Josh Simpson

[Wigarus]

We've it like you've never we'ved before.

 

[free at last]

To clarify, it was my first post in this thread.

Obviously it matters more to some people than others. I don't regularly pick on people for spelling I just thought it was particularly funny. You don't have to take offense though.

No offense taken.I laughed too when you pointed it out.

I was just a bit bemused at your,"is this your first post in this thread".

 

[strobe00]

I can see an indefinite leave coming on. Such a shame.

Dempsey from essendon was on indefinite leave. Came back to the club after 4 weeks twiddling his thumbs at home, this week starting with an apology.

Even if indefinite leave does happen. It might still work out with him coming back.

 

[strobe00]

I think the club will give him an extended break from all forms of footy so he can go back to Yalgoo ,spend some time with his Grandmother so she can get him back on track hopefully .
His extended family will be the force that gets him hungry or he will tender his resignation its that simple .
Walters , Johnson ,Hill ,C Pearce , D Pearce , R Haden and all the boys at Fremantle can only do so much its up to him now .

Clancee is half indian.

pretty sure the other half isn't indigenous aussie.

edit: gazzumped

 

[slicedndiced]

Well here we go. Time for me to be labelled and condemned by the moralists on here.

I think Simpson should be disciplined severely, and he probably will be. Regardless of "cultural heritage" he has shown complete lack of respect for his team mates & the match committee because he did not get his own way. The aboriginal boys at Freo get plenty of assistance. Mentors, counsellors, special allowances etc etc. Josh clearly believes he is even more special and deserves even more special treatment. If it were Vandeleur or a non-indigenous young player I would say the same thing.

What gets me about this whole thread is the moralists. The only thing on a par with "racists" are left-wing moralists who label, harass, gang up on & deride anybody with an opinion any further along the right-wing side of politics than their own. The holier than thou posters that place themselves and their like minded allies on a pedestal because of some notion that their beliefs are "right" so everybody else is not only wrong, but they are disgusting human beings.

Racism works both ways. And yes I have had my fair share of both sides of the coin, so I feel as though I can comment.
I strongly suspect most of you that have attacked posters like Mike91 because his opinion is vastly different to yours have never ventured outside of the metro area, let alone the upper-middle class suburbs.
I spent most of my primary school years living in a wheatbelt town (Wongan Hills). My partner lived in Northam for most of her life, until she moved to the city in her mid 20's. Let me tell you, we have both seen racism from white people that is ugly, like the aforementioned girl being watched in shops because of her skin colour, and plenty of other examples, but at least equally we have both seen racism that is deeply ingrained in the aboriginal community. No one is better than the other and both are abhorrent and need to change, but things will never change whilst the onus is only on one party (caucasians) to do so.
My partner was assaulted, her brother violently bashed and the family pet violently killed by a gang of young aboriginal boys several years ago. When asked by a counsellor why one of they boys had done this particular assault, his response was "coz they are white c**** and they deserve it." Now this is just one example of plenty that I could list of racism toward the white community.
The thing is, when you are raised in these environments, is it so hard to understand that some (not all) white people develop a mistrust and perpetuate the stereotype of the aboriginal community?
I personally do not believe that all aboriginal people should be "tarred with the same brush". I certainly don't treat the aboriginal people I meet from time to time that way. But I do understand why some people do.
What I will not do is force my morality on them, deride them, call them names etc, etc simply because I believe that they are not seeing the full picture, which I might add is their right to see or not see.

I have sat here and read this post 3 times, hoping to see something in it, but.

Without doubt, this post has more horseshit crammed into it than any other that I have seen anywhere, or at anytime.

It is the A Grade, absolute classic "I'M NOT A RACIST BUT"...

Mate, if I'm a "moralist", (LOL), you are an absolute f***wit.

 

[mike91]

You forgot about Colin doing the team thing by giving the perfect shepherd to allow Mora the time to kick.

This post lacks Gumby love .

 

[mike91]

Clancee Pearce is not Aboriginal. He is Indian.

Correct. Jon Griffin is actually aboriginal for those that didn't know.

 

[Kram]

Correct. Jon Griffin is actually aboriginal for those that didn't know.

From his grandfather iirc.

Each to their own but I'm the same with my Nanna being indigenous but don't really consider myself aboriginal.

 

[more_of_bito]

oh what a tangled thread you've we'ved Josh....

Professional AFL football players (irrespective of race) , if lucky enough are named as a traveling emergency are expected to front up to the airport. Judging by Ross reaction to Ballas getting a week and his comment that Simpson was worse, then its a long road back.

