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Before the game, Richmond players of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent were encircled and then honoured by their teammates. The sight of non-indigenous Richmond players on their knees while their teammates stood proudly before them was powerful and moving. It felt like a significant moment in the club’s history. To get to that moment, authentically, was not easy.
The best writers on sport show that it is a metaphor for life. Perhaps that is why the triumph of the Western Bulldogs in the AFL Grand Final has been so ruthlessly milked for larger significance. But I would like to exploit it once more for the way in which it illustrates the weakness of a liberal politics that assumes that all will benefit from the economic growth that unfettered competition between individuals yields. The joy of the Western Bulldogs victory lay in its challenge to these assumptions.
My father took a train to Melbourne, watched his Swans play, fell asleep on the homeward journey, missed Bungaree, and walked miles from Ballarat to his parents' farmlet in the heart of the spud country. I see him tramping an empty road, blackness mitigated by a wan winter's moon, hear the clash of leather boots on bitumen, the baying of disturbed farmyard dogs; him scarcely more than a big boy who played bush footy.
By showing the wider community that an Aboriginal footballer could be smart as well as strong, Artie Beetson set an enduring example to all Indigenous people about what they could aspire to, on and off the sporting field.
When I first heard of the Melbourne Storm tragedy, I laughed. My attitudes to games had remained stuck in an ill-spent childhood in which a little cheating was part of playing games. Even now, I confess, I enjoy stories of cheating done in style.
The Melbourne Storm salary cap scandal indicates a major ethical breach somewhere within the club. Perhaps their senior executives might benefit from the NSW trial of school ethics classes.
The salary cap in sport is one of the last remnants of Australian egalitarianism. This is one of the reasons why the Melbourne Storm's behaviour is so offensive. It is an offence against one of the values Australians hold so dear, especially at Anzac Day — a fair go.
My favourite banker was Peter May, graceful batsman and cautious captain of the English cricket team in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He once broke his umbrella on the way to work, playing an imaginary cover drive at an imaginary fast bowler.
Les Mogg reviews Brotherboys: The Story of Jim and Phillip Krakouer.