Matt Rendell...

[TAITA]

Re: Matt Rendall...

It's a massive issue...

...the stench of nepotism from an organisation who are (publicly) hell-bent on promoting equal opertunity and removing those who "don't", is the finest of all ironies.

The AFL must be taken up on it at some point.

But back to the issue at hand...[and I will be typing we/us/them a lot, purely for ease of typing!]...I can see some tenuous links to the stolen gen here, in that it seems 'western society' still thinks they know best for the indiginous.

There was a post a few pages back about the schools/scholarships being set up (can't find it now, or would quote)...good in [western] theory, but is it what they want/need?

Let me explain...

...it all comes back to 'culture'. Western culture is about about fortune and fame. Just about everything/everyone is driven by money and the 'need' to be known.
Parents (generally, in a stereotypical way of course) want their kids to have a good education to 'make something of themselves' (ie. get a well paying job, raise a family etc)...
...the only reason we want to do well at school and go to Uni is to get a well paying job.
None of us hit the books due to some grand desire to be a quiz champion! (Although, of course, money is generally the lure then as well.)

Indiginous kids growing up in isolated communities [generally] have no such wants or needs.

The point being (taking Jurrah purely as an example), why did Melbourne recruit a young man from a remote community who could barely speak English? One reason, to exploit his talents.
Of course there's always the guise (genuine assumption?) of "we're helping him out here", but seriously, what does Jurrah get out of the deal?
Money? Not interested I suspect.
The chance to win a Premiership? Yeah, possibly... [forget about individual clubs].
Fame? Even less than interested, in fact, I suspect it's a drawback.
The chance to be 'educated' and live in western society? [because, logically, to us, it's better than a dirty shanty town]...hmmm...

This has all been said before, but I think it's worth repeating, that Jurrah (again, purely for ease of example) loves running around chasing a footy and doing the spectacular, I've got no doubt he thought running around for an AFL club would be great fun...
...then the reality of hours of training each day. Hours of class-room stuff as the game now more than ever before has the academic element (sports science, recovery, zones, tactics etc.), and suddenly it's not so appealing.

[For the conspiracy gang out there, I'm not in the least suggesting the indiginous guys are less capable of the academia.]

In fact, I suspect there are as many AFL players (of any/all races) who were raised in mainstream western culture who get sick of tired of the professional football way of life and at times want to walk away...
...however for them, reality soon hits that without football they'll have to work a 'normal' job (and at this stage they probably have little to no qualifications), lead an anonomous life as a low paid regular Joe. [Sorry, Aussie battler! ]

Culture.

So 1) They soon get back to the daily grind of their choosen profession## (AFL), and
2) Of course, it's never reported in the media, so we never know.

The indiginous guys have no such hold ups. They lose the enjoyment and what's left but to return home to where they were happy all along? ** And the media jump at the chance to report another "walkabout". (Shit word)

So, in my Jurrah example...Melbourne F. C., absolutely do your best to 'recruit' this man who may well be a difference maker on the field, but don't ever be surprised when he has enough and returns home, because despite what you think (what your western culture would have you believe), he's not getting anywhere near as much as you out of this whole 'deal'.


Someone tell me it isn't 1000% easier for Rendell to say what he did rather than jump through all those hoops!!

(Or even, tell me why the PC police seem to find that so hard to understand.)


(## Of course there would be a very large I suspect % of AFL players who genuinely love what they are doing.)
(** Obviously a fairly large assumption, but I think it's fair to say that recent [3-4-5 years] events lend themselves to such a conclusion.)

Man - I seriously emphasise with your post in so many ways, however it describes an Utopia that does not exist.

Many, many young people migrate from their lands to the learning so they can make a better life for their people, and they do.

Footballers included, you only have to look at the great work of the late Maurice Rioli - a great man.

However, the way this whole matter has played out has been a disgrace and has set the cause backwards by decades, because rather than worrying about making a difference, people who care will be more concerned about how their words and actions will be interpreted.

And that is ****ed.

 

[ltdamn]

Im uploading now, will have the whole thing in about an hour

Good man.

 

[Plugger35]

Sam asked Jim Brayshaw as a part of the media why weren't they supporting Rendell who is a man of good character........ said it was disgraceful the way he had been treated / career destroyed esp for comments made during a private conversation

I knew Sam would tell it like it is and cut through the crap, no one hates the AFL and the way they run the game more than he does, well apart from Grant Thomas anyway. Pity a few more people in the media aren't like them, most of them are soft****s that just tow the AFL company line out of fear of losing their jobs if they don't.

 

[Geoffa32]

Interesting that after Sammys spiel there was no further discussion. JB didnt want a bar of it. Not a mention by Barret.


This issue is now dead in the media.

 

[royals1922]

Interesting that after Sammys spiel there was no further discussion. JB didnt want a bar of it. Not a mention by Barret.


This issue is now dead in the media.

Mark my words, Mifsud will either go voluntarily or moved to alternative position in the AFL after a couple of months.

Mifsud has destroyed the trust required for his position and very little can be done to revive it.

 

[Plugger35]

Interesting that after Sammys spiel there was no further discussion. JB didnt want a bar of it. Not a mention by Barret.


This issue is now dead in the media.

It will all be forgotten about by next week, the AFL media tend to go in weekly cycles and with the AFL season proper starting next week there will be plenty of other stuff for them to talk about. Unfortunately Stynes death has meant this story hasn't got the attention it deserved this week either.

 

[Geoffa32]

Mark my words, Mifsud will either go voluntarily or moved to alternative position in the AFL after a couple of months.

Mifsud has destroyed the trust required for his position and very little can be done to revive it.

His position is untenable.

 

[aneale]

I really don’t see the point in demonising Mifsud. It’s a complicated issue.

a man way out of his depth and who thinks he actually speaks for all aboriginal people. he's clueless.

the only bloke whose put anything back 15 years is him. the only thing that offended him in the whole meeting was that Rendell criticized the current programs i.e whar Mifsud is doing. He panicked about losing his job because he isn't performing IMO and concocted a story.

Where is all the outrage about Gerard Neesham's Clontarf football academy? that was an offshoot from the Clontarf Foundation. What are there now? some 40 educational academies specifically designed for aboriginal kids to get a better education and to get jobs, and where would they be getting those jobs? that's right, mainstream Australian culture. So what are those schools doing? assimilating. yet Mifsud is calling basically the same idea, ignorant.

 

[Butts_JZZ30]

are the media scared of being shunned, ignore or outed by the AFL?