Footy great Mal Brown describes indigenous players as cannibals triggering a race storm: Aboriginal footy champions have reacted in fury at the comments. The controversial former Richmond player, also known as "Mal the Mouth" made the offensive remark to a lunch to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the E.J. Whitten Legends Game. "We have a distinct disadvantage明显的劣势 the West Australians because the Victorians picked both sides(两边都认得出, 因为那场比赛灯光太暗因此开玩笑认不出皮肤黑的土著人来)," Brown, who played and coached for most of his career in Western Australia, told the luncheon. "They cheated, they picked the best players. And because there were no lights, I couldn't pick any of the cannibals食人族, 野蛮人. I couldn't pick Nicky Winmar or Michael Mitchell or Chrissy Lewis. All the good black fellows, we couldn't pick them because they couldn't see them in the light." During the lunch, Brown referred to an occasion when a match had been played on a poorly lit ground. Brown, father of Hawthorn star Campbell, who plays alongside several indigenous players including Lance Franklin, Cyril Rioli, Chance Bateman and Shaun Burgoyne, drew some laughter. In the wake of outrage by Aboriginal players and supporters, Brown today apologised for his comments. Brown admitted his attempts at humour had fallen well short of the mark. "What I said wasn't funny and I apologise if I offended anyone冒犯了任何人. I realise my comments were inappropriate,'' said Brown this morning. "There was no bias or malice恶意 or hate or prejudice in my use of the word cannibal. But I do regret saying it. "I have had an affinity(喜爱, 共鸣, 亲密关系, 亲和力) with the Aboriginal people and believe I have been good to them, just as they have been good to me. I apologise for the use of the word cannibal but it was being used as a term of endearment亲昵用语 … there was no venom(愤恨的感情或语言 a look of pure venom一副恶狠狠的表情 She said it quickly and with venom她说话时语速飞快, 而且带着怨恨 She surveyed him coldly with eyes that spat venom(眼冒凶光) 她冷眼打量着他, 眼睛冒出怨毒的凶光), it was all done in humour. It was done in good spirit." And speaking to 3AW radio today he admitted: "In 2010 you make a dickhead白痴, 荒唐的人 of yourself using that terminology." They're certainly not a reflection of what the general public thinks, and certainly not a reflection of what we think in football. "There's no place for racial vilification(污蔑中伤, vilify). And we're very strong on that," Mr Demetriou said. But indigenous players and supporters have lined up to condemn the statement being made in the first place从一开始, 第一时间. "Racism is not accepted in any form任何形式. There are comments he has used that are words that would hurt those players. The type of people who were there, businessmen and well respected people from the community, celebrities - were they offended by it? If it is accepted and people don't make a comment about it, then what do you make of对...有何看法 the people in that room?'' And two-time Premiership player for Carlton and a prominent Syd Jackson, who says he counts Brown as a friend把他当作朋友(call的一个用法 refer to, consider, or describe (someone or something) as being 把…称作; 认为…是; 把…算作; 把…描述成 He's the only person I would call a friend他是惟一我称之为朋友的人 ), was "livid" about the comments. "That's just disgraceful, from a man who's supposed to be a mate of mine," Jackson told Radio 3AW. He said young Aboriginal players across Australia would be reeling from the comments. "They won't be taking this lightly," he said. Jackson himself suffered many racial taunts嘲笑, 奚落 on the field, and was cleared of a striking charge in 1970 against Magpie Lee Adamson on the grounds of racial abuse. Ted Whitten Jr told 3AW this morning that the Brown’s comments fell flat with the crowd(fall flat 1. if an entertainment or a joke falls flat, people do not enjoy it and do not think it is funny Several attempts at humour during his speech fell flat. 2. if an attempt to influence people's behaviour or opinions falls flat, it fails The advertising campaign which had worked so well in the US fell flat in China. The statement that pregnancy is not an illness falls flat with many morning sickness sufferers.). "We were there to celebrate the game and the 15 years of it and unfortunately Mal has come out with some uneducated缺教养的, 未受过教育的 comments and inappropriate comments," he said. "I think everyone was a little bit embarrassed by the comments." Footscray legend Doug Hawkins came out in defence of出来维护 Brown, describing what he said as a "throwaway(1. 一次性的 a throwaway camera一次性相机 we live in a throwaway society我们生活在一个充斥着一次性物品的社会 2. (of a remark) expressed in a casual or understated way(话语)轻轻带过的, 玩笑说出的, 脱口而出的 Some people overreacted to a few throwaway lines有些人对一些脱口而出的话太过在意) comment". "You had to be in the room,” Hawkins told Radio 3AW. "It's one of those situations where if you're in the room and you knew Mal … he didn't mean it." Hawkins claimed that half the room laughed and that non-PC comments are often used at sporting nights and do not get reported. He described Brown as an intelligent person who was not a racist and said the comments were taken out of context断章取义. AFL corporate affairs manager Brian Walsh earlier said the comments were not made at an official AFL event and had no place within the football community. "It's not funny, it is not appropriate, and in no way does it reflect the views of the AFL or the wider AFL community,'' he said. But new Greater Western Sydney coach Kevin Sheedy blasted Brown declaring such slurs污蔑诋毁的话 were not what Australia needed today. "Malcolm just goes overboard做得过分 sometimes and it's a problem," Sheedy said. Brown, also known as "Mal the Mouth", earlier said his comments were a joke with no intended malice. "It was a private function and everything I said was in jest开玩笑的." AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou says he is disgusted by a reference to Indigenous footballers as cannibals." "And some of the Aboriginal boys will say, 'that silly dickhead, he's done it again', and others will say, 'well that's him'." "He is in the minority占少数人 and I'd say in a very, very small minority, because we've spent years and years educating players, administrators, club officials," he said. "And I think the football population in general - our fans - would share my disgust." "If you can find people out there, anyone in the community who would stand up and say, 'those comments are worthwhile and I support them', I would be absolutely horrified." Demetriou also says Brown's comments do not reflect the current culture of the sport. "Those sort of old player lunches are exactly what they are: a reflection of a bygone era," he said. Someone defended "He was the first person to really break down the barrier of打破藩篱 having large numbers of Aboriginal players in a major league team."
