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Josh Simpson

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Kram81 said:
Have you lived anywhere apart from upper middle class suburbs in the city? It's not good at all but sadly that's just the way it is out in the Goldfields.
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Kalgoorlie is supposedly the most racist city in Aus, I am not sure what framework was used to establish that fact, but you get the picture.

I am an aboriginal man and I was raised in Kal so everyday (and still today) I was subjected to racist behaviour that my friends simply did not have to go through. I used my culture and this negative race-based treatment as a source of strength and motivation to build a career. I hope Josh can do the same.
 
Purple Maverick said:
Kalgoorlie is supposedly the most racist city in Aus, I am not sure what framework was used to establish that fact, but you get the picture.
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Wouldn't surprise me.. Worked with a girl that had just flown in over from NZ when I was up there and she said she was quite shocked by it.
 

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Kram81 said:
Wouldn't surprise me.. Worked with a girl that had just flown in over from NZ when I was up there and she said she was quite shocked by it.
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It's not great. You see a lot of bumper stickers with 'Kalgoorlie - capital of NZ' getting around. Maoris get treated quite poorly too
 
Kram81 said:
Have you lived anywhere apart from upper middle class suburbs in the city? It's not good at all but sadly that's just the way it is out in the Goldfields.
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I grew up in Albany. Not a lot different to Kalgoorlie. Except with a few more nice old buildings and some beautiful beaches, less fluro wearing machos but just as many narrow minded middle class and feral class. I can tell you absolutely how many Aboriginal kids got around. Admittedly I lived in a really nice area near the beach. And undeniably less Aboriginals lived there. Very few. It was all very white and middle class and more likely to attract pretentious arseholes than Aboriginals. Alas, I knew plenty and can see the issues they faced.

And statistics may admit certain stereotypes. But people are not born inherently evil. There's a common issue underneath it. It's cyclical. If your parents live in a scummy suburb and spend all their income on smokes, alcohol, and drugs and treat one another poorly, then you probably will. Just like if your parents never tell you you're your own person who's good at things and can achieve things, there's a higher chance you'll have no confidence in yourself and resort to living a life of shit.

Aboriginals face plenty of issues. And you have to realise that it is, at the absolute crux of it, if you go to the end of the line... it is the issue of white fellas pillaging their culture. Something absolute and unique to them. They think their own way and have their own morals and ideals. Just like the great man Matthew Pavlich's parents from Croatia had different perspectives. And how northern English and southern English do. And Americans and Angolans. And everyone. You cannot come in and completely eradicate something and expect this age-old, implied and direct culture and way of life to just turn over and change. They hold onto their culture like they absolutely bloody should and like we should allow and encourage and take pride in them doing so. We really ****ed it up, us white fellas. It's sad.

So you can't lay the blame with them. Their issues might be genuine and irregardless of race. Fine. Social issues exist. But that isn't their parent's fault.

And that's not Josh Simpson's fault, either.

It's like you or I being really good at Gaelic football. We love it, we're really good at it, and we want to test ourselves and see how well we can do. And because of this, everyone we know keeps saying "yeah go for it, sign a deal with an All Ireland side and play over there! You deserve it, you'll be an asset and every clubs wants you." So you do it.

And then you get to this town and they all bloody speak Gaelic. You don't know a word. The signs in windows are in this foreign scribe. You have to really try and get points across and they have to try just as hard to speak English clearly. So you feel isolated. Now this game you just played with your mates, and that was coached simply and boiled down to "get the ball, and if you don't, run hard to get a touch, run to space, and if they have possession, just watch your man and stop him influencing the play and lay tackles." And maybe some obtuse things like "we're fast, so always pass wide and use the flanks" or "make sure you chip it if you're near your own goals, otherwise only go long if you're on a flank." Now you're in meetings and they're talking about all this intense direction you just don't understand. The vernacular makes no sense. Nothing fits together. The meaning is redundant and you take nothing on board.

So you run out to train and don't quite get the drills. You can't really get along with the lads too well because they all had this Irish upbringing. And they have their own Irish jokes and say "what's the craic?" and you have no idea what "craic" is except something those junkies back in Australia were into. Ohhh Australia. You miss it. So you get homesick. Miss your girlfriend and mates and family and you try and go home even if it means jeopardising this thing they're talking about that you don't get. Whatever, you 'get' home and so you go back.

That ostracised, confusing, baffling situation is what Josh Simpson has. It's alienating.
 
Freo Shark said:
Yea it is. Theres alot of narrow minded, naive posters here who shoot first without thinking. I dont know whether its out and out racism or not coz I think society kinda induces a profile that doesnt allow understanding.

