Xavier Duursma should keep celebrating, don’t bow to haters
Xavier Duursma has been on the end of some brutal feedback after his bow and arrow celebration at the MCG on Saturday, Warren Tredrea wants the rookie to keep being himself.
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Xavier Duursma’s bow and arrow celebration is great for footy and we should all be encouraging other players to follow his lead.
But not everyone agrees, with some suggesting his actions were both selfish and arrogant.
Unfortunately, too many people are quick to pass judgement and brand a player negatively when they’ve never met the player in question.
In this case, Duurmsa is anything but a selfish and individual player he’s being branded as, rather a disciplined, hardworking, respectful person who is already being earmarked as a captain of the future.
But such is life, you can’t make everyone happy – and sadly nowadays someone will always take offence, no matter what you do.
Duursma’s bow and arrow celebration, isn’t unique to professional sport, rather taken from NBA players Jamal Murray and Reggie Jackson.
It’s also not offensive, he shot his imaginary arrow towards to the Port cheer squad end of the MCG after he kicked truly and no one was hurt.
But as sarcastically as that sounds, somehow people found it inappropriate and misguided that a first-year player aged 19 and in 16th game of football dared to show some raw emotion on the field - after taking a wonderful contested mark and kicking a very important goal to keep Port Adelaide within three goals of the dominant Tigers.
All Duursma was trying to do was fire up his team and celebrating his goal like his teammates want him to do, with his trademark bow and arrow celebration.
For those who have only seen Xavier play on limited occasions, I can tell you this celebration comes out every time he kicks a goal.
And for those who suggest he needs to pick his time and place better, I can tell you he already does, albeit with a heavily toned-down version when games are all but over.
With many matches being decided by huge swings of scoring momentum, I can understand why he tried to fire up his teammates and make the most out of Port Adelaide’s two-goal to one start to the third term - it gave them hope.
And sometimes a bit of exuberant celebrating can be the perfect tonic to kick a team into gear after a big moment.
However, it wasn’t to be the case as the Tigers eventually ran away 38-point winners.
Raw emotion in life let alone professional sport can intimidate many people, some show it easily and wear their hearts on their sleeve, while others refuse to let their guard down.
In a world where social media can easily hijack a discussion I find it funny that many people who are quick to criticsie are also those who’re asking for players to show some personality.
As a player I was a celebrator – I loved nothing better than letting off steam after a goal and getting around my teammates to fire us up.
And like Xavier, I was the focus of ridicule for showing emotion.
In the game against the Kangaroos I copped it for a gesture that few others understood.
I had a mate living in London, and after midweek phonecall he said I’ll be watching, if you kick a few give me something (celebration)”.
After kicking my sixth goal I celebrated with the ‘Thierry Henry phone call’ celebration after my favorite Arsenal soccer player - he loved it, needless to say many others didn’t.
People whom I had never met called me arrogant, selfish and a show off – my teammates didn’t care, nor did the coach and the Port fans loved it.
Power coach Ken Hinkley was forced to weigh-in in his post-match press conference outlining Duursma’s a “fantastic, humble boy, And he’s doing some stuff that he thinks help’s and excites his teammates and they like it”.
And for those who have somehow found it offensive, it may be worth considering if the actions themselves have more to do with them as a person and less about the so-called offender.
But why is it Eddie Betts’ celebrations can be universally loved and other players can celebrate with a double cobra or kiss their guernsey with passion yet a kid playing in his first season of senior football has to weather a politically correctness storm for doing the same thing.
Instead of being the fun police, how about we embrace players who celebrate their goals - After all, we’re in the entertainment industry.