The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 41

MONDAY 8 MAY 1995 THE ABE 39 mm Age "1 1 r. Aboriginal players still copping taunts, says Bears' McLean iRadsm row fares AFL wrong if it thinks issue will fade away "I'm not sure that the code of conduct and the education system go far enough," Shaw said. "I would like to see that go a lot further. At least it's a start, but the way the two players handled it left a lot to be desired. "What happened the other day wasn't as I anticipated would happen and I'm a little upset by that." But it is unlikely Essendon and Long will pursue legal action against Monkhorst, as was suggested at the weekend.

McLean said Aboriginal players had given the AFL "a lot of thrills" over the years and "it would be nice for them to show "We were all disappointed (with the AFL's action this week)," he said. "On behalf of all the Aboriginal players playing, we all back Mick Long and fully support him all the way because we've all been through When asked if there needed to be penalties for players using racial taunts, McLean said: "Of course there does. They're elite athletes like we are. We're out there playing the game and we don't go out there and use remarks and jibes and racist comments." Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy agreed that the AFL's abused by Collingwood ruck- man Damian Monkhorst1 sparked an AFL inquiry. The league did not penalise Monk- horst, opting instead to use mediation and education to deal with the issue.

Essendon president David Shaw last night met Long over dinner to discuss what he described as the AFL's "unsatisfactory" code of conduct and anti-racism measures. Shaw said he would be outlining to the AFL that the code of conduct was "toothless" and Friday's mediation process between Long and Monkhorst was not a satisfactory way to deal with the issue. "It's heavy going every week when we go -out to play," McLean said. "Not only from a players' point of view, but we're copping it from the spectators as well. That's the disappointing part.

-h "You've got Mick Long and Che playing for Essendon and we're copping it today in the warm-up. It's a disgrace. That's the disappointing part of it. "Then you get league players, elite footballers doing the same thing. They are small-minded, those handful or so that do it." McLean gave his strong support to Essendon's Michael Long, whose allegation last week that he was racially By ANTHONY IMTHEN and 8TEPHEN RIELLY Brisbane midfielder and dual best-and-fairest winner Michael McLean said yesterday a "handful" of AFL players repeatedly used racial taunts against Aboriginal players.

McLean, who is noted for. being publicity shy, said he wanted to make a stand because Aboriginal players would continue to be victimised unless the AFL acted strongly on the issue. He revealed he was racially taunted by Essendon fans yesterday, while warming up for Brisbane's match at Optus Oval. would have thought it was an ordinary decision," he said. "It's a Clayton's decision, isn't it? But that's life.

We'll go pn our own way, I'll go and get another two or three Aboriginal champions." McLean said: "A lot of kids and people across Australia have tuned in to this incident and if they did something about it, it's going to be a bonus. Kids are going to grow up thinking, 'that's the wrong thing tb do', and they will get positives but of it. 1 "If nothing's done about it we will go on copping it week in, week out and year in, year'out and that's the sad side of it;" Picture: RAY KENNEDY The Game MARTIN FLANAGAN abide Insults that touch those around them, their forebears and the generations to come. In this country, If you're white, stance -was "I us a bit of support in you can keep your Dreaking point relatively well hidden. If you're Aboriginal, you wear It on vour skin.

Australian football Is our national game. That is, it mi n.llnn iul nnf Roos thump Hawks, but only on the Issue of race. When Hawthorn president Geoff Lord vesterdav Identified the character of AFL commissioner Graeme Samuel's merger proposals as economic ratto- It keep it qipetv mil sin, iu rw am iui, v. Unfortunately, the honor of being a national game carries with It commensurate responsibilities. There is an old adage In law that 'Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be and last Friday Justice was not seen to be done.

