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

[saynta]

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/ ... 061c633428


Former Saint Robbie Muir has charted a racist history of the club and its rivals, which included him being urinated on by a star player. St Kilda has ignored his advances in recent years and now the club has responded.

St Kilda says it has made “grave errors” in dealing with indigenous players and will personally apologise after ex-player Robbie Muir revealed details of horrific racist abuse across his career.

St Kilda’s freakishly talented indigenous player Muir played 68 games but lost many games to suspension, often in retaliation to abuse from rival players.

In an ABC feature on Sunday he said he had asked St Kilda to be invited to functions celebrating Indigenous Round but had been ignored by the club.

He said in one of his first experiences at the club he was urinated on by a star senior player in a career that spanned 1974-1984.

St Kilda chief executive Matt Finnis said yesterday as the club celebrated its contribution to Indigenous Round it was clear much more needed to be done.

“We admire Robert’s courage to speak out about the racism he has endured and lack of support provided by our Club when he needed it most,” he said.

“We apologise unreservedly to Robert and his family and are humbled that he continues to love our Club.

“We must face the reality that the St Kilda Football Club has made grave errors in the past and may still be failing to grasp the full impact of the hurt felt by individuals, their families and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples..

“We will reach out to Robert to apologise personally, to provide the necessary support now and in the future, and to ensure he feels the respect and sense of belonging he deserves as one of the St Kilda Football Club’s pioneering Indigenous footballers.”

The AFL said in a statement last night there were more players stories like Muir’s experience in football it needed to rectify.

“Unfortunately there are too many stories like this in our code and country’s history. We would like Robert to know we acknowledge his story, and, along with the St Kilda Football Club, will be making contact to understand further how we can respond, in accordance with Robert’s wishes,” the AFL said.

“We will be there to assist with a process of recovery and reconciliation and we also understand that there will be similar stories from our game’s past that we need to address.”

[saynta]

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/st- ... 55ohi.html

"St Kilda have apologised unreservedly to former player Robert Muir and conceded the club made "grave errors in the past" in its treatment of Indigenous players.

In an interview with the ABC, Muir detailed a harrowing life of systemic racism, particularly that he faced as one of the VFL's Indigenous pioneers during his career with the Saints in the 1970s and 1980s.
Robbie Muir told the ABC of many acts of racism against him, including by his own teammates.

Muir revealed that in one instance he was urinated on by a senior player in the showers, an act that was met with laughter by teammates.

"What could I do?" Muir said.

"No back-up. Nobody standing up for me. People got sick of hearing the excuse that I'd been abused."

St Kilda chief executive Matt Finnis issued a statement on Sunday in response to the ABC piece.

"Reading about the impact of racism on Robert Muir's life in today's ABC article will no doubt be confronting for everyone involved in football, as it was for me personally," Finnis said.

"We admire Robert's courage to speak out about the racism he has endured and lack of support provided by our club when he needed it most. We apologise unreservedly to Robert and his family and are humbled that he continues to love our club.

"Today we celebrate the contribution Indigenous players have made to our game as part of the Sir Doug Nicholls Round. However, we must face the reality that the St Kilda Football Club has made grave errors in the past and may still be failing to grasp the full impact of the hurt felt by individuals, their families and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples."

Muir, 66, was dubbed "Mad Dog" during a career that was dotted with suspensions as he reacted violently in the face of racism from players, officials and fans.

He told the ABC that he hated the nickname and didn't want to be known by it. Muir also spoke of a difficult upbringing in which he suffered violence at the hands of his father.

"We are committed to reconciliation and justice, and must ensure that this commitment is not just about celebration of culture, and initiatives to support past and current players and junior footballers. We must also acknowledge our mistakes, and take action to repair harm and ensure mistakes are never repeated," Finnis added.

"We will reach out to Robert to apologise personally, to provide the necessary support now and in the future, and to ensure he feels the respect and sense of belonging he deserves as one of the St Kilda Football Club's pioneering Indigenous footballers.

"We have much to learn from Robert's story and are committed to rebuilding his relationship with St Kilda and our game at his pace."

The AFL echoed the Saints' sentiments with a statement of its own on Sunday.

"The AFL join with St Kilda Football Club in apologising for the disgraceful racism and disrespect Robert Muir endured during his playing years in our game and thank him for his courage in speaking out today.