Yea I've been none to fly off the handle on the odd occasion or two.
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The bloke missed the flight cos he was upset that he wasn't picked, IMO thats soft. Where does one being racist come into this at all? Ive just judged him how I would judge all other footballers. The thought of race only came into this as an afterthought when I veered into this thread and people excused his showing because he may have not being climatized to the rigours of AFL football. That has very little to do with how he handled the situation, its not like the situation where Ripper alluded to a 'black-fella' missing out on work because of a funeral or because he missed his family, the reason Josh didn't rock up to the flight wasnt because of anything to do with how the family is going back home or him being secluded in an urban environment or him having two kids at a young age- which would in some ways excuse not giving 100% in the training or off field regime- but because he didn't get picked (according to Ross), might I ask if thats a result of his cultural upbringing? or if its an individual trait of him not having the appropriate character for a professional environment.

I fully acknowledge how ones upbringing and culture influence people, but in this case I just don't think that rationale flies.
 
22 others said:
The bloke missed the flight cos he was upset that he wasn't picked, IMO thats soft. Where does one being racist come into this at all? Ive just judged him how I would judge all other footballers. The thought of race only came into this as an afterthought when I veered into this thread and people excused his showing because he may have not being climatized to the rigours of AFL football. That has very little to do with how he handled the situation, its not like the situation where Ripper alluded to a 'black-fella' missing out on work because of a funeral or because he missed his family, the reason Josh didn't rock up to the flight wasnt because of anything to do with how the family is going back home or him being secluded in an urban environment or him having two kids at a young age- which would in some ways excuse not giving 100% in the training or off field regime- but because he didn't get picked (according to Ross), might I ask if thats a result of his cultural upbringing? or if its an individual trait of him not having the appropriate character for a professional environment.

I fully acknowledge how ones upbringing and culture influence people, but in this case I just don't think that rationale flies.
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I'm guessing that you weren't very good at "join the dots" as a kid.

You've got it all there in writing from your own keyboard, but you can't, or won't, make the connections.
 
I think we're all getting a little off track here..

I've worked predominantly with Indigenous people over the last 5 fantastic years and can tell you committing with sport is a multifaceted issue.

Our traditional regional clients for the most part live healthy, well-balanced lives in their communities but for the most part struggle with adapting to the rigours of a structured Western lifestyle. Just keep in mind that the demands of AFL are often too much for many non-Indigenous players who end up retiring early for a variety of reasons...

But this isn't a cultural issue my friends; Josh Simpson didn't catch the plane because he was pissed off and wasn't re-selected. It's worse than anything SonSon did two years ago and I think he's finished at this club... unless he's willing to beg for forgiveness, and after that he may be allowed to work his way back to WAFL level - with just one minor indiscretion enough to see him out of elite football permanently.
 
StingBitten said:
I think we're all getting a little off track here..

I've worked predominantly with Indigenous people over the last 5 fantastic years and can tell you committing with sport is a multifaceted issue.

Our traditional regional clients for the most part live healthy, well-balanced lives in their communities but for the most part struggle with adapting to the rigours of a structured Western lifestyle. Just keep in mind that the demands of AFL are often too much for many non-Indigenous players who end up retiring early for a variety of reasons...

But this isn't a cultural issue my friends; Josh Simpson didn't catch the plane because he was pissed off and wasn't re-selected. It's worse than anything SonSon did two years ago and I think he's finished at this club... unless he's willing to beg for forgiveness, and after that he may be allowed to work his way back to WAFL level - with just one minor indiscretion enough to see him out of elite football permanently.
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You've completely contradicted yourself there.
 

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This is a no brainer

Young kid with exceptional talent who we invested heavily in for whatever reason reacted very badly to being not selected.............he cops his whack and is mentored (come in Son Son & Rodger) back to where he belongs as a 1st 22 for the next 10 years............

If he doesnt want back , we regretfully accept his decision and we make another pick in the 2014 draft


We all make mistakes as young kids, I seem to remember Stevie J being kicked out of the cats for 3 months
 
StingBitten said:
Did I?
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Yes you did.

If you have the understanding you claim, and I presume you are talking about remote area Aboriginals, then you would surely know that committment and adaptation to rigorous time schedules and a Western application to what we consider normal requirements in a workplace environment, are a completely foreign concept in traditional Aboriginal culture.

This kid isn't from Balga, he was outside chasing bungarra's and roos as a kid with barefeet a sharp stick and .22. School, despite his grandmothers best efforts was an option, not a requirement. A part of his normal upbringing would be to suudenly leave his home, regardless of what Western culture demanded of him, to travel to funerals, cultural activities or just plain old what we call "walkabout".

This is ingrained in him and it is especially difficult to readapt to what is a foreign concept to him.
 
Rhino1966 said:
This is a no brainer

Young kid with exceptional talent who we invested heavily in for whatever reason reacted very badly to being not selected.............he cops his whack and is mentored (come in Son Son & Rodger) back to where he belongs as a 1st 22 for the next 10 years............