It is ma ai ni.Mtlnn nf nonaltv ft la Jimmy Chi, the man who produced the melodies for the optimistic Aboriginal musical Bran Nue Dae, once wrote a far bleaker song called Acceptable Coon. Its point Is that Australians will only ever be comfortable with Aboriginal people who are "prototype "When you reach somewhere, no matter how soon You're nothing more than an acceptable I believe the Michael Long case, and the events now flowing from it, represent the determination of Aboriginal people to challenge that attitude. It hardly needs to be said that a great deal of the media comment on the case has been extraordinarily thick-witted, for example, equating Insults about being black with Insults about being fat People also say these events are part of history, which somehow Implies they belong In the museum with the corpse of Tutankhamen. Not 'SO. A couple of yean ago, the Nyungah people of Western Australia made a film about footbaU called Black Magic It contained an interview with an old man named Klckett about the day his six children were taken from him.

Both his arms were broken in the fight with the police, and afterwards he built a cover over his children footprints in the sand because that was all that that been left to him. In an interview, Derek Klckett told me the old man was his uncle. The sensitivity we are talking about Is not peculiar to Aboriginal people. A young i man of Bosnian descent Is now i playing AFL football. I Imagine it would not be too difficult to put him off his game by sum- moning a) few images of the death camps in his the corpMK, the atrocities.

The point is that at such a moment the game ceases to be a game and becomes part of a larger, Car more serious reality. VVbrds can be far more violent than the sort of shirt-tugging 'melees the AFL is now seek- lng to punish so severely. I admire genuine pacifists, but they are a rare breed. Most of us have a breaking point The better-humored among us ignore insults aimed at us as individuals, but few people can 4 Monday Focus North Melbourne is a sham. The Kangaroos are no threat to win the premiership.

The night flag was a fluke. In fact, they just can't play. Well, not really. But that's what Denis Pagan would like to see written about his team. Pagan has been fending bouncers off his nose for.

a month, waiting for the moment to get back on the front foot, and yesterday, after the Roos dismissed Hawthorn at the MCG to break their streak of three defeats, he seized the opportunity. Pagan might have been happy with the Instead he was angry when he question of whether the evidence warranted a conviction being recorded. In the euphoria that followed the 1993 grand final, one of the great day In the history of Australian football, Michael Long said he thought education was the remedy to racism. He now believes rac-Ism will be with us forever. Sadly, I think hes right Without knowing It as a fart, MARTIN BLAKE "We never lost confidence in our players' talent," Pagan said.

"We always had that belief. A lot of other people didn't have it, but everyone at North Melbourne did and we were really proud of their efforts today." He was asked if he had v3t 1 umiuv that wrhfjt Initittltv unset the Ahnrloinal nlavera so much is that the umpire witnessed the Monkhorst-Long exchange (watch the reaction our fault? "(The medio iasl Ro? drPPed few 1 mu-. PmIm Chnll onH Drthavt. for instance, both showed the benefits of a spell in the reserves. They responded to the Doubtless, the AFL now wishes ardently that the whole issue of racism would go away, but I think It would be a major error to think that it wilL The Aboriginal players clearly see the issue as reflecting on the struggle of then-people for equality and respect.

I Hi talking about premierships two and three rounds into the season," Pagan said. "It's five months away and if you can see what's going to happen five months away you're an absolute genius." But we hear that players don't read the press? "I know one bloke that doesn't read it any more," he said. So there you have it. Just for the record, North won by eight goals yesterday, but only against a Hawthorn side decimated by. injuries.

Wayne Carey, who is thoroughly overrated, ripped down 13 marks. at centre half-forward, and kicked four goals despite rumors before the game that he would withdraw. Pagan said he had received "1000 phone calls" last week about Carey. "There's nothing wrong with Wayne he Mark Roberts, a crock, kicked five from the forward pocket by some miracle of modern science. John Blakey, a scrubber of a half-back, was thrown Into the hurly-burly of the centre to negate Darren Jarman and eclipsed him, even kicking two inspirational goals.

challenge. "It's about Roberts said. "The worst thing you can do is spit the dummy and end up spending four or five weeks there." Pagan's deputy, Eade, said the omission of players of Sholl's ability sent a mes-. sage to the players. "No one's a walk-up start," he said Roberts said his form reversal -was partly attributable to a visit to a psychologist, Neil Barass of RMIT, who apparently has spoken to a number of North play- ers this year.

vvv; Roberts was sceptical to begin with, but now acknowledged the importance of. the talk. "We cleared the air on a few he get out of it what you want to get out of it. As it turned out, it was. a With Roberts and Carey firing and John Longmire making a contribution as well, North had a potent forward set-up yester-' day.