 

[strobe00]

From his grandfather iirc.

Each to their own but I'm the same with my Nanna being indigenous but don't really consider myself aboriginal.

Fair enough. Interesting to hear another perspective.

 

[Sman-21]

Completely understand how difficult things are for him but every single player has to deal with personal issues.
They check them at the door and do what it takes to have a chance to do what they dreamed of doing.
Like he talked about in an interview he needs to flick that switch and leave it on during football season.

Its just like young players that have moved here from interstate.
Its just as hard for them.
Look at Silvagni.
Im pretty sure he knows exactly where he stands in this team and that he will only get games when McPharlin and or Dawson are out.
While they are fit he is still expected to train his guts out, follow every stupid little rule etc etc all while knowing he isn't getting a game, despite when given opportunity he did pretty well against big name forwards.
Should he be able to slack of, chuck the sads then when they get injured pull his finger out and get the spot?
Hell no.

We wont sack them or give up on them completely.
We keep trying to work with them and get them into line.
You are either in or out.
Simpson will be lucky to get another game this year.
He needs to buy in again and then once again he will need to earn a spot and will be made to work even harder to earn it next time.

There is no exceptions.
We will do everything to try and help you buy in but need to buy in 100%.

Think about 20 years down the road Josh.
Put up with the crap for 5-10 years and you can set your family up for life.
Small pain and sacrifice for big gain.

 

[slicedndiced]

Completely understand how difficult things are for him

Obviously not

Put up with the crap for 5-10 years and you can set your family up for life.

LOL.

No, seriously, you have no idea at all.

 

[DOCKERZ]

I've floated in and out of this thread, more insults than solutions.

Those that have an insight into Josh's upbringing and culture, could you suggest how you think the club should be dealing with Josh this week/month/year?

I understand we don't know all the facts, but I'd be more interested in reading someone's learned perspective on what we do know than wade through 21 pages of insults.

If someone has done this already, please point me to the relevant post, cos reading the first 4 pages was doing my head in.

 

[Jimbos1]

I've floated in and out of this thread, more insults than solutions.

Those that have an insight into Josh's upbringing and culture, could you suggest how you think the club should be dealing with Josh this week/month/year?

Well he certainly cant be treated like any other player, we cant just give him an ultimatum. I have a friend who was a teacher up north for a bit and he said sometimes students would just not turn up, theyd go fishing with there dad instead. He just accepted it and acknowledged this is the lifestyle their comfortable with.

If theyre going to covert him itll be over a long time frame, get some other indigenous players to mentor him.

 

[Jimbos1]

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.

Are you an afl player?

 

[Quokka]

The club has been pretty clear that there are cultural and family issues involved but at the same time Indigenous Australians from remote locations are as individual as people from any other group, all I'm saying is that if we don't know Josh we're still guessing at what the core problems really are. We know the club will be doing everything it can to support Josh and so hopefully we'll hear in the next week or so that Josh wants to remain with Fremantle and work towards playing AFL, and if that's not what Josh wants then I suppose the club will support him with that decision as well.

 

[Fred Ziffel]

LOL....I know.

Nah,I've made a couple of posts pages ago.

Does it really ****ing matter?

Weave no idea what yore talking about.

 

[caterina]

What's giving you that impression?

Isn't it equally open to assume that having heard nothing from Josh and his management in the intervening days the club want to make their own internal decisions as to how far they are willing or able to go based on the facts as they currently stand?

We're saying the same thing, the club hasn't decided amongst themselves what they want to do with him, perhaps (I said might in my post) because someone or some group wants to go hard at him. Which as i said I think is an overreaction, if true.

 

[go_the_dockers]

I think the club is trying to scare Josh a bit and show him how close his AFL dream is to being over before it started, and waiting to see how he reacts. If he reacts like Walters then it will be a master stroke, let's hope he does.

I am not sure if having him Train with Peel would have the desired result, so I think it is best he stays with us but is told he will not play AFL until after round XX.

 

[mattis117]

Missed a plane myself for work. Got a lecture, well deserved, from my boss and go on with it. Yes it's grounds for discipline but not a stand alone firing.

Additionally, if you delist him now all you do is remove one player from your options. You don't get to redraft in the middle of the year. Over reaction for mine. You loose nothing by spending the rest of the year trying to work it out. There is no additional cost involved from a club perspective. He either comes good or not. In either case there is no need to rush a decision. As RTB alluded to, the club will support him, because that makes the most sense. They may still turn him into the next SonSon. From a club perspective there is nothing to loose.

