The persecution of Robert Muir is the story football doesn't want to hear

[ace]

I still remember a tribunal hearing where Syd Jackson having wacked Lee Adamson called out Adamson's racial abuse as his defence.
Adamson fiercely denied.
The league had no idea what to do.
Jackson was cleared and so allowed to play in the Grand Final.
As you may suspect Adamson was a Collingwood turd.

Years later Jackson let it be known that the defence was a fraud.
Adamson had not racially abused him but Carlton's president George Harris had come up with the idea.
Adamson was slandered and defamed.
He carried the slur for the remainder of his playing career.
Jackson did cop heaps of racial abuse from crowds, non more so than Collingwood.

Why these two clubs and the dopers are allowed to remain in the AFL is a disgrace.
Whatever it takes crooks.

[Secret Kiel]

I am so saddened by this article. I never engaged in racial vilification, and I cannot understand the mentality of those who would ; but I never called out those who served it up to Robbie, and for that I am more than disappointed in myself.

As I watched the joyous celebrations this week, it crossed my mind that we had seen no vision of our number 32. I thought - well he was somewhat controversial , so ok.

This morning, after reading the article and the excellent comments on this forum, I realise that that is very wrong. If , as a football community, we are going to celebrate the role of indigenous players in the game, the story of Robbie Muir has to be told and confronted . Wrongs directed that this man cannot be righted, but they must be acknowledged with sincerity and accompanied by a heartfelt , official apology. At the very least, we owe him that .

I grew up on the Mornington Peninsula and the secondary school I went to had one indigenous girl attend, (Jenny), I vividly remember her being horrificly racially abused and bullied physically and psychologically. The memories of those events only came back to the fore after watching the sad ending to Adam Goodes career and it caused me to reflect and become disappointed in myself for standing by and not stepping in and helping Jenny by standing up for her.

I've often since wondered what become of her life. I hope she was able to put her horrbile experience at school behind her and lead a fulfilled, functional and happy life.

We have to teach our kids to stand against racism.

[HardSaint]

I grew up on the Mornington Peninsula and the secondary school I went to had one indigenous girl attend, (Jenny), I vividly remember her being horrificly racially abused and bullied physically and psychologically. The memories of those events only came back to the fore after watching the sad ending to Adam Goodes career and it caused me to reflect and become disappointed in myself for standing by and not stepping in and helping Jenny by standing up for her.

I've often since wondered what become of her life. I hope she was able to put her horrbile experience at school behind her and lead a fulfilled, functional and happy life.

We have to teach our kids to stand against racism.

Great post and I think many of our generation would have similar recollections of similar incidents happening at school, at the footy club etc

Drawing attention to your point about teaching our kids, we started our boy at the least popular but progressive local high school and were shocked by the lengths and extents that so called progressive parents would go to to make sure their kids didnt end up at the one we chose - and the raised eyebrows and concern we got when we told them of our decision. The fact that much of its student population comes from the Commission Flats is one thing, the fact that there are high numbers of African, Vietnames are other backgrounds was the driving reason they werent going to send their precious darlings there, though they dared not ever mention it explicitly.

Its pretty hard to teach your kids to stand against racism when your actions and choices as parents are motivated by racist objectives however how slight or "benign" they may justify their aversion of kids of other backgrounds

For a kid like ours to be put into and thrive in that environment has shown to us that not only that the whole concept of racism is foreign, but he's quick to call out us on why we would ask where "Mohammad" is from originally and what does it matter, why are you curious? He's from Sudan, why do you care?

Kids teaching us to stand against racism is important too

[saynta]

Robbie Muir was a brilliant footballer who I loved watching.

This is a very sad story and I hope the club reaches out to him.

I can still remember my despair at a Saints v North Melbourne match hearing the vile racial abuse directed at the Krakouer brothers (who I really admired) coming from one particular Saints supporter. A short time later Jimmy was playing for the Saints. I also feel very angry when I think of the racial abuse I used to hear coming from our own supporters directed at Raph Clarke.

One can only hope that this dark and disgraceful period of the game's history is well behind us.

