Liam Jurrah being held by police -Sen

[Blues_Man]

Lets wait until the story unfolds before making judgements...2 men were arrested, and i am assuming there was only one Machete..lets hope the other bloke was weilding it and not Jurrah.

If they try and pull the tribal justice card then i think they will fail ..tribal justice is dealt with spears ..not Machetes.

 

[trossa]

If he did the crime, he should do the time.

 

[1970crow]

Machete attacks are a part of aboriginal culture. We should respect their ways of life and let them machete attack eachother all day.

it is simply unfair to pass judgement on these machete attacking people. Macehete attacks up in alice springs are as normal as walking a dog down the street in suburban melbourne.

So live and let machete attack i say.

really funny bro. obviously machete attacks aren't common. but serious violence is. if you ever see the ad's 'violence isn't part of our culture', you can rest assured that it very much is.

being glib about it is pretty pathetic.

 

[StopAndDrain]

Dont Worry LJ will be back with the Dees

Sincerely

Troy Taylor

 

[fishardansin]

Lets wait until the story unfolds before making judgements...2 men were arrested, and i am assuming there was only one Machete..lets hope the other bloke was weilding it and not Jurrah.

If they try and pull the tribal justice card then i think they will fail ..tribal justice is dealt with spears ..not Machetes.

That is simply not true. Tribal justice is also dealt with stones and lately rubber hoses, machetes and even opened cans are used to slice throats. I know someone who was part of a top end mob who was asked to take part in slicing open the throat of a woman to let her bleed out. I can't remember if he did partake but she was left in shed or under a house on stilts and bleed out.

Sorry to mention that horrible story but spear is not the only punishment. That is one particular punishment where they push the punishment spear, which is jagged, through the thigh of a man. The only way out is to pull it right through and the man walks with a limp for the rest of his life.

 

[SuburbanMe]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/130309/default.aspx

Seems like Liam could be back in Melbourne tomorrow. (Friday)

 

[1970crow]

This is very true.
Have seen paddy wagons pull up and just grab everyone. They'd go around and around. Was a blue that spilled onto the street outside the stuart arms hotel i saw and i stayed right away watching them pile maybe 10-15 guys into wagons without asking anything. They had paddy wagons going back and forth outside a club called bojangles just waiting for s**t to happen and they'd take everyone away and ask q's later.
He's probably just been knocking back a pie and chips then bundled into the back of a paddy wagon.
ok..so i'm an optimist.

yeh mate. stuart arms has been closed for about 10 years. bojangles isn't a club. and there's no place close enough to either of where they were/are to be having a pie without travelling to get there.

but you are quite correct. no doubt the police officers in the NT just drive around looking for innocent people to throw into the back of a paddy wagon. given that we have no genuine crime in alice springs, it's great to hear that our local police officers use some commonsense and throw innocent bystanders into jail when they have nothing else to do.

you're an absolute....

 

[Rob]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/130309/default.aspx

Seems like Liam could be back in Melbourne tomorrow. (Friday)

Dunno whether Melbourne is the best place for him. The media will be all over him there.

 

[SuburbanMe]

Atleast if he's back in melbourne he's away from the s**t.

 

[LeverPuller]

Dunno whether Melbourne is the best place for him. The media will be all over him there.

Nar, he'll probably head back to and stay at the Mackinnons' again. That or hunker down at Aaron Davey's. He's done both before.

The media will be awful, but at the same time he's useless to interview. Ever watched an interview with LJ? Two years ago he could barely speak a word of English, and even now it's one-word answers. The only news value is in getting him on camera, and even that will be avoided - rear entrances, darkened windows, media kept away from training involving Liam. They might chuck a Storm or Victory shirt on him and get him to do his rehab with them inside AAMI Park rather than around Gosch's, since all the footy media will be lurking there.

We had a year of Tom Scully staying out of the public eye despite being the most questioned man in football. The only people who are ruthlessly pursued with media success have been those without a support network around them - Fevola, Nixon, Ablett Snr at times. Even Ben Cousins didn't really get photographed apart from the Such Is Life pictures. The support network will close down all the media trying to get to him, issue statements on his behalf and that will be it until it blows over.

