Analysis Is it acceptable for AFL clubs to be politically biased?

Instincts

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I’m sorry, I don’t agree.
Whether you like it or not I don’t care.

Most Australians want to recognise the day and I along with many are offended that the minority view overrides the majority view.

I understand there’s a sizeable minority that is justifiably uncomfortable with celebrating the day on January 26. Simply however I don’t believe they would be satisfied with any alternative date. There’s many hundreds of thousands more who are offended with every minority interest movement leading to drastic changes to our way of life, this being the latest one.

Essendon should focus more on inclusivity rather than dividing its supporter base at the core and turning our beloved passion and pastime into a political football.

Im sick if it.
Ok but can you tell me how many examples there are of people being offended by changing the date because I geninuely don't see many.

If you are able to provide the case with a source that a majority of people would dislike a date change then please post it on here.

Also Essendon isn't dividing its supporter base by making a singular statement, I doubt many people will change their minds because the football club they support has a different political opinion and if people are going to start disliking over each other about a topic like this then that's the supporters problems for carrying on so much.
 
Ah the inner Malbun Leftie flog. The most pro Aboriginal Rights. The least likely to run into an Aboriginal person.

Yep, this is very true.
 

Soberian Tiger

Borat's cousin twice removed from village
Jul 25, 2018
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What wing of politics you need to describe it as, made no difference. You need ordinary unaligned folk to go with you to effect change & not some idelogical change ascribed to the political class/nutters retrospectively.
Wanting it to be some wing thing when considering racism is more about nutters than class.
If you must reply (and quite frankly, I don't see why you need to) at least make it worth reading.

I can now see why your footy stuff is also unreadable.

Racism exists on both the far left and far right of politics. What unites (in a sense of a shared experience) these two opposites is the extremism that both represent. Would ordinary unaligned folk disagree with that? If they do, they're not unaligned.

Next time pick your target more carefully.
 
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AndyLucimitis

Norm Smith Medallist
Nov 14, 2002
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I understand wanting to have a day to celebrate being Australian. Why does the 26 January date matter to you? Why not any other date?


My observations -

Q: When did the actual date of January 26th become passionately important to the Australia Day celebrator's ??

Q: About 5 minutes after someone ask them to change it !


I doubt anyone gave two hoots prior to this for as we know, the majority of people hardly knew why it was chosen (Still some debate on that). Growing up in the 60's - 80', Australia Day wasn't even really a thing - simply a public holiday on the last Monday in January.
 

Purple_Turtle

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This assumes that maintaining silence on this or any other issue = not taking a position, or being apolitical.

It kinda does though.

Otherwise by the same logic I could use the fact the AFL doesn't have a specialised anti-semitism round to say that the organisation hates Jews, or the lack of a cancer awareness round to say they love cancer.

It seems to me you've got Group A who want a day for everyone to come together and celebrate being Australian (a worthy cause), but are generally ambivalent about what date that celebration occurs on, and do not appear to be beholden to 26 January for any meaningful reason.

Well the fact that when the polls are asked year after year the majority answer is "no" rather than "don't care" would suggest that Group A are actually attached to the current day. That the reason they are is not meaningful to you doesn't mean it is not to them.
 
Apr 13, 2008
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Simple fact if you don't like your club making political statements, here's the rub you can challenge the board and get yourself elected.

Oh that's right you'd have to be a member and not just whinge here.

Don't go quoting artificial percentages based on the validity of an opinion poll, same s**t stains that pulled out the same arguments about SSM, well guess what 66% bothered to say YES, even though your fundy polls said 90% were opposed.

IMHO * Orstarya day and the flag wearing homophobic racists that think they are patriots as they wear a flag, have a southern cross tattoo and spew their narrow minded bullshit. It's a Sydney day nothing more,

Don't like it well stand for something, I'm quite happy the dinosaurs around some footy clubs will soon be extinct and I won't have to hear the racist trash at games by supporters (including my own) and treating a colonisation/invasion day as some quasi religious redneck celebration :mad:
 

B4Bear

Norm Smith Medallist
Jul 6, 2011
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I’m sorry, I don’t agree.
Whether you like it or not I don’t care.

