Also up here on the North Coast the Northern United aboriginal league team finished second in the local competition in its first season. By all reports they have a very good relationship with the governing body, the local media and the other clubs. And if you were at Maclean on grand final day to see the mixed crowd just there to enjoy a great day of bush footy then you may think twice about whether this sport is ‘dying.’

Also I know there is a lot more that you are not letting on about the Moree Boomerangs situation. So to claim that as part of you racism argument is pretty weak.

I will stick to my dying game that just recorded attendance and television records (and also participation records contrary to your previous misnomer) this season.

p.s also it is interesting you hold the AFL up as a bastion of all things pure and proper from a racial point of view. Former Essendon player Michael Long didn’t look too enamoured with the state of race relations in the ‘indigenous’ game.

There are real problems with teh clubs - black and white. And it relates to lack of support base. Inverell, for example, couldn’t field a team recently in the Gruop 19 competition - it has a regional population of 15,000.

And despite that, country rugby league administrator still reject Aboriginal clubs. They’d rather see the game die than have black clubs in the competition.

For me, this paragraph from your link sums it up best: “Mr Binge said he felt United had to be better behaved than other clubs in the NRRRL, to prove the naysayers and the cynics wrong.”

The double standard is enormous.

http://www.northernstar.com.au/story/2009/09/19/standing-united-on-historic-eve/

It seems there’s at least two issues here - real problems with the clubs, and real problems with the sport.

I grew up with league, and loved the game (reallllly loved it… I was a nightmare around state of origin time). But I walked away from the game a few years back because it’s a sport rife with racism (at the administrative level) and populated (predominantly) by meatheads and goons who behave like cavemen (particularly towards women).

For the record, I actually play and follow ice hockey - specifically, the Canberra Knights in the Australian Ice Hockey League.

Nadia, the competition you’re referring to is the Aboriginal Knockout. It’s not comparable to what the AFL does because as you correctly note, it’s run by Aboriginal people.

And thanks Liz45… appreciate the defence… GO THE CANBERRA KNIGHTS!!!

For me, 2009 was the first year that I haven’t attended an NSWRFL / NSWRL / ARL / NRL match since 1986 (due to being OS for much of the season).

If this is as bad as it looks, perhaps I’ve attended my last match ever. Sad.

While what you point to is the racism that exists in some league areas and most likely reflects some of the internal dynamics of the NRL I think you are comparing apples to oranges when it comes to the NRL losing its black fanbase if Howard were to be involved and the Aboriginal exodus from the public service. Despite problems and accusations about racism in the NRL there continues to be a large number of children (boys and girls), youths and young adults who train each week to play in competitions over the weekend and many young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander boys who hope to become professional players. Many who even play over in the UK. Racism in sport is not new and that is something in itself that needs to be addressed.

In Redfern the Indigenous Land Corporation has purchased the site of the former Redfern Public School where the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) is being developed. Of the partners involved in are NASCA (National Aboriginal Sporting Chance Academy) and the Llyod McDermott Rugby Development Team (that focuses on Rugby Union). And if you look at the board of the NCIE you will see Sam Jeffries, Peter Shergold, Sol Bellear and others.

If anything the NRL, at least in Sydney, faces stiffer competition through the rise of other sports and Aboriginal children and youth turning to these other sports, in particular soccer.

You criticise Stephen:

‘You’re not excused Stephen, you are a disgrace. Anyone who uses kids abuse for the sake of winning an argument is scum, pure scum.’

What do you think then, of how John Howard used the ‘Children Overboard’ politically to win an election?

The thuggery exercised by the Immigration Dept re its behaviours and attitudes to traumatized people, particularly children seeking asylum is still coming to the public’s attention. Women were also forced into giving birth with male guards handcuffed to them on some occasions, and there were also women who had caesarian sections that were not authorized by them. Keep in mind, that these women were denied the comfort of their husband/partner at this time, and at least one was locked up with her newborn for the next 10 months - under Howard’s watch! Cornelia Rau was manhandled by male guards while in the shower(Baxter) and was dragged out with little effort to show respect, dignity or even covering up her nakedness - it was on film on a TV documentary! I still have it! There are children who are still receiving psychological or psychiatric care due to Howard’s revolting policies. That’s child abuse, and I’ll be reminding people from now until I die what a racist, divisive and cruel ‘person’ he is. I realise that it’s confronting to know that your hero was a mongrel, but there’s too many factual cases that I’ve followed, researched, including “As a last resort” . The investigation into the detention of children - this is not the behaviour of a leader who promotes a ‘fair go’ and ‘traditional family values’? When families engage in imprisoning children, it’s called child abuse - when Prime Ministers do it on a grand scale, it’s called ‘crimes against humanity’ which is an international crime/s. Julian Burnside QC could inform you of the relevant Criminal Act!

My opinion of rugby league players in general (I know that there are decent blokes, but, in my view, remaining silent is being an accessory after the crime when it comes to violent crimes against women and girls.) 2009 has resulted in a litany of attacks, rapes and domestic violence abuses - I’ll resume my interest in the NRL when they start to behave like decent human beings, instead of allowing such ‘people’ to get away with criminal behaviour. It pleases me to see the number of indigenous players in the AFL in Victoria(which also has blemishes on its record/s) and of course up north, young indigenous boys and girls play AFL too!

You’d think that out of (now) 22 million, the NRL would be able to find half a dozen people who’d unite players and supporters alike; show positive, non-sexist/non-racist behaviours, and encourage the involvement of all peoples of the country, black and white. If I was an indigenous person, I’d turn my back on Howard at every opportunity too!

Back in the real world, didn’t the NRL powers that be see what Howard’s Workchoices policies did to the Liberal Party’s vote amongst the so-called “Howard battlers” in Western Sydney?
At a time that the AFL is forging ahead with locating a team in Western Sydney I would have thought the last thing Rugby League would want is to associate itself with a politician who has alienated a large part of it’s traditional support base.

Rodney - yes, whilst a chairman does not run the game, you do tend to look at the position as being representative. Would you be happy, for instance, with the ex-chairman of James Hardie being the chairman of NRL?

Just wanted to mention that since you said league had no equivalent to the Aboriginal AFL comps. Not that I think the NRL has anything to do with the Aboriginal league comp - I’m pretty sure it’s organised by an Aboriginal committee.

JCherself

Its not about the man’s politics, it’s about what he could possibly bring to the table as chairman of an industry which is particularly ‘troubled’, to put it mildly.

The skills and abilities nurtured by a lifetime in politics at its highest and most Darwinian are probably the same skills needed to try and drag the game kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

Yes, people criticised him for being too poll driven (otherwise known as being responsive to what the community wants) but he was successful in attracting the majority of voters for over a decade by satisfying their expectations.

Right now the NRL needs a swift kick in the bum for failing to understand how its players and management behaviour is alienating the very people it needs to engage with to ensure that it has a future.

Perhaps Howard can bring his hard earned expertise to bear on the problem, and perhaps he may succeed, or he may fail. But judge the man on what he does, not on his politics, which is now past.

I’m pretty sure they did, or forced Howard to back down, so the legal facts actually are with Stephen. It was “child abuse” of kids of asylum seekers protected by a treaty we signed up to. An egregious error of public policy let alone ethics.

While your standing up for kiddie mate just remember two things about your runtish hero:

1 - he locked up children - often without their parents or relatives because it played well to a racist electorate

2 - he ignored EVER SINGLE ONE of the 97 recommendations of the ‘little Children Are Sacred’ report because it played well to a racist electorate

I guess that makes him pure scum by your book then?

Crikey Did you have to put him in a Saints jumper?? Haven’t we suffered enough?