"Unfortunately there are too many stories like this in our code and country's history. We would like Robert to know we acknowledge his story, and, along with the St Kilda Football Club, will be making contact to understand further how we can respond, in accordance with Robert's wishes.

"We will be there to assist with a process of recovery and reconciliation and we also understand that there will be similar stories from our game's past that we need to address."

[ace]

The urinator may have been a "senior player".
But he was NEVER a St Kilda player.

[whiskers3614]

The urinator may have been a "senior player".
But he was NEVER a St Kilda player.

please paraphrase in English?

[ace]

Don't suppose we will get to read the media footy commentators apology.
We won't see it.
But years later we will learn that they were either buried in a cemetery or their apology was buried on page 57 attached to the end of a non football story.

[asiu]

truth and reconciliation

wait until we get to the frontier wars
we are not going to be proud

but

the process is underway
(‘n thank the goddess for that)

we’ll come out the other end
battered bruised but better

‘n our first peoples
can let go of the bitter

[shanegrambeau]

Yep
There will be pointing of fingers...

It’s pointless to say Sam Newman or Eddie or him and her, as they are part of us, just more vociferous and confident than most.

Tribalism and competition is part of nature. I’d be interested to know if anthropologists ever discussed ways indiginenpus people dealt with kids picking on one another forming gangs, excluding or belittling individuals etc.
Not for an outl, but just so we appreciate how it is systemic and biological and cultural and dynamic.

It does not rest in the poisonous souls of evil individuals who need to be singled out so the rest of us can feel better

[samoht]

I had my nose broken at 15 years of age for standing up against an idiot, about my age or maybe a year older, who was making sexual remarks against a defenceless 14 year old aboriginal girl.
This happened in The Surrey Hills/Redfern area of Sydney, where we lived for a couple of years.
He king hit me and ran about 5 mins later, when I wasn’t expecting it.

It stopped him from picking on the girl at least.

Evil individuals exist everywhere and at all levels.

[saynta]

Yep
There will be pointing of fingers...

It’s pointless to say Sam Newman or Eddie or him and her, as they are part of us, just more vociferous and confident than most.

Tribalism and competition is part of nature. I’d be interested to know if anthropologists ever discussed ways indiginenpus people dealt with kids picking on one another forming gangs, excluding or belittling individuals etc.
Not for an outl, but just so we appreciate how it is systemic and biological and cultural and dynamic.

It does not rest in the poisonous souls of evil individuals who need to be singled out so the rest of us can feel better

We all know that Eddie and Sam are pricks. Racists? Well one could speculate.

[asiu]

wise words

it’s more about the ... airing of the story
‘n the hearing of the story

genuinely , on all sides

moiety ... is the word shane ,
that may point you towards the aspects
of the issue you ponder re the kids
‘n their upbringings

[The Peanut]

Yep
There will be pointing of fingers...

It’s pointless to say Sam Newman or Eddie or him and her, as they are part of us, just more vociferous and confident than most.

Tribalism and competition is part of nature. I’d be interested to know if anthropologists ever discussed ways indiginenpus people dealt with kids picking on one another forming gangs, excluding or belittling individuals etc.
Not for an outl, but just so we appreciate how it is systemic and biological and cultural and dynamic.

It does not rest in the poisonous souls of evil individuals who need to be singled out so the rest of us can feel better

Well, your lack of education on the matter is demonstrated with this post. Indeed anthropologists have undertaken much research on precolonial and post-colonial tribal kinship and social order, they found that the First Nations people had very strict rules, unfortunately the surviving tribes from colonisation were forcefully displaced and at best could only practice some of their culture, some of the time. Regarding Eddie McGuire, he got caught out laughing off the racism at his club, then backpedaled and apologised personally to Adam Goodes 'from the bottom of his heart' and within weeks he inferred on radio that Adam Goode's should be given the job to promote King Kong. Since then he has embarrassed himself even further. If he isn't a rampant racist, he must be a bloody idiot - and my unqualified opinion is that he is both.

[Secret Kiel]

Yep
There will be pointing of fingers...

It’s pointless to say Sam Newman or Eddie or him and her, as they are part of us, just more vociferous and confident than most.

Tribalism and competition is part of nature. I’d be interested to know if anthropologists ever discussed ways indiginenpus people dealt with kids picking on one another forming gangs, excluding or belittling individuals etc.
Not for an outl, but just so we appreciate how it is systemic and biological and cultural and dynamic.

