Lachie Neale has had enough

[Bunk Moreland]

It's not a part of the job to accept abuse, stop normalising it and being a part of the problem.

Unfortunately, it actually is. It’s not right, or deserved, but it’s totally part of the job.

These players have got to either get off social media, or put their account under an assumed name and totally shut it down to anybody except their family and friends.

This is all totally logical for somebody in the public eye. And others. Teachers do it.

Yeah it’d be nice if it wasn’t the case, but it is.

If you really must have public accounts - which Neale does to make money from endorsements - then why the hell would you even look at it. Get somebody else to manage it.

I don’t know why players engage. It’s unclear if they’re just stupid, or what. Why would you do it… it makes no sense.

 

[Toffee Lion]

Unfortunately, it actually is. It’s not right, or deserved, but it’s totally part of the job.

These players have got to either get off social media, or put their account under an assumed name and totally shut it down to anybody except their family and friends.

This is all totally logical for somebody in the public eye. And others. Teachers do it.

Yeah it’d be nice if it wasn’t the case, but it is.

If you really must have public accounts - which Neale does to make money from endorsements - then why the hell would you even look at it. Get somebody else to manage it.

I don’t know why players engage. It’s unclear if they’re just stupid, or what. Why would you do it… it makes no sense.

I completely understand what you're saying but is that not just a defeatist attitude? "Oh well the bad guys can't be stopped, so go into hiding".

Admittedly it is difficult to stop online abuse in all forms, fully aware but there has to be a way to start fighting back. My view is less about Neale & AFL players copping abuse and more the power that the abusers have online that needs to be quelled. I think in Neale's case it's just a case of 1 too many, obviously he sees this stuff mosts weeks and for whatever reason something pushed him over the edge yesterday.

Government ID's to use social media etc. are the conversations that need to be had. Would these people be as willing to make racial abuse comments to Willie Rioli if it could be linked back to them and potentially say cost them their job if their employers were notified?

These are the conversations that need to be had moving forward in this awful world.

 

[caveman72]

I completely understand what you're saying but is that not just a defeatist attitude? "Oh well the bad guys can't be stopped, so go into hiding".

Admittedly it is difficult to stop online abuse in all forms, fully aware but there has to be a way to start fighting back. My view is less about Neale & AFL players copping abuse and more the power that the abusers have online that needs to be quelled. I think in Neale's case it's just a case of 1 too many, obviously he sees this stuff mosts weeks and for whatever reason something pushed him over the edge yesterday.

Government ID's to use social media etc. are the conversations that need to be had. Would these people be as willing to make racial abuse comments to Willie Rioli if it could be linked back to them and potentially say cost them their job if their employers were notified?

These are the conversations that need to be had moving forward in this awful world.

You may be surprised how many of those who are doing the abuse are employers or so-called pillars of society

 

[Scotland]

Lachie Neale

9

Lachie Neale

Age

32

Ht

177cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

27.0

5star

K

11.5

4star

HB

15.5

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

3.7

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

28.3

5star

K

13.9

5star

HB

14.4

5star

M

4.6

4star

T

4.0

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

12.0

3star

K

4.6

2star

HB

7.4

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

1.0

3star

CL

0.4

3star

is right and wrong at the same time. I don't know how much 'hate' Lachie normally gets in a given week but I would guess that it's higher this week because he has put something out there for people to troll.

You can't really argue from the position that people shouldn't be complete dickheads because they are. 1% of the population is 270,000 people. 1% of that is 2,700 people. So 1% of the 1% of the 1% is 2 or 3 people and that is all it takes. Many more than that commit heinous crimes each year.

I'm of the belief that everyone knows the drill by now. So you aren't educating people not to say sexist things to Taylah Harris or racist things to Eddie Betts. The 'if you see something, say something' approach just gives oxygen to anonymous internet trolls. Delete, block, report etc.

If you streak at an AFL game the cameras are instructed to focus on something else. You are escorted away by security and given a fine and a ban from attending matches and that's the last anyone hears of it. Not like the good old days of Helen D'Amico and Bruce Doull or the late Andrew Symonds shoulder charging some peanut at the Gabba. But when some idiot creates an anonymous Instagram profile to troll a player it stays in the news cycle all week.

 

[t_94]

Why are you tilted by his words on a screen?

Reckon you sleep with the lights on tbh. Such a little nerd. Sort of bloke that got enjoyment on snitching on kids at school.

 

[Chief]

Reckon you sleep with the lights on tbh. Such a little nerd. Sort of bloke that got enjoyment on snitching on kids at school.

Oh definitely. 100%. You're on fire!

 

[PP34]

Not whinging about gambling. I gamble myself.

The reality is if you make your living from a gambling-based endeavour - and some will argue with this, but footy pretty much now is that - then this is always going to happen. It affects some people very badly and this is how some of them react.

