Giants players on BLM

[Mr Plow]

 

[Gerrumonside ref]

1 minute ago, Mr Plow said:

 

Powerful stuff that everyone should watch.

[Whippet13]

An excellent piece, well done to the three of them and also to Sky Sports for producing it.

[bobbruce]

Very moving as was Martin Offiahs studio comments. I think we all know there is an under current of racism not just in the game but in society. When you hear it spelled out like that you realise we still have a long way to go. 

[Dunbar]

I think these videos are very powerful and here is one from the NRL with Steve Renouf discussing his experiences. 

https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/07/31/laid-bare-renouf-racism-and-rugby-league/

But there is something missing in all this. Where are all their teammates calling out and denouncing the attitudes and behaviours they have seen.

I am a 50 year old straight, white man but I am on the Diversity & Inclusion committee at my place of work because I feel strongly about bringing about positive change.

Come on Rugby League players. Speak up.

[Mr Plow]

11 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Powerful stuff that everyone should watch.

Especially the people criticising players taking the knee and the whole BLM movement. The Ed Barbers of the world

[meast]

I was at the academy game that Bruno was referring to, it wasn't nice to see the London player was furious for ages and had to be brought off.

It was a good piece and well spoken, as I've said before I like to think Huddersfield are a good club in this respect, we have always had a good relationship with our Caribbean communities especially, and we have numerous supporters as well as players over the years from the Black communities.

Disappointed about what Ash Golding says though that the RFL didn't seem to do a lot about certain incidents.

[EastLondonMike]

1 hour ago, Dunbar said:

I think these videos are very powerful and here is one from the NRL with Steve Renouf discussing his experiences. 

https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/07/31/laid-bare-renouf-racism-and-rugby-league/

But there is something missing in all this. Where are all their teammates calling put and denouncing the attitudes and behaviours they have seen.

I am a 50 year old straight, white man but I am on the Diversity & Inclusion committee at my place of work because I feel strongly about bringing about positive change.

Come on Rugby League players. Speak up.

The Renouf piece was emotional. Interesting he mentioned a North Sydney player who called him something particularly nasty in a game, a player who im sure could easily be identified and should be ashamed of such comments.

Plenty of people grow up ignorant in all societies, education of these people is the key, and something i hope the game focuses on. Especially in light of the recent comments of the Halifax player. Knowledge is everything.

[Niels]

1 hour ago, Dunbar said:

I think these videos are very powerful and here is one from the NRL with Steve Renouf discussing his experiences. 

https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/07/31/laid-bare-renouf-racism-and-rugby-league/

But there is something missing in all this. Where are all their teammates calling put and denouncing the attitudes and behaviours they have seen.

I am a 50 year old straight, white man but I am on the Diversity & Inclusion committee at my place of work because I feel strongly about bringing about positive change.

Come on Rugby League players. Speak up.

It's good that you are doing something yourself. I too am a member of diversity groups.

Anyone can bend a knee or criticise others. It's spending time and effort that makes the difference. 

[John Drake]

1 hour ago, Mr Plow said:

 

I'll leave this thread open in the RL forum for as long as it relates to the opening post and the comments of the players.

If you want to discuss the more political aspects of this subject, do so in the political sub forum, not in here.

[ckn]

FFS... one person given a week's suspension and posts removed. Please see John Drake's point.

[Spidey]

3 hours ago, Mr Plow said:

 

Anybody actually watched this yet? 

[Phil]

47 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Anybody actually watched this yet? 

Yes 

[Wellsy4HullFC]

Fair play to the RFL for responding. It's a hard problem to solve when it comes to lack of evidence. It would be interesting to know what others' solutions might be to what Goulding had experienced.

Should the referee have done more? What specifically did the referee do? I've been bitten in a game before, with teeth marks in my back, and still had a ref say there was not enough proof, so God knows how you solve an incident where language is used.

[Phil]

I once sent a player off for racially abusing an opponent and another time ordered the whole home touch line cleared for constant racist abuse of a team with a number of black players. I made it perfectly clear I’d abandon the game and inform the league exactly why it had been abandoned 

[welshmagpie]

Does anybody know if this video is available on Facebook?

[daz39]

Powerful stuff, having met Bruno on many occasions and having had lots of conversations with him over the years you can see that talking about those things is hurting him there.

And he's right, i was with a mate in town once when we bumped into Bruno, he didn't know who he was but naturally i stopped and had a chat with him, my mate made a comment about him which i won't repeat or go into detail over but as soon as i said he's a rugby player for the Giants and a top bloke too my mate suddenly changed his tune and agreed he was a nice lad.

I've also got to agree with Ash about nothing been done, i've actually still got email conversations from me and the RFL regarding racial and homophobic experiences i witnessed from years ago that were being 'investigated' and that i've never heard a word back about, funnily enough both relating to the fans of one of the clubs Mike mentions.

We do need to stamp this out and having guys like this talking about their experiences can onlyl be a good thing and bring it to the fore and the RFL need to listen when they are told things are going on.

