Toast Nicky Winmar statue to be unveiled at Optus Stadium on Saturday

st_trav_ofWA

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 17, 2015
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No.
I was just being a smart arse.
If W.A can have a great Stkilda aboriginal player immortalized in a statue then we can have one of theirs over here. :drunk:


Met Chris Lewis a few times many yrs ago.
Seemed like a top bloke. Ripper of a player.
more fitting would be David Wirapanda as he was a Vic boy who played his footy in Perth
 

st_trav_ofWA

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 17, 2015
5,810
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P1ss poor.
Very disappointed in that outcome.
I cannot imagine the club not allowing it’s jumper and crest being used given the celebration of Winmar within our ranks.
That decision has devalued the whole point of the statue and the statement it is supposed to be honouring.
the statue was commissioned by the WA govenment and the AFL ... the club had no say in it at all ... its all bronze so really unless you indented or raised the tri-panel of the jumper you couldnt tell anyway
 
Sep 28, 2016
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the statue was commissioned by the WA govenment and the AFL ... the club had no say in it at all ... its all bronze so really unless you indented or raised the tri-panel of the jumper you couldnt tell anyway
Thanks Trav, but it smells of appropriation.
So the Winmar statue is an artist’s impression.
A faux recognition of an important event in this country’s history.
 
Thanks Trav, but it smells of appropriation.
So the Winmar statue is an artist’s impression.
A faux recognition of an important event in this country’s history.
Lol what.

Hate to say it but the club jumper is irrelevant here. The gesture of him pointing to his skin is what is important.
 

busso_mick

All Australian
Jan 2, 2011
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The unveiled sculpture of Neil Elvis Winmar.

704317
 

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It looks fantastic!

Shame it isn't at Moorabbin but the gesture means more than a club affiliation.

Nicky's #7 was the first number I ever got on the back of my Saints jumper. What a star.
 

st_trav_ofWA

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 17, 2015
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so i thought i would share the report of the day with you all ...
the day started off with a bit of worry from myself .. we had advertised for people to meet on the bridge for 11:15 and by 11am it was pouring with rain.. i said to my wife on the way there that with this weather we may only have 20 odd there ... this compounded my concern when my head cheerleader for the day called me saying he was at the bridge but no one was there... i arrived 5 mins later and and got a call saying there was now 100 people under the bridge sheltering from the rain ... by the 11:45 when the march was due to start that number had swelled to nearly 200 all decked out in saints colours all eager to show the love for Nicky... the group marched as one led by the strong contingent of kids .. about half way across the bridge the singing of the song started followed by the St Kilda chant and the Winmar chant .. the officals at the event were blown away at the numbers who came Nicky was in awe of it...

Minister Wyatt opened the proceedings before the official welcome to country was given .. the welcome to country invited the Noongar people to join them on stage as the dancers performed traditional dance.. much to our pleasure Nicky joined the dancers and bashed out some of his own moves ..

The indig former players in attendance was fantastic .. i spent a long time chatting to Gilly, Des Hedland, Peter Matera, MickyO, Wanganeen, Kickett... there were much more there but i dint get to chat to them ..

The official speaches from the Premier Gil ect were well recieved as the rain kept coming down then as Nicky came to the stage to speak almost as if it was planned the sun cracked through and the rain stopped ... Nicky spoke well.. he was clearly overwhelmed by emotion but delivered a speach that was so fittingly Nicky like.. i think the most pleasing thing for me was the kids in attendance hanging off his every word.. these kids not even born when Nicky played realised the importance of his stand ..

the Statue itself looks fantastic ....
ive gotta say i personally felt really proud to be representing our club at this event and the way our members and fans joined together for this really made my day ... Congratulations really need to go to the WA government and the AFL for this and especially the office of Minister Mick Murray for their inclusion of the Western Saints in the event ..
 

st_trav_ofWA

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 17, 2015
5,810
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AFL Club
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ill be posting photos of the event on the Western Saints Facebook page later tonight so feel free to come check it out
search Western Saints Inc.
 

st_trav_ofWA

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 17, 2015
5,810
15,541
AFL Club
St Kilda
i also have a chat to Gil about a few Saints related things ... i know it wont change anything but i felt better letting him know how things were ...

StTrav - Hi Gil, im Trav president of the Western Saints i just wanted to say hello to you
Gil - hi Trav nice to meet you, wow you guys certainly came out in force today
S - yeah im really happy with that.. we have a very strong support over here for our Saints so its great to see so many here
G - how many Saints suporters do you have here ?
S - we have a smidge over 1600 members here but our supporter numbers are much much larger than that
Gil - wow i didnt realise that
StTrav - yeah 1600 member yet we only get 300 tickets for our game here
Gil - thats a lot of support is that due to Nicky do you think
StTrav- yeah i think thats a part we have a strong WA feel to our club and our members are pretty loyal to the club , even though we only get 300 tickets allocated to us by the WCE for games here in WA
Gil- oh ok
StTrav - yes its the unfortunate thing that the move from Subi oval to Optus with the improved capacity of the stadium has not seen one single extra seat allocated to the visiting team.
Gil - so members miss out ..
StTrav - yes about 1300 members .. and its not just our club Richmond , Hawthorn , Collingwood, Essendon all have big following in this state but get 300 tickets allocated to them.
Gil- i see that is disapointing
StTrav - yeah perhaps you can have a chat to the WCE about that for all of us visiting teams.
Gil - ill see what i can do
 
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