I genuinely believe that many in football, including many players, are in denial about the industry they are in.

Spot on.

7, Fox and the AFL constantly flog gambling and have taken it to a place I personally never saw coming.

I remember all the outcry maybe 10-15 years ago about live odds on the scoreboard, the presence of people like Tom Waterhouse etc and thought we’d scale things back.

Instead it’s plastered everywhere now. Boys turn 18 and are already entrenched with gambling. Players finish their careers and go straight into paid roles at these companies and don’t think twice about it.

The AFL itself will grandstand about player abuse, welfare etc but continually ignore how much they want these gambling companies to keep paying the league big bucks.

Nobody wants to admit the AFL is completely corrupted by gambling and all the negatives that come with it because they all enjoy the money it brings.

Theres always been players copping shit since social media was a thing. However over the last 5-10 years with the invention of same game multis and how much they’ve been pushed, it’s gone to new heights. You’ve got a shitload of people with their money invested on some stupid same game bet involving some random player getting a bunch of disposals because Sportsbet etc have been allowed to promote that betting lots on heaps of footy stuff every weekend is normal behaviour.

 

[Altum Volantes]

There will always be idiots.

They won’t stop participating in this particular idiot pastime until the social media platforms make it easier to identify who they are and therefore provide some kind of consequences for their actions.

I realise it shouldn’t be a case of ‘so don’t go on social media’ but why don’t the players restrict who can message them?

Does that make it harder to meet women on SM or something?…

 

[Nomad12]

I don't understand when or why people started taking online trolls or anonymous people seriously.. obviously in a perfect world it would never happen, but cmon be a realist and ignore them or get offline

 

[campbell]

Has no one heard of Dollys Law.

ffs people. Step back from your computers.
Be a decent human being.
Stop the anger.

Lachie is right.

SM needs consequences. You all need to held accountable for your actions, until that happens, this egregious behavour escalates.

 

[Pieshighflyer]

Can both things be true?

• That people need to be held accountable more for the horrible stuff they say on social media.
• That unfortunately it's a part of the job to accept that people who are assholes will abuse you, and right now you've either got to ignore it or hop off social media.

Feels like alot of people are arguing for one or the other.

 

[purplearmy]

Neale loses one game and the toys come out of the pram. Suck it up, big boy. That’s the trade off for being on millions and being in the public eye. If you don’t like it retire.

 

[Nomad12]

Can both things be true?

• That people need to be held accountable more for the horrible stuff they say on social media.
• That unfortunately it's a part of the job to accept that people who are assholes will abuse you, and right now you've either got to ignore it or hop off social media.

Feels like alot of people are arguing for one or the other.

Yeh true but whatever happened to freedom of speech whether it's right or wrong. Should we get arrested or held accountable if we offend someone or someone's a bully? Common sense we aren't going to all agree and aren't going to all like each other so unless it's a death threat and they mentioned something personal like your address then why even waste time worrying about it.

 

[campbell]

Neale loses one game and the toys come out of the pram. Suck it up, big boy. That’s the trade off for being on millions and being in the public eye. If you don’t like it retire.

Ah, the faux Freo rage.

I can see you did not read the article, as it is not about Lachie.....

 

[Chief]

Yeh true but whatever happened to freedom of speech whether it's right or wrong. Should we get arrested or held accountable if we offend someone or someone's a bully? Common sense we aren't going to all agree and aren't going to all like each other so unless it's a death threat and they mentioned something personal like your address then why even waste time worrying about it.

The popular answer is that the response to wrong speech is more speech.

But this assumes a level playing field. Anonymous wave of keyboard warriors vs one person, their spouses, kids even, is not some open exchange in the marketplace of ideas.

It's petty and spiteful personal attacks that can and do cause harm. All because some poor petal didn't make their multi this weekend.

What's the answer then? If you can't talk to people relatively reasonably, you probably shouldn't be on the platform. Pause your account for the day. Plan ahead of time to put your phone away if your bets don't look like paying off. Stop gambling if you can't control yourself. Stop drinking if you can't control yourself. Stop watching sports if you can't control yourself after a bad result.

t_94 please take this advice.

 

[HairyO]

Deleting social media is probably the only way.

All that shit is the worst for peoples mental health.

Or at a minimum have 2 accounts. A private one you share only with friends and family and a public one where you turn off DMs and maybe even posts from non-friends list.

And resist the urge to post inflammatory things which are going to rile up the morons who then feel compelled to post offensive garbage.

When I was a kid we learned to ignore abuse but apparently that doesnt happen anymore, nor is personal responsibility a thing anymore so perhaps a bit of effort to make it harder for the trolls.

 

[P Money]

I'm trying to understand where the idea comes from that if someone earns a lot of money then their right to be treated like a human being is the trade-off - if you don't like being abused and harassed and bullied then get off social media / retire / stop leaving your house.