If he doesnt want back , we regretfully accept his decision and we make another pick in the 2014 draft


We all make mistakes as young kids, I seem to remember Stevie J being kicked out of the cats for 3 months
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This.
 
Silent Alarm said:
The Aboriginal culture is the oldest existent one in the world. They're probably 60,000 years old. That is insane. We think the Melbourne Football Club and the buildings on South Terrace are old. In those 60,000-odd years, these people have crafted their own culture. One that doesn't revolve around money. I always loved how little they care about 'ownership.' Get something? It's everyone's. I went to school with a fair few Aboriginals, played footy with them, and they'd swap boots every weekend because this notion of 'ownership' is so foreign. They're family and community oriented people who couldn't care less about things like that. Anglo-Australian culture could probably be a lot less senile and neurotic with a bit of that thought process.

So I don't think, in the 150 years we've pillaged their incredibly interesting and unique and innovative culture, they've learnt to adapt. The idea of a rural Aboriginal kid caring about a career, a stock portfolio, owning a pub, buying six houses, going into commentary.... the young man does not live a life like that. He's a rural man so connected to his people that he goes back every week. He clearly wants to play footy for Freo but doesn't care about the things other kids might. That's a cool way to be. He's not doing it for the money or the career; he's doing it for the fun of playing professional football.

The club is letting him do this. Good on them. I think Freo realise this and old Ross even said the government and education system don't do it – the club's letting him live his life as he wants to, to indulge in his culture, and maintain a link to his family. That's what'll keep him happy and if he trains two times a week and puts in, he'll get a game. That's already been shown. The club has no right to enforce their ideology of A Normal Life onto anyone.

The club is just annoyed at him spitting the dummy and that's fair enough.

In all honesty, I can sympathise when some people chuck it in. Sometimes you do deserve something and never get it. Sometimes you reckon you should be getting a "well done," a good mark, or to be playing as a rover when you've been chucked in the back pocket. Sometimes that dummy spitting is appropriate and fine. That's if you work as hard as anyone and deserve to be there. I don't have an issue with that, and if that makes me defeatist then I'm defeatist. But it was the way he did it that annoyed the club. And fair enough.
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Best.Post.Ever. Thread.
 

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slicedndiced said:
Yes you did.

If you have the understanding you claim, and I presume you are talking about remote area Aboriginals, then you would surely know that committment and adaptation to rigorous time schedules and a Western application to what we consider normal requirements in a workplace environment, are a completely foreign concept in traditional Aboriginal culture.

This kid isn't from Balga, he was outside chasing bungarra's and roos as a kid with barefeet a sharp stick and .22. School, despite his grandmothers best efforts was an option, not a requirement. A part of his normal upbringing would be to suudenly leave his home, regardless of what Western culture demanded of him, to travel to funerals, cultural activities or just plain old what we call "walkabout".

This is ingrained in him and it is especially difficult to readapt to what is a foreign concept to him.
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Yes, I agree with everything you're saying. In the second part of my comment I mentioned that despite all this it wasn't a cultural issue; he didn't jump on the plane because he was pissed off he didn't get selected.

Maybe there are cultural elements involved in that decision making process? I don't know. But I can tell you now if Majak Daw or any other Culturally Diverse player did the same thing he'd find himself seeking new employment pathways.
 
strobe00 said:
Don't venture into Cooby or Hami Hill then. Ripped tracky dacks aplenty.
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Got a pair on at the moment and I'm taking the kids fishing,so I'm a goner.

Last time I was in Kalgoorlie I was in a supermarket when a 175 cm 110kg bloke in high vis gear,accompanied by what had to be his 13-15 son of similar dimension came around the corner of the aisle I was in.There was a family of what I thought were Koreans getting some stuff next to me.The bloke saw them and said to his son "Oh heck.. we're not going down this row it's full of farking slope-heads!" spun on their heals and marched off.Said it loudly and clearly enough for plenty of people to hear...just saying.:eek:
OUTSIDE CHANCE starts on ABC TV at 9.30 tonight might be OK.Narrated by Andy Krakouer it's about a prison footy team playing in a local comp,could be worth a look.
StingBitten said:
Yes, I agree with everything you're saying. In the second part of my comment I mentioned that despite all this it wasn't a cultural issue; he didn't jump on the plane because he was pissed off he didn't get selected.

Maybe there are cultural elements involved in that decision making process? I don't know. But I can tell you now if Majak Daw or any other Culturally Diverse player did the same thing he'd find himself seeking new employment pathways.
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You'd want to be bloody good with a scalpel to separate culture and identity.
Anyway we may find out something today as I think they are having a meeting to see where it's all at:thumbsu::rainbow:
 
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