Past Robert Muir - ABC Article

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I have just re read this article, damn it is a good but hard read. Believe it should be widely read, and I mean actually read not just commented on which is what will happen with social media etc

Do not think he is asking for much (I can already hear the negative calls).

The last couple of paragraphs are very powerful:

' He is a man whose unlikely survival elevates his human spirit to a level that further diminishes those who treated him as less than human. The question is whether the game he loves will ever invite him in from the cold. '

Also:


Aware that her partner might never be acknowledged, Pickett focuses on the small victories in Muir's life, for which she has a perceptive ear.

"It's so sad, but when he laughs, in my mind, I can hear a baby." Pickett says.

"It's like a baby trying to laugh, but it's coming out in a different way because he's been so serious and so entrenched in negative stuff.

"His laugh needs to be pushed out a bit by positive things. His laugh can move something in his spirit and in his soul."
 

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Good start from the club
 
Verdun said:
Aware that her partner might never be acknowledged, Pickett focuses on the small victories in Muir's life, for which she has a perceptive ear.

"It's so sad, but when he laughs, in my mind, I can hear a baby." Pickett says.

"It's like a baby trying to laugh, but it's coming out in a different way because he's been so serious and so entrenched in negative stuff.

"His laugh needs to be pushed out a bit by positive things. His laugh can move something in his spirit and in his soul."
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Yeah that bit, which i read this morning while bouncing my 4 month old on my knee, was very affecting. Just incredible the amount of damage the world can do to some people, and how most of us will unthinkingly participate in it in some way
 
J_Moore said:
Yeah that bit, which i read this morning while bouncing my 4 month old on my knee, was very affecting. Just incredible the amount of damage the world can do to some people, and how most of us will unthinkingly participate in it in some way
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Yep enjoy the time with your 4 month old what it's about will share this with both my kids who are older (13 and 16) reckon it is important to do so.

We need to acknowledge the effect of trauma.
 
Diehard Saint said:
I did not know anything about Robert Muir.
That is just terribly tragic.
The club needs to reach out to him and bring him back into the fold.
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i only knew the “stories” but never questioned why these things might have happened

I’ll be emailing the club asking them to reach out.
 
I'd love to get a Robbie Muir statue if we can't have Winmar's iconic image at least we could get Robbie with his fingers up at the Geelong players. Giving the finger to the world somehow suits us.
 
The last couple of paragraphs are absolutely heart wrenching and beautifully written. The image of him as a kid huddled with the dog... and then he hasn't been able to escape abuse his whole life.

It sounds like the club will reach out to make amends but unfortunate it takes something like this to make it happen.
 
Verdun said:
Yep enjoy the time with your 4 month old what it's about will share this with both my kids who are older (13 and 16) reckon it is important to do so.

We need to acknowledge the effect of trauma.
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I think the people who booed Goodes and others just didn't see how recently this kind of abuse was going on. I watched Saints fans racially abusing Trent Dennis-Lane, it still happens now. The article is so confronting because you see the big picture of just how much trauma that things that perpetrators didn't even think about chipped away at him until it broke him. His biggest crime was that he fought back instead of taking it like others had. The warrior was punished for being one against thousands. The people that took it on the chin were allowed to carry on. Goodes found that out too.
 
RobbieMuir said:
I loved watching Robbie play. For those that were never lucky enough to see him live, he was super- quick, a massive kick (65m plus), a brutal tackler, and he regularly took “hangers” (like the one in my avatar which I saw at Moorabbin against Carlton in 1975).
In 1974/75 he was the most exciting player in the league.

Unfortunately, his opponents would constantly racially abuse him to put him of his game - and it usually worked. I often describe him as ‘Nicky Winmar with an extra 10kg of muscle’.

It sounds like his life is finally on track. Hopefully he can find some sort of peace.
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Robert was treated appallingly and has had such a tough life. His love of St Kilda is unconditional and his last wish to have his ashes scattered on the Moorabbin wing is very moving.

From a footballing perspective, the two and a half year suspension he received in 1971 seemed very unjust. It delayed his VFL career at a time when he as a young star. He would’ve had an impact in a very good team that was very well coached. If he’d played for us in 1972 you never know what may have happened. Carlton barely beat us in a desperately close Preliminary Final.

I hope the club reaches out, gets him involved and feeling loved again. He is an important part of the club’s history.
 
TassieSaint said:
The last couple of paragraphs are absolutely heart wrenching and beautifully written. The image of him as a kid huddled with the dog... and then he hasn't been able to escape abuse his whole life.

It sounds like the club will reach out to make amends but unfortunate it takes something like this to make it happen.
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Yeah, that bit cut deep.
 

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I was honestly on the verge of tears reading that article and had to take mutiple breaks from it. Imagine having lived it as Muir did.