Most Australians want to recognise the day and I along with many are offended that the minority view overrides the majority view.

I understand there’s a sizeable minority that is justifiably uncomfortable with celebrating the day on January 26. Simply however I don’t believe they would be satisfied with any alternative date. There’s many hundreds of thousands more who are offended with every minority interest movement leading to drastic changes to our way of life, this being the latest one.

Essendon should focus more on inclusivity rather than dividing its supporter base at the core and turning our beloved passion and pastime into a political football.

Im sick if it.
You don’t believe.

Well that decides it then.
 
Dec 20, 2014
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Further to this, I'll give you an example.

If the AFL was the progressive beast it would like to present itself as, why are there currently no openly gay AFL football players? There absolutely are gay AFL players at the moment but their social progressive talk is just that, talk. Their culture is totally different on the inside.

Just see it all for what it is, posturing and self promotion. It's hot air that changes nothing.
What do you want the AFL to do? Force gay footballers to declare their sexuality?

It's a private matter. It's got nothing to do with the AFL.
 

garlic munchers

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Oct 3, 2006
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AFL clubs are just that - clubs. As organisations comprised of individuals they are free to express their views however they so wish - whether on supporting 'Change the Date', Donald Trump or Holocaust denial.

Its members are also free to agree or disagree, and if they disagree enough they are free to cancel their membership.

What irks me is when people complain that sport should be avoid being political - it has never been free of politics and it is a whitewashing of history to pretend otherwise.

I see quite a few likes to the statement yours is a crap comment.

Wouldn't go that far, but the reality is most members have invested heavily in supporting a sporting club and it is flippant to say we are free to cancel our memberships if we don't like a political stance a club adopts.

Noting that the administration of a club is subject to the whims of whoever is in charge at the time, if clubs want to become political then the administration should subject itself to being appointed by the members.

Seeing as you are a WC supporter, you should acknowledge we as members have zero say on this and to suggest walking away from the club we support means we are free to agree or disagree; is trite.
 
Apr 13, 2015
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Individuals within a club are free to make political or social commentary just as any supporter can. People also have the freedom to react in any way if they disagree.

For example I feel much less connected to Hawthorn after the way Jeff Kennett has been on Twitter recently. Just my personal view.
 

Bicko

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Nov 11, 2017
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Can you break down the statement "bankers continue to drown us in debt" for me please?
I'm keen to see this in detail and understand how a banker forces someone to live beyond their means.
The top 1% own 80% of the worlds wealth. It is unbelievable inequality.

’The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender’, Proverbs.
 

dave10

Premiership Player
Apr 26, 2004
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Ok but can you tell me how many examples there are of people being offended by changing the date because I geninuely don't see many.

If you are able to provide the case with a source that a majority of people would dislike a date change then please post it on here.

Also Essendon isn't dividing its supporter base by making a singular statement, I doubt many people will change their minds because the football club they support has a different political opinion and if people are going to start disliking over each other about a topic like this then that's the supporters problems for carrying on so much.
With all respect, I disagree.

I’d confidentially argue most footy fans don’t want their footy club getting Involved in political debates.

It’s a fine line between promoting inclusiveness to maximise fanbase size which translates to revenue Vs being seen as taking political stances and dividing and frustrating a large component of its supporters. And it’s important clubs continue to promote this. However, by entering the hot political issue this week, Essendon crossed the line in many people’s minds with its carefully worded statement.

Footy to many is a passion and outlet away from all the troubles of life. A chance to get away from the crap on Twitter, the rage and the fake news that surrounds us. It’s an escape. I don’t need to be opening Essendon’s digital platforms only be be bombarded with a political propaganda and in my case, pro left wing socialist views. Simple as that. Unfortunately for Essendon, whilst they May want to force its message down our throats, the day could be coming where we collectively say I’m done..
 

vandelay11

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"Businesses shouldn't have to serve gay couples if they don't want to, it's a free market"
Rugby Australia cuts ties with Israel Folau because of the damage he does to their brand
"No not like that"

What kind of ridiculous analogy is this.

