DEALING WITH RACISM

Q Society has come a long way in the past couple of decades, but racism is still an issue in sport. It must have been a problem when you were running around? A I copped it every week. I got called “black this” and “black that”. I had to learn to cope with it and block it out. I used to tell myself that if they were calling me names and trying to get under my skin, they weren’t concentrating on winning the footy. In all my career, I only got suspended once. Q Your cousin Nicky Winmar was a voice against racism for a long time and is famously pictured (right) lifting his shirt to stand up against racist taunts at Collingwood’s home ground Victoria Park. How much did that mean to you? A It was a really big deal. I think it did a lot to highlight racism in the game and show people that Aboriginal players cop it all the time. The AFL was forced to do more work off the field in improving education and it improved things dramatically for indigenous players. Q You got rubbed out for one week in 1987 for slapping an opponent in the WAFL. And it proved costly. Didn’t you poll the most votes in the Sandover Medal this year? A I was swatting away a fly! In all honesty there wasn’t much in it but a week was probably fair. It’s a shame because I was always a fair player. I didn’t mind the fact I missed out on the medal because we won the flag that year at Claremont.