 

[TAITA]

That is simply not true. Tribal justice is also dealt with stones and lately rubber hoses, machetes and even opened cans are used to slice throats. I know someone who was part of a top end mob who was asked to take part in slicing open the throat of a woman to let her bleed out. I can't remember if he did partake but she was left in shed or under a house on stilts and bleed out.

Sorry to mention that horrible story but spear is not the only punishment. That is one particular punishment where they push the punishment spear, which is jagged, through the thigh of a man. The only way out is to pull it right through and the man walks with a limp for the rest of his life.

I don't care how PC anyone wants to be - that is just savagery.

There is no justifable case where 'black mans law' or 'shariah law' or whatever your custom dictates takes precedence over democracy.

That being, the will of the majority of people to live in a civilised and ordered society.

 

[Ron The Bear]

But we're now talking about how "things are different up there" and starting to go down some very dangerous path where we are now accepting attempted capital punishment

Have to agree. The maligned and jailed Krakouer challenged his victim to a fair fight and was accommodated.

As many have pointed out though, the extent of Jurrah's involvement is unclear, so we should wait for more info to emerge.

 

[kazzooka]

I'm sorry if I'm wrong but what evidence is there to suggest that this 35 yr old man was attacked in some form of tribal justice or that it is somehow related to the apparent feud between Jurrah's community and another?

Everyone is being careful not to jump to conclusions on Jurrah's involvement yet seem to blindly except this as fact.

From what i've seen reported A 35 yr old man has been attacked with a machete and police believe Jurrah and an unnamed 23yr old man may be involved or have information about it, and a being held for questioning. NO CHARGES HAVE BEEN LAID.
No mention of the alleged motives, or reason to suspect the victim was attacked as punishment for anything.

 

[BigBroMike]

Liam has done both levels of initiation. I wouldn't call him an Elder but he has always had a lot of respect because of how seriously he takes the culture. He is well on his way to be considered a leader of the community though.

I married into the Warlpiri over a decade ago. I've only visited Yuendumu once though as my ex was from the other main town called Lajamanu where I have stayed a few times. I have a young man from Lajamanu, my nephew, come and stay with me to play footy in Melbourne so I'm still connected to the community. I also raise all the kids from my marriage so will always have a strong connection anyhow.

The Warlpiri take their culture very seriously and though they are mostly members of the Baptist church still practice all the traditional ceremonies and believe in the old spirituality/religion as well as the superstitions that go with that. There is a very rigid kinship system that is complicated for us as outsiders to understand at first but it makes perfect sense to them and really is an ingenious way to avoid in-breeding in a people of a small population.

This kinship system has all sorts of obligations tied to it and certain people have to administer punishment to certain people. Of course payback and punishment for breaking the law get muddled up often. Liam could have had his hand forced to be involved in this. Unfortunately white law doesn't allow this to occur off their land, and Alice Springs isn't their land. In their communities the police will often turn a blind eye to certain punishments, even on occasion capital punishment.

Of course there is an investigation going on and I've heard nothing from my nephew or sister-in-law so I'd only be speculating like the rest of you. So there is a good chance that Liam has done nothing wrong at all. Also he may just be an accessory after the fact if he was asked to watch the machete for someone else.

I'm not sure what is going on with Liam at the moment. I will say that Yuendumu has been in a bad way lately. Anyone on here who is from North Adelaide will know that as many people left the violence and went to Adelaide last year or the year before. I also know for a fact that every chance he's had Liam has been in Alice Springs drinking it up in these town camps and that didn't augur well for this season even without this latest incident.

I sincerely hope there is not much to this. Liam's involvement in AFL football has had a very positive effect on the community. Lots of boys are taking footy much more seriously and can imagine themselves playing at the highest level. Liam Patrick only took up footy again because of his success, for example.

Thanks for providing some insight!
Like others have said probably the saddest thing that would come out of this if Jurrah was found involved was that it would reflect badly upon his community.

That is simply not true. Tribal justice is also dealt with stones and lately rubber hoses, machetes and even opened cans are used to slice throats. I know someone who was part of a top end mob who was asked to take part in slicing open the throat of a woman to let her bleed out. I can't remember if he did partake but she was left in shed or under a house on stilts and bleed out.