Of course that wont stop the moaners from saying we should have picked player X.

It's not missing a plane that is the major problem, it is the reasons behind it. Firstly - he didn't inform the club until very late that he wasn't going to be flying. I am assuming they were waiting for him at the airport and he didn't show up so they gave him a call. Something along those lines. Secondly - it depends why he missed it - did he spit the dummy, or was there an emergency. This bit is still unclear.

 

[slicedndiced]

I've floated in and out of this thread, more insults than solutions.

Those that have an insight into Josh's upbringing and culture, could you suggest how you think the club should be dealing with Josh this week/month/year?

I understand we don't know all the facts, but I'd be more interested in reading someone's learned perspective on what we do know than wade through 21 pages of insults.

If someone has done this already, please point me to the relevant post, cos reading the first 4 pages was doing my head in.

The reason that this thread has become heated is due to the fact that a hell of a lot of people have offered pretty staunch opinions based upon a whitefella's perspective, and their invective is quite offensive to some of us.

I am very hopeful that the club does NOT stand him down from playing football fullstop. Keep him playing with Peel, or even Peel reserves and still let him train with the AFL squad as he is ONLY here for football and to deprive him of that, at any level, will only disenchant him further and I fear that he will walk away permanently. He also needs his fellow aboriginal teammates for support and guidance, however that in itself presents another set of issues.

Simpson is a traditional Yamatji man and Walters, MJ etc are, to my knowledge at least, Nyoongar, (which is a generic label anyway). So, they have a connection of sorts, but not the type of interaction level, due to culture, that Simpson will feel fully comfortable with. They are also non-traditional city/town raised men, so even they have a limited understanding/link with Simpson.

Some people need to understand the depth of cultural identity crisis that Simpson is suffering from. It is far too complex to explain here, but Lyon himself touched on it yesterday when he spoke of the problems going as deep as Western versus traditional medicine affecting his relationship with the club. Few people here understand the strength of the cultural pull that Simpson feels and the complexity he faces from being required to walk away from it.

Other people say that he should go home to Yalgoo and receive support from his extended family. Well, he was sent away from Yalgoo to Adelaide for school to GET HIM AWAY from his extended family. Think about that.

Again, I touch upon the fact of people speaking from a whitefella's perspective, and I ask how many of you have actually walked the streets of Yalgoo after dark? How many have sat down and had a beer in front yard of a families home in the town. How many of you have visited Pia mission?

I would wager that none of you have. I have. Yalgoo is a hellhole, an absolute disgrace and frankly quite frightening at times. It is not a nurturing environment at all.

This is a deeply complex problem for the club, as I am sure that they realise, and this f***ing attitude of him needing to HTFU or be "professional" is just too naive and arrogant for words.

 

[mattis117]

The reason that this thread has become heated is due to the fact that a hell of a lot of people have offered pretty staunch opinions based upon a whitefella's perspective, and their invective is quite offensive to some of us.

I am very hopeful that the club does NOT stand him down from playing football fullstop. Keep him playing with Peel, or even Peel reserves and still let him train with the AFL squad as he is ONLY here for football and to deprive him of that, at any level, will only disenchant him further and I fear that he will walk away permanently. He also needs his fellow aboriginal teammates for support and guidance, however that in itself presents another set of issues.

Simpson is a traditional Yamatji man and Walters, MJ etc are, to my knowledge at least, Nyoongar, (which is a generic label anyway). So, they have a connection of sorts, but not the type of interaction level, due to culture, that Simpson will feel fully comfortable with. They are also non-traditional city/town raised men, so even they have a limited understanding/link with Simpson.

Some people need to understand the depth of cultural identity crisis that Simpson is suffering from. It is far too complex to explain here, but Lyon himself touched on it yesterday when he spoke of the problems going as deep as Western versus traditional medicine affecting his relationship with the club. Few people here understand the strength of the cultural pull that Simpson feels and the complexity he faces from being required to walk away from it.

Other people say that he should go home to Yalgoo and receive support from his extended family. Well, he was sent away from Yalgoo to Adelaide for school to GET HIM AWAY from his extended family. Think about that.

Again, I touch upon the fact of people speaking from a whitefella's perspective, and I ask how many of you have actually walked the streets of Yalgoo after dark? How many have sat down and had a beer in front yard of a families home in the town. How many of you have visited Pia mission?