Players must combat racism: NRL boss David Gallop says it is up to the game's senior players to stand up and be counted(采取坚定立场,公开表示态度, 挺身而出 to let people know your opinions, although it might cause trouble for you Those who did have the courage to stand up and be counted were arrested and imprisoned. I'm generally in favor of what you propose, but not enough to stand up and be counted.) when it comes to issues like racism. As both Queensland and NSW are set to take the field tonight for Origin II, Gallop says he'd like to see leading players heading problems off at the pass(head someone off at the pass Fig. to intercept someone. (From Old West movies. Fixed order.) I need to talk to John before he gets into the boss's office. I'll head him off at the pass. The sheriff set out in a hurry to head Jed off at the pass. ) before they explode爆发, 迅速扩大 into situations like Timana Tahu's walkout罢工, 退出 from the NSW camp. "In any one of these areas, whether it's the other social problems that the game deals with, you always want to have a strong group of leading players who are prepared to stand up挺身而出 when they notice something and enforce the policies themselves,'' Gallop told SEN today. "That would be an ideal position to reach那是理想状态." "You've got to encourage guys, whether it's drugs or binge饮酒作乐 drinking or gambling, you've got to involve those actually within the playing ranks in enforcing the right behaviour实施正确的行为." Gallop himself and the ARL have been under criticism from some quarters for not getting on to the front foot to deal with the racism issue as soon as the Tahu issue exploded. It took nearly 48 hours for the senior NRL officials to address the matter head-on正面地. Blues captain Kurt Gidley admitted on Tuesday he was present他在现场 when then assistant coach Andrew Johns made the racial slur against Queensland star Greg Inglis which sparked Tahu's anger. Gidley claimed he "didn't hear exactly what went on" and declined to go into detail. NRL Indigenous Council Board member Sol Bellar - who spoke to Tahu's family - claimed that abusive expressions骂人话 including "coon", "nigger", "Abo" and "monkey" were used during a "bonding" session for NSW Squad members. Gallop said he had consulted the Rugby League Players Association about how senior players could be encouraged to step in. "They've raised some ideas, again around awareness of this issue," he said. "We do run courses for cultural awareness across all our players and have done for a number of years." Asked if those indigenous and education programs had failed, Gallop said: "I can't say anything other than it's disappointing, but I guess if you were to say that any time you catch a drug cheat your entire anti-doping program's not working you'd be in trouble. This is a prominent player and you would have liked to think that he would know better(更明白事理, 没有糊涂至此, 没有愚蠢到). "He's been very apologetic about what's happened. As in any situation, you've got to give them some credit for making the apology but at the same time he should have known better and it's very disappointing that both he and the game have found themselves in this position." Gallop coninured to deny that racism was endemic in rugby league. "I'm not sure I agree it's endemic, I certainly wouldn't suggest that we're immune from the problem,'' he said. Gallop reiterated his call for professional mediation between Tahu and Johns as the way forward and the Parramatta centre is expected to meet with the NRL in coming days. "We've had a chat to some of the authorities from human rights (groups) about that over the last 24 hours so immediately I'd like to see that happen,'' Gallop said. "And then everyone sits back坐下来 and says, 'What did we learn from this?' "Let's continue our education and let's also remind everyone that from time to time there'll be a need for penalties to be imposed if this sort of policy is breached. Gallop conceded the issue could have been handled better by NSW team officials, who initially claimed injury was behind Tahu's exit. "You would like to see some things done better,'' Gallop said.
