Héritier Lumumba and Sliding Doors

I’ve been a Pies fan since I could walk.

So has my son.

And my Dad. And my brothers. And lots of my cousins. And some uncles and aunties. And my grandfather was a Pies man too.

My earliest footy memory was standing 15 rows back from Peter Daicos, the Macedonian Marvel when he took a mark outside the 50 and the crowd stood and began to roar because they knew what was going to happen next. Dad lifted me onto my chair so I could see him let rip with a 65m torpedo. The noise of that crowd still gives me chills. In the mid 90s Collingwood sacked Daicos a year or two early because footy had corporatised and fairytales and magic didn’t fit into the salary cap. My 16yo heart broke.

Ten years later when Harry O’Brien was told he’d been drafted to Collingwood he was overcome and almost couldn’t speak. I remember reading that he then told Coach Mick Malthouse on the phone that he wouldn’t let him down. Harry mixed raw talent with hard work and he started out a bit all over the place. Gangly and young. He got better. He was respectful, he trained hard, he listened, he learnt and he improved and developed as a footballer. He always played with all his heart.

Before long Harry was an All Australian, bustling, running, half back premiership player for Collingwood who looked after his teammates and played his role with all his heart. I’ll never forget his grand final goal and his celebration with two fists in the air, his body bending backwards in elation and the entire southern stand celebrating with him. He had grown up as a footballer.

And then he grew up as a person. His travel opened his eyes, his African and Brazilian background was opened up to him and enabled him to look back at his own life and at Australia through new eyes. His charity work showed him injustice. Héritier Lumumba had arrived.

And he began to speak up.

He no longer tolerated being called “Chimp” by teammates. He spoke out about injustice at Collingwood and in the community. He saw his footballing celebrity as a chance to make a difference and to stand up for what is right.

That was a sliding doors moment for Collingwood.

Back then, Richmond was also having a sliding doors moment with another “different” individual, Dustin Martin. Dusty looked like he was going down a well travelled footy path to failure. But Richmond had decided to embrace individuals. Recognising that premierships are won when individuals are loved and valued for who they are. Richmond worked out what made Dusty tick, then they gave him unbelievable backing, support and personal development. They helped him to get his life on track and to be a great version of himself. He has paid Richmond back in spades.

Over at Collingwood Héritier was offering his team more than a great player.

Instead of embracing that, supporting him and learning with him, Collingwood decided to pull him back, to make him a lesser person and to ask him to stick to footy. They swept his criticisms under the carpet. Not only did they not listen to him, they sat down with the PR department and worked out how to discredit him. How to publicly humiliate a champion of their club. To tell the media that their All Australian premiership winning half back, their running, bustling champion was a problem. To imply he was lying about racism. That he was the problem, not fitting in with the team culture. The culture that has just been described by an independent report as systematically racist.

His wellbeing began to suffer. Then his footy began to suffer. Héritier had played for Collingwood with all of his heart. Now his heart was breaking.

Collingwood could just as easily have gone with him on the journey he offered. It would have made them greater. Who knows, they could have stood “side by side” with Herritier and won another flag or two.
Melbourne helped Jim Stynes become a social justice legend. The AFL is still celebrating Jimmy.

Richmond has helped Bachar Houli be an outstanding advocate for people of Muslim faith.

Collingwood and the AFL could have made such a difference in this country and they would have benefited from it.

How many fans have hated what has happened to Aboriginal players, for generations? Who saw Chris Lewis’ sublime talent be lessened by racism and hated it? Who saw the unrivalled talent of Nicky Winmar be lessened by racism and hated it? Who saw Michael Long abused and hated it?

How about the fans who turned off the Footy Show in the late 90s because they hated the bigotry?

How many of us watched in horror while one of our all time greatest Adam Goodes was booed from the game for taking a stand against racism?

How can fans like us love the game anymore when it doesn’t address racism, sexism and bigotry?

I will not be a member of Collingwood now. I will not be going to games. I will not watching games on TV or reading footy stories in the papers. Not until Collingwood and the AFL get their act sorted. I can’t.
Footy fans don’t need more spin. We need change.

We need Héritier and Goodsey and Chris Lewis inside footy clubs and in the AFL telling the truth. We need Collingwood and the AFL to own their racism and learn from it and change who they are. We need Collingwood and the AFL to show they understand. To work hard to end discrimination and abuse and intergenerational inequality against the Aboriginal people who bring such joy to our game despite all the odds. The AFL should be fighting hard to make sure every Aboriginal kid has the same chance at making AFL as any white kid. Why not really get into it and push the federal government to embrace the Uluru Statement and give Aboriginal people the voice and the recognition and the control they deserve?

Ask yourself this. Would John Howard have ignored Michael Long if the AFL CEO had walked to Canberra with him?

We’re now at another sliding doors moment. If Collingwood and the AFL can humble themselves, listen deeply, feel the shame, think deeply and then get to work to make sure it never ever happens again, then they will get better fans, better players, better matches, better team cultures and better sponsors. They’ll get better footy shows, better footy show hosts and better commentators. They’ll get something we can all be proud of.

And then people like me will come back.

Thanks Héritier. And I’m sorry.

I hope we can make this better for you and for the next talented kid who dreams of playing AFL and making the crowd stand and roar with pure joy.