I would wager that none of you have. I have. Yalgoo is a hellhole, an absolute disgrace and frankly quite frightening at times. It is not a nurturing environment at all.

This is a deeply complex problem for the club, as I am sure that they realise, and this f***ing attitude of him needing to HTFU or be "professional" is just too naive and arrogant for words.

Best post of the thread so far - a really good summary of the situation. Clearly you understand the situation better than anyone else posting here. I really hope we get a positive outcome and we can see Josh play again soon.

 

[raffrox]

It's not missing a plane that is the major problem, it is the reasons behind it. Firstly - he didn't inform the club until very late that he wasn't going to be flying. I am assuming they were waiting for him at the airport and he didn't show up so they gave him a call. Something along those lines. Secondly - it depends why he missed it - did he spit the dummy, or was there an emergency. This bit is still unclear.

From what Ross said it seems pretty clear that Josh was upset at being the emergency.

I think the club is handling this fine. Ross will have his not negotiable's and the rest is well, negotiable. I'd suggest that this is what is being discussed this week internally. What can they support Josh with and what they can't. Josh is obviously under a lot of pressure in his life.

Josh will be given support but not rocking up to the airport because you're the emergency won't be tolerated. I dare say that if he does that again his career will be over.

 

[go_the_dockers]

The reason that this thread has become heated is due to the fact that a hell of a lot of people have offered pretty staunch opinions based upon a whitefella's perspective, and their invective is quite offensive to some of us.

I am very hopeful that the club does NOT stand him down from playing football fullstop. Keep him playing with Peel, or even Peel reserves and still let him train with the AFL squad as he is ONLY here for football and to deprive him of that, at any level, will only disenchant him further and I fear that he will walk away permanently. He also needs his fellow aboriginal teammates for support and guidance, however that in itself presents another set of issues.

Simpson is a traditional Yamatji man and Walters, MJ etc are, to my knowledge at least, Nyoongar, (which is a generic label anyway). So, they have a connection of sorts, but not the type of interaction level, due to culture, that Simpson will feel fully comfortable with. They are also non-traditional city/town raised men, so even they have a limited understanding/link with Simpson.

Some people need to understand the depth of cultural identity crisis that Simpson is suffering from. It is far too complex to explain here, but Lyon himself touched on it yesterday when he spoke of the problems going as deep as Western versus traditional medicine affecting his relationship with the club. Few people here understand the strength of the cultural pull that Simpson feels and the complexity he faces from being required to walk away from it.

Other people say that he should go home to Yalgoo and receive support from his extended family. Well, he was sent away from Yalgoo to Adelaide for school to GET HIM AWAY from his extended family. Think about that.

Again, I touch upon the fact of people speaking from a whitefella's perspective, and I ask how many of you have actually walked the streets of Yalgoo after dark? How many have sat down and had a beer in front yard of a families home in the town. How many of you have visited Pia mission?

I would wager that none of you have. I have. Yalgoo is a hellhole, an absolute disgrace and frankly quite frightening at times. It is not a nurturing environment at all.

This is a deeply complex problem for the club, as I am sure that they realise, and this f***ing attitude of him needing to HTFU or be "professional" is just too naive and arrogant for words.

Great post, but a couple of things I would change. Don't use the words white fella (Western European or Australian is better), as I hate this double standard of Aboriginal people calling us white, but we are unable to call them the colour their skin is.

My Australian studies teacher said "When people coming from a disadvantaged back ground, giving them a level playing field is not enough. You need to give them an extra leg up so that they can reach their potential.", and this one thing I have kept with me over the years.

The club has done a brilliant job with a number of different people, and each situation we eventually got the best out of them so I trust the club in this situation.

 

[slicedndiced]

Great post, but a couple of things I would change. Don't use the words white fella (Western European or Australian is better), as I hate this double standard of Aboriginal people calling us white, but we are unable to call them the colour their skin is.

My Australian studies teacher said "When people coming from a disadvantaged back ground, giving them a level playing field is not enough. You need to give them an extra leg up so that they can reach their potential.", and this one thing I have kept with me over the years.

The club has done a brilliant job with a number of different people, and each situation we eventually got the best out of them so I trust the club in this situation.

Thanks mate, but in the real world, say on a cattle station or even in town, it is perfectly normal and acceptable for Aboriginal people to call me a whitefella, or Gudiya, and vice versa. There is no malice or racial undertones at all, it has always been that way and nobody takes offense.

It is when you use the label black with a derogatory term that it becomes bad, or when you hear "you Gudiya Gumbudge (sp?), that things go cockeyed.