The NRL’s decision to suspend, fine, and “educate” Indigenous Knights star Caitlin Moran over a social media post about the death of Queen Elizabeth II has been criticised by Indigenous voices as a racist overreach and a colossal double standard.
Moran, who played in the winning team at the 2017 Women’s Rugby League World Cup, faces a female-first one-match suspension, a quarter of her salary in fines (unheard of in the big boys’ league), and mandatory training about off-field and online protocol.
“It sends a very damaging message to Aboriginal girls that their voices can be muted or that they can be disciplined for their opinions on issues with serious ramifications for our mob,” Wiradjuri Woman, Indigenous business analyst and former athlete Kira-Lea Dargin told Crikey.
Dargin was the first Indigenous woman to play professional gridiron in the US and competed alongside or against many of the NRLW athletes, particularly at Koori Knockouts. She called Moran an “absolute role model” for Aboriginal and Koori girls and reiterated that her comments speak directly to the complicated historical and social relationship between Aboriginal people and the monarchy. Newcastle Knights coach Ronald Griffiths also said as much in a press conference on Sunday.
The NRL has promoted itself as a culturally diverse, inclusive, and sensitive organisation but Dargin says the code needs to take a “good look at themselves”.
“They promote themselves to be culturally aware, but they’re not,” she said.
Moran’s comment, which included reference to the late monarch as a “dumb dog”, caused “damage to the game”, the league said in a statement.
“That’s a very common phrase that’s used in community,” Dargin said. “It’s more associated with when you generally don’t like someone and yet it’s blown up because a particular journalist jumped on it and let it get up their nose.”
This sentiment was echoed on social media. Bundjalung woman and advocate for human rights and reform Vanessa Turnbull Roberts called “shame” on the NRLW for “punishing an Aboriginal woman for having a perspective on the violence and harmed caused by colonisation”.
Setting aside gendered and racial overtones, the incident harks back to the free speech debate that raged in 2019 after rugby star Israel Folau took the nation by storm over an Instagram post which laid down the law of the land on homosexuals in the eyes of God.
Conservative think-tank Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) called out Rugby Australia and GoFundMe for their “totalitarian” treatment of Folau. The IPA stated that “what is happening to Israel Folau should not happen in a free society”.
“They wanted to silence him, penalise his speech, and to stop people from donating to his cause. This is fundamentally totalitarian,” it wrote.
The IPA did not respond to a request for comment on whether Moran had also her free speech curtailed.
Dargin put it bluntly: “Everyone is entitled to freedom of speech whether you like what’s said or not. There are plenty of opinions in the public domain that Aboriginal people don’t like or don’t agree with, but we have to endure that.”