 

[Mr Plow]

12 minutes ago, daz39 said:

Powerful stuff, having met Bruno on many occasions and having had lots of conversations with him over the years you can see that talking about those things is hurting him there.

And he's right, i was with a mate in town once when we bumped into Bruno, he didn't know who he was but naturally i stopped and had a chat with him, my mate made a comment about him which i won't repeat or go into detail over but as soon as i said he's a rugby player for the Giants and a top bloke too my mate suddenly changed his tune and agreed he was a nice lad.

I've also got to agree with Ash about nothing been done, i've actually still got email conversations from me and the RFL regarding racial and homophobic experiences i witnessed from years ago that were being 'investigated' and that i've never heard a word back about, funnily enough both relating to the fans of one of the clubs Mike mentions.

We do need to stamp this out and having guys like this talking about their experiences can onlyl be a good thing and bring it to the fore and the RFL need to listen when they are told things are going on.

 

Also think clubs and the RFL/SL need a social media policy. If a footballer posted what Barber posted then it would be scrutinised by the football press. Idk if it was mentioned on Sky yesterday but I hope the rl media don’t just brush it aside

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

10 hours ago, Phil said:

I once sent a player off for racially abusing an opponent and another time ordered the whole home touch line cleared for constant racist abuse of a team with a number of black players. I made it perfectly clear I’d abandon the game and inform the league exactly why it had been abandoned 

Well done for taking the action you did, but I’d say a game should be abandoned if it’s several perpetrators racially abusing people, which must have been the case for a whole touch line to be ordered away.

[daz39]

2 hours ago, Mr Plow said:

Also think clubs and the RFL/SL need a social media policy. If a footballer posted what Barber posted then it would be scrutinised by the football press. Idk if it was mentioned on Sky yesterday but I hope the rl media don’t just brush it aside

Out of interest what are you referring to ?

[Barry Badrinath]

8 minutes ago, daz39 said:

Out of interest what are you referring to ?

 

This

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

The game rightly showed its support for the black lives matter movement yesterday.

The action taken against Ed Barber will quickly put to the test whether we truly support change or are just paying lip service. 

[Mr Plow]

7 hours ago, Celt said:

Sports Prophet started a thread on getting ethnic minorities involved in the game about 6 months ago. 

CKN shut it down a few days later and said he had removed about 30 posts. That is just involving people on this forum!

I think Rugby League has to seriously look at its current fanbase. Obviously the sport doesn't want to chase away many of the relatively few fans it already has, but this obsession with attracting the "Weatherspoons Crowd" (as a London-based mate of mine called them when I took him along to an international game,) means that you will always be risking attracting people who think racism is OK, or more likely: those who brush it off as being "a tiny minority" of bad apples etc.

I have been slaughtered on here for criticising one particular part-time club, but I have a friend who simply refused to take his wife to his team's home game against said club... Due to the racist abuse he saw hurled by numerous fans of that club at the away game. We are not talking about a tiny minority here. Add in all those who stand about and do nothing, and you are talking big numbers.

People on here often talk about Rugby League being ''a sport for all." It should be, but it currently really isn't.

Problem is most clubs are based poor areas but that’s just because the game has such strong working class roots. 
 

What really annoys me, and it’s said in all sports, whenever there’s any kind of racist incident people come out and say “They're not fans”. And that’s the problem, they ARE fans, they pay for a season ticket then think it’s acceptable to shout racist abuse.

Barber and players supporting him on Twitter doesn’t help neither does the club not condoning it. 

[Niels]

8 hours ago, Celt said:

Sports Prophet started a thread on getting ethnic minorities involved in the game about 6 months ago. 

CKN shut it down a few days later and said he had removed about 30 posts. That is just involving people on this forum!

I think Rugby League has to seriously look at its current fanbase. Obviously the sport doesn't want to chase away many of the relatively few fans it already has, but this obsession with attracting the "Weatherspoons Crowd" (as a London-based mate of mine called them when I took him along to an international game,) means that you will always be risking attracting people who think racism is OK, or more likely: those who brush it off as being "a tiny minority" of bad apples etc.

I have been slaughtered on here for criticising one particular part-time club, but I have a friend who simply refused to take his wife to his team's home game against said club... Due to the racist abuse he saw hurled by numerous fans of that club at the away game. We are not talking about a tiny minority here. Add in all those who stand about and do nothing, and you are talking big numbers.

People on here often talk about Rugby League being ''a sport for all." It should be, but it currently really isn't.

I don't agree that having attracting a "higher" class of supporter will attract less racism.

If that were the case then Rugby Union would have far less racism than league.

 

 

 

[OriginalMrC]

It's pretty sad to see a lot the comments on social media relating to the experiences these guys had the courage to speak out about. Tells you all you need to know. As a sport RL needs to be inclusive, and needs to attract players and fans from across all of society.

I always felt RL was different than other sports, that everyone was welcomed with open arms. There was always many more black players than the other code, Clive Sullivan being the first black captain of a national team etc. It feels in some ways the sport has gone backwards, and is at a bit of a crossroads. I hope the RFL will do more and make this a great sport for all.