The Kangaroos looked like a decent side. But if you want to say it, make sure it's a whisper. l- mi r3 fit ocvkh It A i RH ir-f w. Ut -njt' r.iir-i St fc )( fMl -4- i In 2' Com vrwmawa North Melbournei Mark Roberts threads his way between Hawthorns Stephen Lawrence (left) and Andrew Collins at the MCG. Picture BRYAN CHARLTON Marthas strike Knights' grand final triumph sets up lavs come alone, when vou By LAURIE SCHWAB, i MELBOURNE KNIGHTS ADELAIDE CITY next year.

Viduka and Ollie Pondel-jak are set to join' European clubs; Kreslmir Marusic will return to Croatia, and even coach Mirko Bazic is unsure about his future. Although Marth scored the goal that ultimately determined the result, it was sweeper Steve Horvat who received the Marston Medal as player of the match. Other outstanding performances came from striker Spiteri, who had eight of the Knights' 12 scoring attempts; right-back VTnko Buljaba-sic; midfielder Silic; goalkeeper Frank Juric and defender David Cer-vinski, who tamed Mori the way Marth eliminated Adelaide City's other striker, Brad Hassell. Continued: PAGE 44 yesterday, the Knights will shoot for the National Youth League championship in the interstate playoff against Sydney United next Sunday. That trophy would take its place alongside the NSL championship, the minor premiership, the Nation- al Cup and the league's best player and top-scorer honors won by Mark Viduka.

v. v. The final mission is to beat the Japanese champion in a two-match, $100,000 challenge in Japan on 7 and 10 June. i Adelaide City coach Zoran Matic, who retired yesterday after winning three championships over a decade, said his team had deserved to lose. "We were taken out of the game all over the field," he said.

"These Joe Spiteri scored a second goal to make sure but, with Marth in his meanest mood, the result was never in doubt. He agreed he would never score a more Important goal. "Mori did it last year so it was time to pay him back," Marth said. "This is the best feeling of my life. We've lost three grand finals and we were a bit stiff in some of them and then we've come here and proved finally that we're the best team' in Australia." The Knights need to' complete two more missions to achieve the first clean sweep of the major soccer honors In national league history.

Having beaten Para Hills 4-1 in thej southern division grand final descend into hell. "I would have liked it better had we lost and played well. I apologise those who came to watch us." City defender Alex Tobin remarked: "You have to go back a long way to find a game in which we didn't create any clear chances. We didn't go wide, we didn't get our crosses in and so we didn't get any chances except by accident." 1 Marth expressed gratitude, on behalf of his team, for the vocal support of a ISOO-strong contingent of Knights supporters among the crowd of 16,000. viduka said the Knights had been desperate to win because some of them would not be with the club Melbourne Knights midfielder Mark Silic put Spiderman to shame by scooting up a high wire fence to celebrate the moment of glory that had been four years in the making.

There he hung, In the wire mesh 1 that separated the crowd from the pitch, whooping it up with the i Knights'fans below. Their team had beaten Adelaide City 2-0 at City's home ground, Hindmarsh Stadium, to win their National Soccer League' after losing three previous grand finals over the past tour years. Silic and captain Andrew Marth are the only players to remain from the first of those failures, against South Melbourne in 1991, soyester-; day's triumph was a source of relief as well as jubilation. Marth won the match the way Damian Mori won last season's grand final for: Adelaide City but Marth's contribution was even more emphatic. v.

Mori buried the Knights with a 30-metre goal on the run. Marth brought down Adelaide City with a shot of equal venom from 25 metres and then returned to his defensive position to continue the destruction of Citys spluttering Knights hero Andrew Marth and coach Mirko Bazlc with the NSL trophy. Melbourne to Bangkok in one kick. ThCAUSmUJANMmjftt.