I’m with you on this, Meg.
I have always been loud at the football and enjoy a bit of banter with opposition supporters, but there has been a decline in crowd behaviour over the past 10-15 years. I also think this is more prevalent in Melbourne than at the SCG.
To illustrate the point, I have received some surprised looks from supporters when cheering or yelling out at the SCG (along the lines of, ‘gee, he’s keen’), but have not experienced this elsewhere.
However, there has barely been a game in the last few years where I have not encountered obnoxious and aggressive behaviour at the MCG or Docklands. The things that used to catch my attention were often comical expressions, now they are ones that are aggressive and demeaning.
I didn't watch the whole game and missed this exchange at the time, but I did note an earlier incident between the two that caught my eye. Betts went to kick around his body and essentially just kicked it into the legs of an opponent and then the ball went out of bounds. Stack went up to Betts and gave him a push and had heckled him. This surprised me somewhat and I thought that it was a bit cheeky from a young bloke to an ageing champion. It was also along the lines of the unnecessary exchanges between players where one just demeans the other (which has been discussed on here over the last couple of seasons and in the media earlier this year, most notably between Vardy and Gawn). I noted to my wife at the time that this was a bit unusual, particularly between Indigenous players, where a open level of respect often transcends team divide.
When I later saw a replay of their exchange from later in the game, I thought it was a good acknowledgement and perhaps a sign from Stack that he had been a bit disrespectful earlier.
Titus O'Rielly's view of the 'Stratton show' on the weekend:
"Dane Rampe set the pace this year for captains going off the rails in a game, but Ben Stratton lifted the bar and then some.
He managed to repeatedly pinch Orazio Fantasia, stomp on Shaun McKernan’s foot and give the finger to the crowd.
It was a masterclass in how to become hated by every football fan in just a few hours.
While he’s straight off to the tribunal, the jury is still out if his campaign to overtake James Sicily as Hawthorn's most hated player will succeed."
The Monday Knee Jerk Reaction: AFL Round Thirteen - Titus O'Reily | Don’t have faith in yourself
Ben Stratton - yes; what was he thinking. I haven't watched Stratton closely in the past but he seems quite clean. He doesn't have a reputation as a dirty player. Please correct me if i'm wrong.
He probably won't play against us this week - which is a bonus for us.
My manager is a Hawthorn fan and he was fairly unimpressed with Strattons actions.
I followed Sth Mel as a kid and will never forget the abuse and threats made towards me (a little girl at the time), by Geelong supporters. They were the games we would go to as it was the closest to where we lived.
I have no doubt the aggression from the Vic club supporters would all be the same, it's a religion down there.
Don't get me wrong, I love expressing my support every game in Syd but would never go to the levels I have seen.
Swans supporters are unique and respectful (most of them anyway), I walked out after the last game against the "Ice Coke Eagles" and made a quiet comment to a stranger walking in the same direction, "geez we're a rowdy mob aren't we!" All the hype after a big win like that and it was queit conversation everwhere, not a DH anywhere.
So proud to live in a state where behaviour is adult and not offensive.
I think the demographic that supports the Swans (and probably GWS too) in Sydney is a bit more centred around a certain group
of people than footy crowds in Melbourne. The Melbourne footy crowds always seemed to me to be the Sydney AFL, the rugby
league and the rugby union crowds all rolled into one. It's just the nature of one football code being very dominant in Melbourne,
whereas in Sydney no one code is particularly dominant.
The MRP is a joke. Ziebell and Brown both went with elbow/forearm raised at GWS players and made contact. There is no doubt, they went at the players. With all the diatribe that went on with Ablett you would think that the standard was set. But no these 2 players got off and now get another shot before they get suspended.
Again, does a player have to be maimed before they stamp out this deliberate stuff. Ziebell jumped off the ground for goodness sake, and Brown went directly high on the player. Clearly both deliberate acts.
Last edited by Nico; 17th June 2019 at 08:11 PM.
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