Folau was an employee of Rugby Australia, not a customer.
 

vandelay11

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A lot of it is how much stuff is tagged as “politics” these days.

It’s because we have a government that doesn’t really run the country, but (with the help of a complaint media) prefers to play culture wars and symbolism with things that aren’t really politics in Australia traditionally.

Something like the Australia Day issue is a perfect example. People want to change it because it’s meant to be a day of celebration, yet it’s blatantly painful to a section of our community.

Simply taking the feelings and views of others into account isn’t political for many people. It’s not an issue that aligns with who you might vote for. It’s more about being a prick versus not being a prick. And there’s always been pricks who vote Liberal, pricks who vote Labor, pricks who vote Greens, and vice versa etc.

But we’ve systematically had this “left / right” culture war garbage forced on us and rammed down our throats that it’s seen as “politics” now. Politicians and media make a “political” issue of it to divide us further and further.

I don’t care who you voted for. If we’re meant to have a “day to celebrate our country”, and you’ve got one group saying “that’s actually the one day we don’t want”, refusing to change it (and here’s the important part) when there’s literally zero cost to changing it... well, at absolute best, you’re inconsiderate. Really, you’re just a bit of a turd, and it doesn’t matter in the slightest where you put your “1” on the paper at an election. It’s not politics for me.

By “painful to a section of our community”, the section you’re talking about are white liberal arts uni students who’ve never met an indigenous person in their life, right?
 

Instincts

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Sep 21, 2020
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North Melbourne
With all respect, I disagree.

I’d confidentially argue most footy fans don’t want their footy club getting Involved in political debates.

It’s a fine line between promoting inclusiveness to maximise fanbase size which translates to revenue Vs being seen as taking political stances and dividing and frustrating a large component of its supporters. And it’s important clubs continue to promote this. However, by entering the hot political issue this week, Essendon crossed the line in many people’s minds with its carefully worded statement.

Footy to many is a passion and outlet away from all the troubles of life. A chance to get away from the crap on Twitter, the rage and the fake news that surrounds us. It’s an escape. I don’t need to be opening Essendon’s digital platforms only be be bombarded with a political propaganda and in my case, pro left wing socialist views. Simple as that. Unfortunately for Essendon, whilst they May want to force its message down our throats, the day could be coming where we collectively say I’m done..
I first of all don't think the clubs should be prioritising political debates, but it's one post. Most people either don't care about the issue or have their mind made up.

On my feed, I'll see political opinions thrown around from people occasionally (a lot of the time I don't agree with and if they post it too much then I start caring and I unfollow.) that I don't follow for political reasons but I just don't care and you should try to learn how to do that as well. I couldn't care less that the North page had an opinion on Australia Day that I agreed with.

If there's some middle ground we can agree with is that social media has become a hell hole for misinformation from people only viewing the political commentator they agree with on hot button topics which leads to people forming opinions of 'x always good and y always bad'. It's happening on both sides.

Also if you don't hate the very occasional political post from your clubs social media, just stop following the page all together rather than throw away your membership because the Essendon players don't deserve lower crowds just because the guy running their social media page posted a couple political things.

If the Essendon media starts posting about political topics frequently, people will pay less and less attention to their page, staff will realize and the media manager gets the boot (if the staff is competent) because there are a lot of people like you who are fed up with politics being everywhere but 1 post does minimal harm, it's only when it becomes frequent that people start getting angry and lose attention for a social media page.
 
Last edited:
Aug 13, 2018
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I’ve noticed a recent trend of AFL clubs making comment on political issues, such as Australia Day etc.

Is it fair for them to make comment on issues that over 50% of their members disagree with?

