There’s a legitimate fear that Collingwood’s ugly booing of superstar Lance Franklin could emulate the disgraceful treatment Swan Adam Goodes was forced to endure at the end of his career.
Franklin was widely booed by Magpies fans every time he went near the footy at the MCG on Sunday in behaviour that has been condemned by commentators, both clubs and the AFL.
Fox Footy’s Mark Robinson even urged the AFL to step in and fine clubs whose “knucklehead” fans engage in “sinister” booing, to prevent any repeat of the racist behaviour Goodes was subjected to.
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“I’m embarrassed that we have to go to those steps again,” he said on AFL 360.
“I feel sorry for (Collingwood CEO) Jeff Browne and everyone at Collingwood who has been putting a lot of work in … after the Do Better report.
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“People can sit at home right now and have every right to ask – where was everyone’s response when Jason Horne-Francis was booed?
“We’ve had a big reaction today from the AFL, the teams involved and the fear is that this could turn into an Adam Goodes situation. That is the fear and everyone’s dancing around it.
“I’ll tell you who’s got absolute courage is the Sydney Swans.
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“In their statement today – other than the sorry from Collingwood, that is the most profound statement of all the statements today. ‘We have been here before’ and everyone is sitting here going, ‘let’s not go there again’.
“This guy has given so much joy to football. For him to have to be putting up with that, it’s crowd bullying, it’s mob mentality and something I don’t understand.”
In a statement issued on Monday, the Swans condemned the booing from Collingwood fans, warning history could repeat.
“Fans are the lifeblood of our game and have the right to cheer loudly at the football,” the club said.
“But booing isn’t a right – it’s offensive – and players should not be subjected to it in their workplace.
“We have been here before and sadly it seems some people have not learned from the past.”
AFL 360 co-host Gerard Whateley said he couldn’t ever recall seeing Franklin “hounded” by fans like he was at the MCG.
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“The fear is Lance Franklin’s last 16 games would be played in this environment because of what happened when Collingwood fans booed Jason Horne-Francis (earlier this year) and the other sheep thought – ‘oh that’s what we’re doing’,” he lamented.
“I don’t understand it – they don’t have a dog in that fight.”
Whateley said he could only see three reasons why Collingwood fans would want to target someone like Buddy Franklin.
“It’s a) your hero is our villain, b) he’s a long-time tormentor of Collingwood, always played well against them, c) Collingwood seem as a supporter group to boo the most notable player in an opposition team – this is where Jason Horne-Francis is relevant from Round 2 that was the out of nowhere that the Collingwood crowd took it upon themselves. Fans who see themselves as the 19th man and see themselves as servants of the club.
“The AFL (statement) was do we really want the game to be marred like this?
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“That the image to the world is that we hound the key figure within the game around the field … that’s a pretty crook image.
“Why others took this up I’ll never understand.”
Robinson urged the AFL to take a stand if the booing crossed the line into being racist.
“Do something about it. Can we stop the booing? No. But if there’s hints of sinister booing, the AFL have got to come down harder than they did with the Adam Goodes situation,” he said.
