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The whipping boy – every sports team has one – is that one player who every supporter blames for a loss. In cricket, Marcus North was always the first player criticised when the Australian Test team lost a match during its poor run of form between 2009 and 2010.
In football, the high profile and supremely talented Harry Kewell, has often been put under the spotlight after a poor game for the Socceroos.
The same goes in the AFL. Geelong has Mark Blake, St Kilda has Raphael Clarke and Carlton has Bret Thornton.
And you could almost hear the collective sigh of relief from Richmond fans when Richard Tambling left Punt Road for Adelaide at the end of 2010.
Brent Stanton has become the player, Essendon supporters love to whip the most.
If you ask them, he is the player at the centre of all Bombers turnovers. Apparently, he’s useless. He does nothing right.
Over the past four weeks though, things have gone too far.
Stanton has been booed and jeered at games. Not by the opposition’s fans, but by Bombers fans.
Sure supporters have every right to be frustrated at Stanton every now and then. However, to collectively heckle a player of your own team is totally unfair.
In fact it’s cowardly, unnecessary and ignominious. No player deserves to be treated like that.
It started in Round 6.
During the Bombers’ 139-point annihilation of Gold Coast, a small section of Bombers fans began to abuse Stanton.
Why?
Who knows. Their team kicked a world record 15 goals in one quarter and the midfielder was one of the best players on the ground.
The negative vibes were more prominent when Essendon hosted West Coast the following week.
Stanton was involved in a tough one-on-one contest during the second quarter, which concussed him and forced him to the bench.
When it was publicly announced he had been officially substituted out of the game for Angus Monfries, Bombers fans cheered.
Not for Monfries’ arrival, but for Stanton’s departure.
Seriously, how does that happen? Here’s a guy who’s just put his body on the line for his football club.
But his substitution – which was a result of his courage – is met with cheering. Sickening.
Due to a shoulder injury, Stanton didn’t travel up to Brisbane to take on the Lions in Round 8. However he did return for the ‘Dreamtime at the ‘G’ clash against Richmond on Saturday.
Stanton’s first kick of the match was a pinpoint 50 metre pass on the run to David Zaharakis at half-forward.
Wow – Bombers fans were impressed. Maybe things had changed.
Then came two kicks that went straight into the hands of Richmond players. You know what happens next. Nothing had changed.
Most professional athletes are excused for committing the odd mistake, especially younger ones who are still trying to find their way. But not Stanton.
How would you feel, knowing the crowd is critiquing you and your every kick? That’s what the 24-year-old has had to deal with in recent weeks.
AFL players aren’t superhuman and can’t just ignore jeering like that.
Too often, Essendon supporters focus on Stanton’s negatives. Yes, he makes the occasional error by foot. Yes, he might never be as good a player as the man who wore the number five jumper at Essendon before him – James Hird, his current coach.
But Bombers fans need to start taking the glass half-full approach.
Stanton would walk straight into most AFL midfields.
Many at Essendon believe, he is one of the hardest trainers at the club. He’s a genuine leader and runs harder than any other player on match day, often setting up one of the Bombers’ attacking thrusts.
Stanton is currently ranked 15th in the league for kicks per game at a disposal efficiency rate of 72.83 per cent.
Out of the 14 players above him on the kicking table, only six have a better rating.
The general consensus about Stanton is that he’s soft.
Ponder these numbers though: he’s averaging a career-high five tackles per game, a career-high three clearances and his contested possession numbers have increased by eight per cent from 2010.
What more does the man have to do?
Unfortunately, Essendon supporters are stuck in this mindset that Stanton is soft and can do no good.
It’s impossible for him to win.
It’s also a bit of déjà vu for Essendon.
Champion big man Paul Salmon was booed off the ground after the Bombers’ 1995 finals clash with West Coast at Waverley Park. He’s admitted that day prompted him to request a trade from the Bombers, which saw him end up playing another five years at Hawthorn.
If Bombers fans continue to treat Stanton with the same disdain and disrespect, a Salmon-style situation could occur. And that’s something the club can’t afford, because it needs a hard-running, outside midfielder like Stanton to accommodate the tough inside group of Jobe Watson, Heath Hocking, Jake Melksham and Sam Lonergan.
Yes, you might not like every player on your list. You’re not expected to either.
But booing your own team’s players is far from productive.
It saps the confidence out of players, which certainly doesn’t benefit the team, especially when it’s a player of Stanton’s calibre.
You are there to barrack for your team, not ridicule your team’s players.
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