Yep. Our own supporters are not in the clear when it comes to racial abuse, ie Raph Clarke.

[SteveStevens66]

The club just released this:

https://www.saints.com.au/news/799981

[saynta]

I still remember a tribunal hearing where Syd Jackson having wacked Lee Adamson called out Adamson's racial abuse as his defence.
Adamson fiercely denied.
The league had no idea what to do.
Jackson was cleared and so allowed to play in the Grand Final.
As you may suspect Adamson was a Collingwood turd.

Years later Jackson let it be known that the defence was a fraud.
Adamson had not racially abused him but Carlton's president George Harris had come up with the idea.
Adamson was slandered and defamed.
He carried the slur for the remainder of his playing career.
Jackson did cop heaps of racial abuse from crowds, non more so than Collingwood.

Why these two clubs and the dopers are allowed to remain in the AFL is a disgrace.
Whatever it takes crooks.

SId, who I knew , once told me that after one match he was walking off the field when Tony Shaw said to him,
"You're yellowJackon. " to which Sid replied,"You're colourblind. " Whereopon shitbag Shaw punched Sid in the face.

f****** true story.
Shaw who said many times that he would say anything on a football field to gain an advantage should Imhfo be ostracised.

[St Plugger]

A very respectful response by the football club. Now those words need to be followed up with sincere action to meet his needs.

[saynta]

Late 70s I had a young aboriginal secretary named RHONDA.
My boss at the time,a real nasty drunk, used to call her Jeda, no matter how many times I objected.

A couple of years ago I refused to go to the s*** bags funeral.

[saynta]

Don’t get it wrong, there are plenty in society (and some on here) who pine for these ‘non PC good old days’, and still have these racist thoughts but are just not able to express them in the same way. Look at what people like Eddie Betts and Adan Goodes have to put up with online.

Racism against other nationalities is still seen as ok by some, or it just moves to sexism, homophobia etc which many feel is still fair game.

Hopefully this article helps some more people empathise with any victim of harassment, and not just tell them to ‘harden up’ or ‘get over it’

Ageism, chuck?

[Crossy66]

Hope we can quarantine this issue to be just about Robbie for the moment, rather than get hijacked into a broader discussion. He' s one of "us" and could use a chop out. On the off chance he reads this or the current custodians of the club read this, perhaps both maybe unaware of what a cult hero he was to many many saints fans

[The_Dud]

Don’t get it wrong, there are plenty in society (and some on here) who pine for these ‘non PC good old days’, and still have these racist thoughts but are just not able to express them in the same way. Look at what people like Eddie Betts and Adan Goodes have to put up with online.

Racism against other nationalities is still seen as ok by some, or it just moves to sexism, homophobia etc which many feel is still fair game.

Hopefully this article helps some more people empathise with any victim of harassment, and not just tell them to ‘harden up’ or ‘get over it’

Ageism, chuck?

Yep, the younger generations also might be doing it hard due to it being a tougher time to start their life than previously.

[Enrico_Misso]

Robbie Muir was a brilliant footballer who I loved watching.

This is a very sad story and I hope the club reaches out to him.

I can still remember my despair at a Saints v North Melbourne match hearing the vile racial abuse directed at the Krakouer brothers (who I really admired) coming from one particular Saints supporter. A short time later Jimmy was playing for the Saints. I also feel very angry when I think of the racial abuse I used to hear coming from our own supporters directed at Raph Clarke.

One can only hope that this dark and disgraceful period of the game's history is well behind us.

Muir's skills were on a par with Nicky.

Had he played today he would be an absolute superstar.
But back then opponents exploited his short fuse with racial taunts causing him to lose concentration and inevitably retaliate.

I was there at PP when he was reported for retaliating.
At least three times he shaped to hit the umpire before eventually just repeatedly throwing his mouthguard at the umps foot.

Retaliation - That was the story of his career.

Re Raph.
I have to say that I never ever heard any racial abuse of Raph by our fans.
I'm not saying you lying, but I go to almost every game and I never heard it.
I met Raph a few times and he is a lovely bloke.
But like most supporters I groaned everytime Raph got the ball as he had a very well documented propensity to waste the ball - same as Jayson Daniels back in the day.
Every club has their whipping boys - even Goddard copped abuse in his early days.
But to call that abuse racism when the player is coloured is incorrect.

