Through his culture, dedication and skill, the quiet former Sydney Swans forward crafted himself into one of the AFL’s best athletesOn Lance Franklin’s right forearm, you’ll find a tattooed portrait of his mum, Ursula. Just below the shoulder, his dad, Lance Sr. The artwork provides a rare glimpse into the soul of football’s private superstar. Buddy was born into football royalty – Ursula, a Whadjuk-Noongar woman, is a Kickett.An exceptionally talented footballing family, the Kicketts exhilarated crowds across the country. According to Franklin’s uncle, Larry Kickett, Noongar footballers’ success is built on 50,000 years of life, culture and work: “It’s not too hard for us to pick up a football and kick the thing.” Noongar players make up one-third of...
There’s no need to bemoan a sport gone soft, just reflect on what it means to an Indigenous footballerRichmond supporters will be waiting for Tom Stewart on Friday night. It’s been coming for nine months. He’ll be booed as vociferously as a footballer can be these days. He’s fair game, apparently. He’s a magnificent footballer and a big boy. He rearranged Dion Prestia’s face, and now it’s payback time. “Good, clean fandom,” broadcaster Gerard Whateley called it this week.But what happened at the MCG last Sunday was more complicated than good, clean fandom. It was a particularly spiteful beginning to the Magpies v Swans game and the Collingwood crowd was riled up. At first, the booing of Lance Franklin seemed...
The debutant offers hope of progress for Indigenous Australians with a moving reaction from the standsThere were four moments across the first two days of the third Ashes match when the Melbourne Cricket Ground rose, in movement and in voice, to the hometown bowler Scott Boland on his Test debut. The second time was when he took his first wicket, as Mark Wood’s dismissal was upheld by the video umpire. The third time was when Boland, batting at No 11, scored his first runs with an edge through the slip cordon.Those either side were more important. The first, before the match began, when Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin spoke during the welcome to country, noting the rarity of an Indigenous Australian...