attend a match.
13th Man
Guest
And he deserved to get booed. What has Goodes done to deserve the same treatment? Called someone out for being racist? Its embarrassing that Goodes can even be mentioned in the same sentence as Cousins.
Abg
Guest
No, Mitchell went for the arm feigning injecting, shit sportsmanship. And just because someone tries to removes heads and caught drink driving shouldn't lose a captaincy or booed into oblivion with the intensity seen & heard GF14 by 40000 strong at an undeniable champion, who btw is factually & categorically not dirty!!! It is and continued to be despicable in 2015 but hey hang on to your position, else you'll concede Hawks fans dud spark the riot!
Abg
Guest
Nik, so hope (pray) you're right. Swans fans respect Freo & sure the majority won't sink to the baseless defence for crowd hostility seen in 2015 for one of our (and the game's) greatest players. Win, lose or draw let's applaud our respective champions - btw Swans fans will not boo Jetts in a purple guernsey...
andyl12
Guest
I've had a low opinion of Goodes for nigh on a decade now, it's just a shame so many people have taken time to catch on. The same way I was arguing against COLA back in 2002 but the boys' club didn't want to hear about it.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
The whole Goodes booing saga doesn't indicate much except that people don't like being told what to do, especially when those doing the telling are also making assumptions about their motivations and using those assumptions as their reasoning. Fans of Melbourne clubs don't like the Swans to begin with for a variety of reasons and Goodes is the most instantly recognizable and identifiable player at the club (both from a physical and media presence standpoint), and while he's a player of exceptional talent the view that he crosses the line between a hard competitor and a thug on the field isn't without some merit. More than a bit silly and juvenile? sure, but starved of oxygen it wouldn't even be a topic anymore.
deccas
Guest
that was kicking in danger while rushing into a 50 50 contest. sure its not great, and a player as experienced as goodes should know better, but he is 100% going for the ball. Its absolutely nothing on Mitchell Lake Hodge Lewis. Goodes wasn't boo'd until he pointed out racism, then he was. If you started booing goodes this year Andy, I've got a bloody low opinion of you, and you should take a good look at yourself.
Dean N
Guest
Oh please, he was an addict, but at least he didn't do it game day. The point is just about every club booed him except WC and Richmond so get off your high horses.
Paul D
Roar Guru
It's hard to get people's attention these days Dougie. Not trying to make light of the Goodes situation, but that's just the way the world works. No-one gives a toss about all the civil wars in Africa and countless human rights abuses, but a dentist blows away Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe and it dominates the news and social media for days. I don't think you can single out AFL fans for overlooking the Goodes booing for a time, because, as you say, the media hadn't drawn people's attention to it. Once it did though, the response was immediate and emphatic.