[Freebird]

Don’t get it wrong, there are plenty in society (and some on here) who pine for these ‘non PC good old days’, and still have these racist thoughts but are just not able to express them in the same way. Look at what people like Eddie Betts and Adan Goodes have to put up with online.

Racism against other nationalities is still seen as ok by some, or it just moves to sexism, homophobia etc which many feel is still fair game.

Hopefully this article helps some more people empathise with any victim of harassment, and not just tell them to ‘harden up’ or ‘get over it’

Ageism, chuck?

Yep, the younger generations also might be doing it hard due to it being a tougher time to start their life than previously.

You have no idea what little the young ones had back in the 50/60's...unlike most kids that can't live without their mobile we struggled to live without TV or car that was less than 10 years old. Let's not talk about designer clothes, tennis rackets, push bikes etc, too expensive for most back then. Kids of today have no idea how good they get it

[The_Dud]

Don’t get it wrong, there are plenty in society (and some on here) who pine for these ‘non PC good old days’, and still have these racist thoughts but are just not able to express them in the same way. Look at what people like Eddie Betts and Adan Goodes have to put up with online.

Racism against other nationalities is still seen as ok by some, or it just moves to sexism, homophobia etc which many feel is still fair game.

Hopefully this article helps some more people empathise with any victim of harassment, and not just tell them to ‘harden up’ or ‘get over it’

Ageism, chuck?

Yep, the younger generations also might be doing it hard due to it being a tougher time to start their life than previously.

You have no idea what little the young ones had back in the 50/60's...unlike most kids that can't live without their mobile we struggled to live without TV or car that was less than 10 years old. Let's not talk about designer clothes, tennis rackets, push bikes etc, too expensive for most back then. Kids of today have no idea how good they get it

I was talking more about young adults coming out of school/uni and trying to get a job/career, buy a house etc.

But I don’t think this thread is a place for that discussion.

[Freebird]

correct but not easy back then for jobs/career buying house etc etc

Back to Robbie Muir...was reported in seconds at Moorabbin against Essendon but was nowhere near the action. the ump ran straight to Robbie and reported him...St Kilda had to get an Essendon official to report what happened had nothing to do with Muir and the case was thrown out.
The thing was the ump should have been sacked but no he umpired the following week

[sendmehomehappy]

One of my favourite players from back in the day.

Humbled to see how much Rob loved the jumper then, and despite all he has endured, still does.

His story is an incredibly painful read. Yet, I believe it is the single most important thing to come out of this indigenous round.

All the best for your future Rob.

[PADDLEPOP1001]

Go fund me page up to 63K great effort from all Saints & AFL fans including past players ,this is in approx 8 hours & without any StKfc or AFL input.

[SainterX1]

I still remember a tribunal hearing where Syd Jackson having wacked Lee Adamson called out Adamson's racial abuse as his defence.
Adamson fiercely denied.
The league had no idea what to do.
Jackson was cleared and so allowed to play in the Grand Final.
As you may suspect Adamson was a Collingwood turd.

Years later Jackson let it be known that the defence was a fraud.
Adamson had not racially abused him but Carlton's president George Harris had come up with the idea.
Adamson was slandered and defamed.
He carried the slur for the remainder of his playing career.
Jackson did cop heaps of racial abuse from crowds, non more so than Collingwood.

Why these two clubs and the dopers are allowed to remain in the AFL is a disgrace.
Whatever it takes crooks.

Yes, Jacson was advised to use that defence. It was something he has felt bad about all his life.

