Aussie mateship rules
JOHN “Sammy” Newman has made so many controversial statements in his almost 30 years in television that he is now possibly the most recognised media personality in Aussie rules.
Creating headlines by making vexed comments works. It’s cheap, appeals to the lowest common denominator, and I suspect is encouraged by management even when they publicly admonish it because it draws an audience to generate advertising revenue.
There’s something about rascal Sammy and his penchant for political incorrectness I find charming.
There’s a hint of Frank Zappa about his breaking of taboos and roaming free of the herd.
Zappa, a pioneering American composer, had a rapier wit and impressive intellect. He did not offend out of ignorance. He chose to pick scabs off sensitive issues to the accompaniment of some of the most beautiful, complex music ever created.
Sammy’s sharp mind lifts him above the usual footy banter. I like his fist-thumping, often boorish, usually comical diatribes.
Geelong Grammar School, which educated a 17-year-old Prince Charles, did a reasonable job with Sammy in the 1960s.
In the past few weeks, however, Sammy has exposed a gap in his education that suggests he has rested on his laurels since his school days.
Commenting on last month’s Australia-Philippines basketball brawl on The Footy Show, Sammy confused Manila, in the Philippines, with Indonesia and Malaysia. He was unaware which was where.
His comments this week about Muslims exposed more ignorance.
“They don’t generally nationalise, they colonise,” he said on a podcast. “There are 600,000 Muslims in Australia, they share no common interest with what we’re on about. They have no common values, they preach to a different deity, god.”
Sammy’s comments came after two Muslim players, Essendon’s Adam Saad and Richmond’s Bachar Houli, shook hands and embraced before the first bounce of their Round 22 clash. It was a response to Senator Fraser Anning’s call in Federal Parliament the week before to ban Muslim immigrants.
Sammy told the AFL to stop lecturing and “people do not want to be told what they should think”.
True, but the AFL did not tell people how to think. It said nothing.
There was no lecture nor statement from Houli or Saad, just a gesture.
If the AFL stopped Houli and Saad shaking hands at the toss, it would constitute a political statement verging on fascism.
“It was a special moment that will go down in my career and in history,” Saad said of the handshake on Fox Sports’ On The Mark program.
Referring to Senator Anning, he said: “I guess everyone’s got their opinion. With my culture and my religion, you’ve got to want to be educated. You’ve got to learn about it. [Senator Anning] probably made some comments and he probably doesn’t know what my culture, my religion, is about.”
Saad was born in Australia. His parents came here when young.
“I’m a proud Muslim Australian,” he said.
Dons star Jake Stringer this year fasted with him during the Islam holy month of Ramadan, but the most poignant show of solidarity was when the Bombers’ backline dined with Saad’s family.
“What better way than to invite them in and for them to see what it’s all about,” Saad said.
“There was a massive feast. We had probably 30kg of meat, chicken and that.”
Skewers sizzled on the barbecue as Saad’s mum and sisters cooked up a storm in the kitchen and the players tucked in. I imagine the aroma of cumin, coriander and garlic.
One Bomber’s appetite stood out, that of Irish recruit Conor McKenna.
Born in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, McKenna is an explosive Gaelic footballer finding fame and fortune in Aussie rules.
He wolfed down “15 skewers” and “three plates of rice” at Saad’s feast.
“It takes me like two weeks to eat that much, so he’s probably gained about 3kg or 4kg that night,” Saad grinned.
Imagine trying to understand McKenna’s thick Ulster accent with his mouth full of spicy rice, and key defenders Michael Hurley and Cale Hooker standing around the barbie poking fun at the Irishman to a chorus of giggles from Saad’s sisters. It’s heartwarming.
“It was a great night, the boys enjoyed it, they got around what we’re about,” Saad said.
Essendon, like all AFL teams, has players from many backgrounds, including Canadian-born young gun Andrew McGrath, Tiwi Islander Anthony McDonaldTipungwuti and Orazio Fantasia, whose grandparents are from Italy.
Bomber surnames such as Houlahan, Guelfi, Leuenberger, Zaharakis, Stewart, Laverde and Colyer suggest even more variety.
These players are learning from the school of life something Sammy Newman failed to pick up from his exclusive Geelong Grammar days — the wisdom to know that Saad and Houli’s handshake was personal not political, about family and mates. I couldn’t bring myself to write about the federal leadership spat today because I’m too angry. It’s a disgrace and the Coalition will pay at the ballot box, just like Labor did after the Rudd-Gillard sideshow. The spinners will now insult us by saying it is good for Tasmania. Brace yourself.