My instinct tells me it's envy/jealousy - we'd all love to have lots of money and not have to do a 'normal' job, so therefore someone who has that has no right to complain or be affected or impacted by anything negative that is associated with that. It's this weird idea that if someone is in a position of relative privilege (relative as in more than you) then nothing could possibly affect them.

To be frank, every single one of you on here are in a position of great privilege from a global perspective. If you're getting harassed at your job that pays better than 95% of people in the world, then why don't you just quit? If you're getting bullied at school where you're getting a better education than 95% of people in the world, essentially for free, then stop going to school. If you're getting abused on BigFooty while sitting in your comfortable home using your expensive laptop munching on any food you happen to feel like at any time you feel like it, then stop thinking you have a right to peacefully connect online with your likeminded community - don't complain or stand up for yourself, delete your profile and shut up.

Essentially - you're more privileged than the vast vast majority of people in the world, who are you complain about anything or suggest that your mental health can be impacted by the way you're treated by others? This is the mentality. It's base instinct rubbish. Think about it a bit more deeply. To 99% of the world you all have the relative privilege of an AFL footy player - that doesn't mean you deserve to be treated like shit by anyone who feels like it, or that you should just quit any area of life that you experience bullying or harassment or abuse.

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

There is no way the abuse is from actual Lions supporters/members they won a flag 7 games ago and were undefeated prior to this game.

If it actually is tho that person/persons should be life banned from attending home games and their membership revoked.

 

[Nomad12]

The popular answer is that the response to wrong speech is more speech.

But this assumes a level playing field. Anonymous wave of keyboard warriors vs one person, their spouses, kids even, is not some open exchange in the marketplace of ideas.

It's petty and spiteful personal attacks that can and do cause harm. All because some poor petal didn't make their multi this weekend.

What's the answer then? If you can't talk to people relatively reasonably, you probably shouldn't be on the platform. Pause your account for the day. Plan ahead of time to put your phone away if your bets don't look like paying off. Stop gambling if you can't control yourself. Stop drinking if you can't control yourself. Stop watching sports if you can't control yourself after a bad result.

t_94 please take this advice.

This is all common sense too but you are assuming everyone has that or even cares. For mine it's just wishful thinking to expect society to act like that, and I don't get why anyone would take any of it serious. I agree with others that it comes with the job or being famous and it's just nieve to think otherwise imo. Maybe the answer is if you aren't willing to have a private account or think you can deal with reading some abusive comments then they could also pause their account.

 

[demondavey]

It's not going to stop.
I think the best thing LN can do if it's upsetting him, don't go on social media.

So basically just accept something will happen, remove yourself from a platform you have every right to be on, and essentially just let these people go about what they are doing?

Makes sense…

 

[demondavey]

I'd argue that players are being paid more than they should be in order to kick a bit of leather around a ground. If they can't handle criticism then perhaps if they can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

Come up with a viable solution to the problem tut tutting people in these kinds of statements achieves nothing.

Yeah makes sense…. They get paid a lot (well they actually don’t) so we can abuse them non stop because they should be able to handle it.

Really poor….

 

[Xtreme]

Yeah makes sense…. They get paid a lot (well they actually don’t) so we can abuse them non stop because they should be able to handle it.

Really poor….

Most get paid more than your average worker (400-500,000 a year). Have to be able to take the good with the bad.

Players make mistakes especially silly ones like Zorko the other night, CJ getting sucked in and giving away a free goal last round, when Hawkins or Cloke would miss a shot at goal dead in front etc etc. And they absolutely should be mocked for doing so.

Being abused for skin colour, religious or political belief's is not on.

However I'd also wager that if you do something not in the public interest - that too can be weaponised against you. Zero sympathy when that happens as the player brought it upon themselves with their actions (eg: South Africa giving Davey Warner stick in the cricket).

 

[Mr Ripper]

Threads like this make it very easy to spot campaigners.

 

[demondavey]

Most get paid more than your average worker (400-500,000 a year). Have to be able to take the good with the bad.

Players make mistakes especially silly ones like Zorko the other night, CJ getting sucked in and giving away a free goal last round, when Hawkins or Cloke would miss a shot at goal dead in front etc etc. And they absolutely should be mocked for doing so.

Being abused for skin colour, religious or political belief's is not on.

However I'd also wager that if you do something not in the public interest - that too can be weaponised against you. Zero sympathy when that happens as the player brought it upon themselves with their actions (eg: South Africa giving Davey Warner stick in the cricket).

None of this makes sense. You’re making excuses for people acting out in an abusive way because players show emotion or aren’t robotic in their behaviours. You’re saying they should be mocked for it. Copping some flack on the ground, ok, but getting abused on SM to the extent that a player is calling it out is really overstepping the mark.

 

[demondavey]

Threads like this make it very easy to spot campaigners.

Well it is social media