It does not rest in the poisonous souls of evil individuals who need to be singled out so the rest of us can feel better

Well, your lack of education on the matter is demonstrated with this post. Indeed anthropologists have undertaken much research pre-invasion on tribal kinship and social order and found that the First Nations people had very strict rules, unfortunately the surviving tribes from colonisation were forcefully displaced and at best could only practice some of their culture, some of the time. Regarding Eddie McGuire, he got caught out laughing off the racism at his club, then backpedaled and apologised personally to Adam Goodes 'from the bottom of his heart' and within weeks he inferred on radio that Adam Goode's should be given the job to promote King Kong. Since then he has embarrassed himself even further. If he isn't a rampant racist, he must be a bloody idiot - and my unqualified opinion is that he is both.

Interestingly a book, A brief History of the Human kind by Yuval Noah suggests the first sign of racism was evident when the Sapiens wiped out the Neanderthals simply for being different.

[shanegrambeau]

Yep
There will be pointing of fingers...

It’s pointless to say Sam Newman or Eddie or him and her, as they are part of us, just more vociferous and confident than most.

Tribalism and competition is part of nature. I’d be interested to know if anthropologists ever discussed ways indiginenpus people dealt with kids picking on one another forming gangs, excluding or belittling individuals etc.
Not for an outl, but just so we appreciate how it is systemic and biological and cultural and dynamic.

It does not rest in the poisonous souls of evil individuals who need to be singled out so the rest of us can feel better

Well, your lack of education on the matter is demonstrated with this post. Indeed anthropologists have undertaken much research pre-invasion on tribal kinship and social order and found that the First Nations people had very strict rules, unfortunately the surviving tribes from colonisation were forcefully displaced and at best could only practice some of their culture, some of the time. Regarding Eddie McGuire, he got caught out laughing off the racism at his club, then backpedaled and apologised personally to Adam Goodes 'from the bottom of his heart' and within weeks he inferred on radio that Adam Goode's should be given the job to promote King Kong. Since then he has embarrassed himself even further. If he isn't a rampant racist, he must be a bloody idiot - and my unqualified opinion is that he is both.

Interestingly a book, A brief History of the Human kind by Yuval Noah suggests the first sign of rasism was evident when the Sapiens wiped out the Neanderthals simply for being different.

...and there we go....
Enter exhibit one...and let the personalization begin....again...and again,,,,,and again....

Yep...I'm prolly not so smart, but I wouldn't know., would I? I couldn't finish high school at the time. Anyway, you convinced me, and I "agree", it's all Eddie's fault, for sure.

Let the waves rush over the rocks and smooth them ....in a few billion years, it will all be smooth, again, just like it once was, right?

[mcadam05]

The urinator may have been a "senior player".
But he was NEVER a St Kilda player.

Do you really think that had anything to do with race or could it be players hazing the new guy , its not pleasant but it happens in fact Paul Salmon wrote about that in his book and hes 6 '6 and white

Im more angry at senior Geelong players beening abusive too him at a reseves game

[Secret Kiel]

The urinator may have been a "senior player".
But he was NEVER a St Kilda player.

Do you really think that had anything to do with race or could it be players hazing the new guy , its not pleasant but it happens in fact Paul Salmon wrote about that in his book and hes 6 '6 and white

Im more angry at senior Geelong players beening abusive too him at a reseves game

And no body had his back.

Never again is the lesson.

Has anyone from the AFL spoken yet?

[saynta]

The urinator may have been a "senior player".
But he was NEVER a St Kilda player.

Do you really think that had anything to do with race or could it be players hazing the new guy , its not pleasant but it happens in fact Paul Salmon wrote about that in his book and hes 6 '6 and white

Im more angry at senior Geelong players beening abusive too him at a reseves game

And no body had his back.

Never again is the lesson.

Has anyone from the AFL spoken yet?

You obviously didn't read the two articles I posted above. Of course the AFL has spoken.

[SaintPav]

An Age article from 2004.

Doesn't sound like his story and recollection has changed at all over the years.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070312023 ... 33664.html

[saynta]

Worth reading

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/198 ... 55pu3.html

"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.”
- L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between

Russell Jackson contacted me in April, wondering if I remembered much about a football game from 40 years ago: Collingwood v St Kilda at Victoria Park, May 3, 1980. He’d found my match report in The Age and was investigating a couple of incidents I’d mentioned in passing.