That you cal this as a defense for what has happened to Robert shows you as the terrible racist you are

[mcadam05]

I See both papers are going with Robbie being peed on in the shower now as we are talking about the early 70s im 99.9% sure it would be more like he was being hazed by senior players as a new player and not the colour of his skin as the for the rest of article it was just a very hard read for me. The club's been well a where of Robbies hard ships for many years , I just think every past player of this club should be helped and AFLPA are a f****** disgrace for not helping him

[To the top]

The unfortunate commentary is that such events were not restricted to Robbie

Robbie went on to play at West Torrens where my recall is him jumping the fence following abuse being directed at him over his status as descended from our First Australians

The stories of the Krakeour brothers including in their home town of Mt Barker in West Australia are beyond comprehension

Unfortunately racism still wins elections in Australia

We have much work to do

The Club’s response is considerate and welcome as is the financial support being contributed

But this is about Robbie and his pride at his achievements in life

That he is able to smile in satisfaction

[bigred]

I guess it is the lack of support that really hits home.

I was too young to see Rob play, but I have heard the stories and seen the vision. We only know part of the story.

Football clubs are funny things. They chew up those that they need, often at great personal physical cost. In many ways it becomes a family. Even without any contact that bond still remains. With our constant Strength through Loyalty mantra repeatedly being used as a vehicle to keep the place rolling, it also needs to work both ways.

I spent a night twenty years ago getting hammered pissed with Rob, while we watched an away game at the social club at Moorabbin. He ended up leaning on a table with my mates and we had an awesome night. I do remember the "Mad Dog" call went up several times.

I guess ignorance is no excuse but I literally had no idea that it was a derogatory call. He went along with it of course and it was all smiles...

Now it makes me feel like s***.

[The Peanut]

A short video of Mr Muir's footvball skills https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-23/ ... sport&nw=0

[SaintPav]

Always wondered what Collins (and others) said to him when he chased him down and Robert turned around and took that swipe.

I remember he was painted by the media as crazy and unhinged but an old Rabbi taught me that to have empathy for your fellow man you need to take your clothes off and put the other man’s clothes on.

The Club hasn't covered itself in glory either.

Neil Roberts is a gentleman.

This is tragic.

[saynta]

Robbie Muir was a brilliant footballer who I loved watching.

This is a very sad story and I hope the club reaches out to him.

I can still remember my despair at a Saints v North Melbourne match hearing the vile racial abuse directed at the Krakouer brothers (who I really admired) coming from one particular Saints supporter. A short time later Jimmy was playing for the Saints. I also feel very angry when I think of the racial abuse I used to hear coming from our own supporters directed at Raph Clarke.

One can only hope that this dark and disgraceful period of the game's history is well behind us.

Muir's skills were on a par with Nicky.

Had he played today he would be an absolute superstar.
But back then opponents exploited his short fuse with racial taunts causing him to lose concentration and inevitably retaliate.

I was there at PP when he was reported for retaliating.
At least three times he shaped to hit the umpire before eventually just repeatedly throwing his mouthguard at the umps foot.

Retaliation - That was the story of his career.

Re Raph.
I have to say that I never ever heard any racial abuse of Raph by our fans.
I'm not saying you lying, but I go to almost every game and I never heard it.
I met Raph a few times and he is a lovely bloke.
But like most supporters I groaned everytime Raph got the ball as he had a very well documented propensity to waste the ball - same as Jayson Daniels back in the day.
Every club has their whipping boys - even Goddard copped abuse in his early days.
But to call that abuse racism when the player is coloured is incorrect.

I heard the abuse and feel guilty that apart from giving the dropkick a filthy look, never reported him. Happened more than once too, and was clearly racist in nature.

[saynta]

Don’t get it wrong, there are plenty in society (and some on here) who pine for these ‘non PC good old days’, and still have these racist thoughts but are just not able to express them in the same way. Look at what people like Eddie Betts and Adan Goodes have to put up with online.

Racism against other nationalities is still seen as ok by some, or it just moves to sexism, homophobia etc which many feel is still fair game.

Hopefully this article helps some more people empathise with any victim of harassment, and not just tell them to ‘harden up’ or ‘get over it’

Ageism, chuck?

Yep, the younger generations also might be doing it hard due to it being a tougher time to start their life than previously.

You have no idea what little the young ones had back in the 50/60's...unlike most kids that can't live without their mobile we struggled to live without TV or car that was less than 10 years old. Let's not talk about designer clothes, tennis rackets, push bikes etc, too expensive for most back then. Kids of today have no idea how good they get it

Exactly.