Who decides to post on behalf of the club on this stuff?

Discuss.
If you are going to refer to something external please provide a link so we know wtf it is you are whinging about.
 

Catsnlakers

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Essendon and Nth have issued statements saying Australia day date should be changed
I saw that, it seems to me the wheels are in motion by more within the industry.....It will be a fascinating watch.
 
Wait, who's talking about discovery? That was Cook, and nothing to do with Australia Day.
Phillips planting the UJ was a symbol of Australia being colonised. A common argument for Australia Day is that this was the culmination of Cook's earlier 'discovery'. It was a land claim and nothing else, most likely because there were French sailors in the area who may have claimed it first.

You also mentioned "if you talked to Aboriginal people and elders and hear what it means from them." I personally know a bunch and they have a spectrum of views on it between "I'm really pissed about this day and would like it changed" to "ideally I'd like it changed but there's 50 other issues I care about way more" to "it's fine as it is." Unfortunately polling for Aboriginal people specifically on this issue is really limited, outside of a Guardian article on a poll from 2018 which had 23% of Aboriginals with a positive view of Australia Day, 30% with mixed and 31% negative, and 54% support for a change (with Guardian omitting the against and don't know percentages.) Good job making yourself the great spokesman for all Aboriginal people though.

I'd never dream of speaking for Aboriginal people, as I am not Aboriginal. Having said that, lets leave personal anecdotes aside here. If you do even some shallow research into Aboriginal views on Australia day, you will be very hard pressed to find any genuine support for January 26th. Yes, as you say, it isn't a priority for many people - but is that the point? This isn't a debate about bureaucracy or red tape, its about the symbolic gesture of not celebrating our national identity on the anniversary of the day that GB tried to claim sovereignty of a land that was never theirs.

As for valid arguments how about the fact that Jan 26th saw the arrival of cultural, government and legal traditions that evolved into this great nation we live in. Going by the 2019 ANU SRC poll most Australians would pick Jan 26th as the ideal day when you mention that fact.

There was nothing signed into law on that day. It was a flag pole stuck in the ground claiming 'we have found this and now this is ours'. There was nothing signed into law in 'Australia' until Federation in 1901, for that matter. The fact of the matter here is that education matters. Until about five years ago, Australia Day was not a mainstream issue. It has taken the long overdue platforming of Aboriginal people to draw attention to how problematic the day is. I certainly celebrated it when I was younger. Australia is a majority-white country dealing with the fallout of a genocide against native peoples over the course of about 180 years. If you work with the logic that weight of numbers = correct outcomes, particularly when the issue is not prominent in every community in this vast nation, you come away with a dissatisfactory outcome. Education matters.

At the end of the day, it affects none of us in a negative way if the date is changed. But it affects a hell of a lot of people in a positive way to stop celebrating the day that the genocide begun. And why wouldn't we want to do that? As I said, there is no reason at all.
 
Just a question - is it ok for sport to be political but not religion - is this not double standards?
Are sporting organisations exempt from paying tax like many religious groups are? There's your answer.
 
So why should anyone need to stop watching sport (which is your option suggested) because politics is being jammed down my throat?
A few teams tweeted support for Aboriginal people being hurt by Aus Day, and you consider that to be 'politics jammed down your throat'? Incredible.
 
It’s always a good laugh how the “Hur hur get over it snowflake!” crowd are the first ones to squeal “OMG just focus on footy!!!”
"Facts don't care about your feelings"..."wait...that includes my feelings?"
 

RichLeMonde

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Sep 26, 2019
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I always imagine Geelong as right wing for some reason, mostly because quite a lot of their supporters on bigfooty are super right wing.
Historically VFL clubs were considered politically aligned, as well as religiously aligned. Traditionally was:
Collingwood, Richmond, North, Fitzroy, St Kilda, Footscray - Labor/Catholic
Melbourne, Hawthorn, Carlton, Geelong, Essendon - Liberal/Protestant
 
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