I’d described the Collingwood cheer squad and many people in the crowd “baiting and abusing in the lowest manner that wayward but undoubtedly talented player Robert Muir”. This, I wrote, was “victimisation of the most despicable kind”.

Even after the game, Magpies supporters kept abusing Muir outside the St Kilda players’ race. I likened them to hyenas around a cornered prey and wished that someone had turned a firehose on them.
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Jackson seemed surprised I remembered none of this. He still can’t believe it. Others have voiced similar responses since the publication of his admirable story about Muir’s travails in life and football on an ABC website last weekend. Some people have kindly commended me for calling out racist behaviour.

So how come I recall none of this?

I could say it was just one game among many I attended four decades ago. Football was indeed different. Just 12 clubs, all but Geelong in Melbourne. Matches played on Saturday afternoons. South Melbourne and Fitzroy still existed. Players were mostly white. Or invisible. Only after their playing days were over, in the 1960s and '70s respectively, were Polly Farmer and Barry Cable described as Indigenous. And only when the Krakouer brothers hit Arden Street in 1982 were terms like “black magic” wheeled out.
Alan Attwood's story in The Age on May 5, 1980.

Alan Attwood's story in The Age on May 5, 1980.Credit:The Age

Home grounds were just that - local, tribal, distinctive. Footy reporting could mean the Lake Oval or Windy Hill one weekend, Moorabbin or the Western Oval the next. Facilities weren’t flash. Memories of Victoria Park include a walk on a roof to a rickety press box perched over a wing.

The hard work began after a game. Forget compulsory televised coaches’ press conferences. Winners were welcoming: come in, boys (and we probably were all boys). Losers didn’t want to know you: piss off, maggots. Then began a long wait among the bandages and limping players and puddles of water (or worse) until a beaten coach deigned to appear – often to say he had nothing to say.

OK, so things were different then. But when I dived back into old reports from 1980 this week, the most striking thing was what was considered acceptable. Shocking stuff wasn’t shocking. Why is my memory of that afternoon at Victoria Park so fuzzy? Because a player being abused was no big deal.

The story was Muir being reported (again). Not Muir being deliberately baited and vilified, then responding to vile provocation. The incidents I described didn’t even make the headline. They apparently weren’t discussed by St Kilda’s new coach, Alex Jesaulenko, who’d been Carlton’s victorious captain-coach in the previous year’s grand final. I quoted Jezza (who enjoyed a post-game puff) as saying “I don’t like losing”. But there’s no mention of the crap copped by Muir.

Were we missing the real story? No. Just operating under different standards.

A month earlier, at Moorabbin, I’d covered the Saints’ first home game for season 1980. It was a big day: the ground had been renovated, fans packed in. “The only famous Saint not there was Roger Moore,” I quipped. But the Hawks won, and that was it for coach Mike Patterson. Sacked after just two rounds. Jezza, you’re stepping up ...

The match turned in the third quarter. Saints skipper Garry Sidebottom, I wrote, “was penalised for a legitimate, but solid, bump near the boundary line. An angry spectator, intent on some audience participation, hurled a can – apparently at the umpire. But it struck Sidebottom on the face and he went down.”

I described it as “a stupid incident; unnecessary and unfortunate. It seemed to unsettle St Kilda players.” Of course it did. A skipper felled by a can? Imagine what a sensation that would be today. But in 1980 it was just something to add two-thirds of the way through a match report - again, not even a headline.

I mentioned Muir in that Moorabbin account: sparking to life on a forward flank, setting up one goal, kicking another himself. So I was aware of him. Aware, too, of his reputation and infamous nickname when that showdown with the Magpies went horribly wrong on May 3.


Why did I take his side? Why does it seem now that I called out abuse – without being game to call it racist? Perhaps because I was a part-time footy writer. In 1980, after a year in The Age’s Sydney bureau, I was a general reporter who also wrote occasional sports stories and covered games. I was outside the club, which can give you perspective. I reported what I heard and saw, which seemed reprehensible - though, sadly, run of the mill for Robert Muir.

I’m glad Russell Jackson’s story has sparked the response it deserved. And there’s something
else that’s different: 40 years ago, my own story came and went. If anything, people thought
I’d been a bit precious. The following weekend, while Muir began a four-week suspension
for striking, I was somewhere else.

It has taken Muir himself, and football, much longer to move on."