Brexit might seem an unlikely place to start a football column, but it’s relevant because last week’s vote to remove the UK from the EU is a cautionary tale to governments and administrators the world over; even the AFL.
The Guardian’s John Harris explained as well as anybody why a significant number of Britons voted against what might appear to have been their best interests. In short, it could be seen as a very British ‘up yours’ to an establishment seen as disengaged from the population it was supposed to represent.
It’s a salutary tale that typifies a mistrust with the managerial class that stretches far beyond the Old Dart. It can be felt here, with the AFL.
The Herald Sun published a column recently railing against the response to the bullying of a female journalist. The message was clear, we should all harden up and stop seeing ourselves as victims. A similar response was seen during the public debate into the racial abuse suffered by Adam Goodes. If you browse more sources than just Guardian Australia or listen to talkback radio, you would know this was not a minority view.
In the Herald Sun column, the rhetorical question was asked whether it was appropriate for the AFL to play such a prominent role in social debate. I don’t have a strong position on whether it should, but in doing so, it is providing a valuable public service. Supporting initiatives like White Ribbon may be beyond the AFL’s core remit of administering games of football, but it is to the league’s credit that it appreciates its positive influence beyond its narrow historical boundaries. Where else does Australian society engage with such fervour in such numbers? Where else do young men encounter information on issues like domestic violence, especially delivered to them by age-appropriate role models? Surely it’s better that football is the entry point for a debate on the language of violence against women than that debate not being had whatsoever.
It’s not just on social issues that the AFL has opened itself to challenges of overreach. Growing the game may be a common objective but imposing costly slow-growing clubs outside the heartland has failed to capture hearts and minds. Watching one of them develop a fearsome list with the aid of sizeable competitive concessions has only increased this ire. Scheduling, rules, variable pricing – the list goes on of decisions the AFL has taken (and in some cases had to take) that may be at odds with a traditionalist view of football.
Many of these developments are beneficial, but Brexit proved that alone is not enough. The public has to know they’re successful, and also be convinced why. The majority have to be brought along in the process, made to feel their voices have been heard, made to feel part of the game, not simply consumers taken for granted when more influential paymasters are calling the shots.
It all comes down to communication. The case for why two expansion sides in the competition makes economic sense still feels not to have sunk in. The Adam Goodes debate drifted unresolved until it was out of view. It took St Kilda to deliver the most meaningful statement on last week’s issue, taking the time to advance the conversation and explain the context. Too often, this vital step is missing. In its absence, misinformation flourishes and resentment grows. Especially when the issue is complex and emotive. Increasingly this feels wilful against a perceived authority figure out of touch with parts of its constituency.
Public discourse around the world, and especially in Australia, is too often polemical with both sides shouting into echo chambers. In football this is complicated by layers of historical allegiance and animosity making rational deductions challenging. The AFL needs to persuade, educate, and make everyone feel part of an active conversation.
After growing into a community leadership role the AFL now has to lead its communities. Rather than imposing diktats by press release it has to discuss, cajole and include. It needs to get out to the margins, press flesh and show it’s listening. There will be dissent, in the face of which the AFL has to work hard to make its point and to do so with the goal of winning over sceptics, not brow beating them into submission.
The league has modernised and professionalised beyond the comfort of many fans. As last week’s strikingly low attendances indicated, some of these supporters are drifting off. Anecdotally, stories of rusted on members preferring to watch state league or suburban footy are growing in number because they no longer identify with the game they thought they knew.
There’s no suggestion a schism on the scale of Brexit is on the cards but there are plenty of indicators of discontent. The AFL and the footy community would be wise not to let them fester.
Quote of the week
It would be incorrect to say everyone was sitting back, comfortable in the fact that Paddy Dangerfield was sitting on the bench.
– Geelong coach Chris Scott has a diplomat’s turn of phrase and this well-chosen statement conveys his anger at watching his star player marooned on the wrong side of the boundary for what seemed like an eternity as St Kilda grabbed a late win on Saturday.
Photograph of the week
There’s a lot more to this typical ‘player leaving the ground’ shot than meets the eye. To begin with it features modern great Matthew Pavlich saluting the MCG for probably the final time in his 300-plus game career. Behind him the stands are empty. The 20,320 fans in attendance represented Collingwood’s lowest postwar crowd and the rain – or is it sleet? – captured in the floodlights is testament to the wretched conditions of the day. Hopefully the six-time All-Australian will receive a more fitting MCG send-off later in the year.
Bits and bobs
Gold Coast’s home clash with St Kilda will be Rodney Eade’s 350th as an AFL coach. The veteran becomes the 15th coach to rack up such a milestone but the only one without a flag.
The bye rounds have not been kind to the AFL and this week’s offering again looks short of contests that will have a bearing on the business end of the ladder. The Bulldogs’ trip to the SCG is the obvious standout. The Swans are somewhat of an unknown quantity in the absence of Kurt Tippett, while the Bulldogs are easing out of their own injury crisis. A home win and Sydney would likely return to flag favourites, an away win and one could be convinced the top eight are conspiring to end the home-and-away season on equal points just to mess with us.
