- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
On Anzac Day, Scott Pendlebury was booed by Essendon fans while being awarded his Anzac Day medal.
This came only three days after Geelong champion Gary Ablett was booed whenever he touched the ball during his team’s victory over Hawthorn on Easter Monday.
This booing has prompted the AFL’s football operations manager Steve Hocking to consider implementing a “boo ban” at AFL games.
Whilst I commend Hocking for taking such a strong stance against booing, I fear he is overlooking a far more sinister and insidious blight on our game: cheering.
Cheering has been a part of our game since its inception, but because it is considered such a ‘normal’ part of game day, fans, players and coaching staff alike have always cheered freely, without consequence, and with reckless disregard of the negative impact it is having on others.
But as the game has grown and crowds have increased, cheering has become louder and more frequent. Now, much like a swelling tumour, the cheering that occurs at games has reached a point where it can no longer be ignored.
(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Cheering some players more than others empowers those being cheered and alienates and excludes those who are not privileged with same treatment.
Even worse, crowds have used cheering to ridicule, denounce, deride and flat out bully individuals and players for years now.
For example, when Essendon forward Joe Daniher kicked a massive goal from outside the 50-metre arc after the half-time siren on Anzac Day, the Essendon crowd erupted in rapturous applause.
Take a moment to think about the effect this unmitigated cheering would have had on Daniher’s direct opponent, Darcy Moore.
It is also not uncommon to see fans of the same team high-fiving each other in front of opposition fans and players.
Copious microaggressions such as these have infested our game, on and off the field.
This sort of antisocial behaviour was evident throughout the Anzac Day clash, from both fan bases, and it is something that happens week in and week out.
It’s time the AFL did something about it.
As for David King’s comment about “calling a spade a spade” in reference to the poor performance of the umpires, I found this to be very insensitive towards the spade community.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.