I'm ashamed to think I too held that superficial view of 'Mad Dog' Muir without bothering to enquire why. I remember that skit from The Footy Show as well - again, I'm ashamed that I ever watched that atrocity and while times have changed, the attitudes of the likes Newman and McGuire have not.

I'm glad Muir has found a loving partner and that I have a bit more insight into his tragic story.

Great article.
 
I donated an hour ago and it was at $2500, now around $7000. N. Winmar and a Breen and a Sidebottom have donated as well. Good to see people pulling out the wallet in tough times.
 
That story left me feeling wretched. I hope the sorry sacks of **** that made his life hell see it
 
Ephesus said:
I was at that game at Princes Park. It was clear to the spectators that the umpires were trying to drive him out of the game. My strongest memory is Robert repeatedly throwing his mouth guard on the ground while standing on the mark after another free kick given against him. He was incredibly frustrated.
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I too was at that game.......the memories are absolutely vivd.........and like you Ephesus.......his mouth guard being slammed into the grass is still such a strong memory to me.

I think Bill Dellar was the umpire that day.

I was standing on the large Northern terrace looking straight down at when he was going ballistic.

It was incredibly frustrating watching everything unfold.....it was like the whole world was against him that afternoon.

I read the article on the ABC website and it's absolutely gut wrenching reading went on back in those days....so much in the article I'd never heard before.

I'll never forget the game at Victoria Park in 1974....I think that was his debut game.....we had an extremely rare win at that venue that day......and he absolutely starred with a couple of goals.....I snuck up the back of the main grandstand at the station end.......it was magic hearing the crowd silent(at least in the area I was in) as Robbie kicked a couple of goals.

I also was at the game at Victoria Park in 1980 .....considered myself a fool after watching half the game the year before.....we lost by 178 points that day......I was thru the turnstyle at 1/2 time after we were 100 points down.

Getting his windscreen cracked after the game.....that's jaw dropping stuff.

And Alan McAllistar.....a relic from the White Australia days.

I'm more than surprised that our Past Players group hadn't(if correct) reached out to Robbie.....they have really got that group going in the last 6 years.......and Past players is something one Lindsay Fox is very passionate about.

Let's hope we can get Robbie back in the fold.

Loved seeing the Saints crest on his shirt........his love for the Saints is still there.
 
RobbieMuir said:
I loved watching Robbie play. For those that were never lucky enough to see him live, he was super- quick, a massive kick (65m plus), a brutal tackler, and he regularly took “hangers” (like the one in my avatar which I saw at Moorabbin against Carlton in 1975).
In 1974/75 he was the most exciting player in the league.

Unfortunately, his opponents would constantly racially abuse him to put him of his game - and it usually worked. I often describe him as ‘Nicky Winmar with an extra 10kg of muscle’.

It sounds like his life is finally on track. Hopefully he can find some sort of peace.
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Was at the same game Robbie - you av photo doesn't quite do the mark justice

robbie.jpg
KingsRansom said:
Someone has set up a GoFundMe for Robbie

www.gofundme.com

Donate to Funds for Robert Muir’s shoulder op, organized by Mal Padgett

Calling on all St Kilda Football Club and AFL fans to support past player Robert Muir … Mal Padgett needs your support for Funds for Robert Muir’s shoulder op
www.gofundme.com
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Done
 
This is tragic beyond anything I can really comprehend, but all I can say is that I'm glad the club have acknowledged it, and I hope they're putting in the work to make up for their lack of action in the past.

KingsRansom said:
Someone has set up a GoFundMe for Robbie

www.gofundme.com

Donate to Funds for Robert Muir’s shoulder op, organized by Mal Padgett

Calling on all St Kilda Football Club and AFL fans to support past player Robert Muir … Mal Padgett needs your support for Funds for Robert Muir’s shoulder op
www.gofundme.com
Click to expand...

Sorry to be a pessimist but I have to ask, who are these people and how can we know the money's going where they claim it is?
 
Powerfully written article. I’m not aboriginal and couldn’t imagine a life lived being racially abused for so long, although I have been a victim of casual racism whilst living in Asia and it stinks. Remember seeing a bit of Rob playing when I was a kid but never knew the true story, only the media sensationalism. Hopefully he will now get the respect he deserves as a wonderfully talented player, and the other help he needs in his life. Wish him all the best.
 
Hubnester said:
This is tragic beyond anything I can really comprehend, but all I can say is that I'm glad the club have acknowledged it, and I hope they're putting in the work to make up for their lack of action in the past.



Sorry to be a pessimist but I have to ask, who are these people and how can we know the money's going where they claim it is?
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Hopefully the people have connected with Robbie. Being two seperate people starting adds a bit of credibility to it.

I looked them up, one seems to be a VCE teacher from Bayside Christian college who specialises in psychology, science and maths and the other guy is a Saints fan that owns a Graphic design firm in Footscray. He's got a contact linked to his organiser profile if you need to ask him how the money will be used. They don't look like scumbags.
 
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