Yeah good article.
Is anyone here a fan of the Marngrook Footy Show?
The theme running through that article, as well as Marngrook, is the way footy has become a particular point of strength for Aboriginal people, a way they can shine in the national spotlight. Footy is a window that they've been able to prise open into mainstream society, where there are so few, and more importantly now they've got that window, they can use it to bring the rest of their lives and culture into mainstream society.
Marngrook - did anyone see the Indigenous round episode - they had Syd Jackson, the pioneering Noongar player, East Perth and Carlton in the 60s-70s. That show doesn't shy away from the broader picture, and we heard Syd's story as a stolen generation kid, and he shed a tear relating the fact that he didn't see his sisters for 50 years because they were separated. And I like the way Marngrook - though Melbourne based - always acknowledges Stephen Michael as one of the absolute all-time greats of the game, although he didn't play in Melbourne. Last week they had Barry Cable on the show, who was saying that WAFL and SANFL champions of old need to be considered on equal terms to Melbourne-based players - he said 'stop saying AFL/VFL - call it all Australian Football'.
I believe that footy (and related efforts like Clontarf) is punching above its weight in its contribution towards an on-going and never-ending process of reconciliation - although obviously there's such a huge distance yet to go, needless-to-say with countless other facets of society still terribly failing Aboriginal people.