Sorry to mention that horrible story but spear is not the only punishment. That is one particular punishment where they push the punishment spear, which is jagged, through the thigh of a man. The only way out is to pull it right through and the man walks with a limp for the rest of his life.

That's pretty hardcore punishment. What do people have to do to get a severe punishment like that? Also say if the person doesn't die and they don't accept the punishment do they often go looking for revenge? Or is it like a community based decision where no matter what happens after it's done you just leave it alone.

 

[bulletproof]

Quite extraordinary insight Fishardansin, thank you. What a tragic tale this is. I can only wish Liam well. I really admired his talent, and hope to see him back soon. He sounds like a troubled, but essentially good, man.

 

[syl]

New age article up, http://m.theage.com.au/sport/jurrah-behind-bars-after-tribal-feud-erupts-20120308-1unbd.html

A police statement reported that two 23-year-olds were in custody after a disturbance at the Little Sisters town camp, and that a separate incident had left a 35-year-old male in hospital with significant head injuries. A 30-year-old female was in custody relating to the latter incident.

 

[radiojake]

Quickly - Better start speculating before we hear any official statements, otherwise the story won't be nearly as dramatic!

14 pages later....

 

[nobbyiscool]

Grandstand are reporting that two 23 year old men have been charges relating to a machete attack.

in trying to understand the way of the land in the NT, it's important to make the distinction between administering punishment/justice, and administering a revenge attack. we don't know what the case is here, but there's a distinction between them. so those who can ideologically agree with customary law shouldn't support a revenge attack, while those criticizing "savages" should realise that this is a long held form of justice.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

New age article up, http://m.theage.com.au/sport/jurrah-behind-bars-after-tribal-feud-erupts-20120308-1unbd.html

From what I can gather from that article (and I'm crossing my fingers here) the "machete" incident and the incident which Jurrah was involved in were two separate (but possibly/probably related) incidents? Jurrah was involved in a brawl involving up to 50 people and he and another were arrested while in another incident a man was attacked with a machete for which a woman is being held in custody.

Also like to mention regardless of what you think of the Murdoch press the contrast in reporting between The Age and the Herald-Sun is ridiculous with The Age being light years ahead (Flanagan is the best sports writer in the country though so they have an unfair advantage).

 

[SlicKeR]

well said.

 

[blaze036]

Jurrah being charged... anyone know what the exact charges are? could be jail worthy

 

[krisholio14]

I don't care how PC anyone wants to be - that is just savagery.

There is no justifable case where 'black mans law' or 'shariah law' or whatever your custom dictates takes precedence over democracy.

That being, the will of the majority of people to live in a civilised and ordered society.

This tribal conflict could have been avoided if one or both of them had said sorry.

 

[fishardansin]

I don't care how PC anyone wants to be - that is just savagery.

There is no justifable case where 'black mans law' or 'shariah law' or whatever your custom dictates takes precedence over democracy.

That being, the will of the majority of people to live in a civilised and ordered society.

Yes it is savage. However, I feel that their land is their land these are the people that have survived the invasion. I think they should decided what is savage or not in their land. If you give them time they will move away from those sorts of punishments. I also feel that they should not get away with doing that away from their community. Just like ignorance should be no excuse for a white man or woman out in their community. We should be punished in their law if we break it.

 

[nobbyiscool]

Jurrah being charged... anyone know what the exact charges are? could be jail worthy

intend serious harm, cause serious harm, being armed with an offensive weapon.

both men have been charged with these 3 charges.

 

[bing181]

From what I can gather from that article (and I'm crossing my fingers here) the "machete" incident and the incident which Jurrah was involved in were two separate (but possibly/probably related) incidents? Jurrah was involved in a brawl involving up to 50 people and he and another were arrested while in another incident a man was attacked with a machete for which a woman is being held in custody.

Not quite. The Jurrah incident includes the all-in brawl, the machete and a 35 year old man with serious head injuries. The other incident involves head injuries to a 15 year old, for which a 30 year old woman is being held.

Tragic for all concerned, football stars or not.