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I was reflecting on Monday’s moving and dignified ceremony at Eden Park to farewell Jonah Lomu in the context of a number of recent sporting exchanges between our two countries.
It led me to ask: as a sporting nation, while we may rate ourselves highly, what will be the legacy of some our performances?
The speeches at Lomu’s farewell were as much about the man as they were about his monumental impact on the game of rugby. I thought of the recently concluded trans-Tasman cricket series, and the Kiwis’ dignified and sportsmanlike conduct.
Think about Mitchell Santner’s reaction to his first Test wicket. No self-indulgent histrionics, just a modest fist pump and a hint of a smile. Similarly, while congratulating him his colleagues did not behave as if his was some Earth-shattering occasion.
Think also of their response to the egregious Nathan Lyon decision. All grace and dignity. I shudder to think of what response our team and our jingoistic Channel Nine commentators might have been.
Reflect on the (hopefully unlikely) prospect of Steve Smith breaking down. The captain of one of Australia’s great sporting teams – a role which ranks with leaders of politics and industry – would be David Warner, that fine exemplar of humility, dignity and modesty.
Many of you may say ‘who cares as long as we win’, and there may be something in that. However, in coming decades, what will the legacy of the generation of Australian sportsmen (and I use ‘men’ deliberately) be?
A passionate supporter of our national sporting teams, I am coming to the view that some (not all) do not deserve my continued support.
I look across the Tasman and observe the likes of Ritchie McCaw, Brendon McCallum and the great bulk of the teams they lead. They represent the attitudes, standards, integrity and most of all humility that many of their Australian counterparts lack.
Call me old-fashioned, naive or sentimental, but they seem like good blokes whose success derives in no small measure from keeping their heads down and getting on with their jobs.
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