Nicho Hynes and Latrell Mitchell throw their support behind Lance Franklin after booing furore
NRL superstars Latrell Mitchell and Nicho Hynes believe the boos directed at AFL champion Buddy Franklin were racially motivated.
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Latrell Mitchell shakes his head.
“I get it a lot, so I know what it feels like,” the NRL superstar says.
Nicho Hynes says simply: “I don’t get it. What if Buddy Franklin were your brother or son? He is human, remember? How would watching and listening to that make you feel?”
Sitting alongside each other earlier this week, the two Fox Sports ambassadors have articulated their disgust and bewilderment at the Franklin booing furore that has gripped the AFL.
Mitchell says he’s got no doubt the cat-calls directed at the Sydney Swans champion were racially motivated, while questioning an athlete’s motivation to provide entertainment for fans, at the risk of being repeatedly and relentlessly belittled.
“I understand it’s a competition. But you want to go to a game to play and enjoy it, not get booed,’’ the South Sydney leader said.
“Otherwise, we can sit back at home and not bother.
“That’s how I feel.
“We’ve got a job to do to entertain, but to come and get booed, what’s the point?’’
Franklin, 36 was relentlessly jeered by sections of the MCG crowd during the Swans‘ round eight loss to Collingwood last Sunday.
Franklin’s coach at the Swans, John Longmire, said he was confused by the booing almost every time Franklin touched the ball.
Others suggested the booing may have been racially motivated.
The last time the Swans met the Magpies at the MCG, in 2013, a teenage Collingwood fan infamously yelled a racial slur at Indigenous champion Adam Goodes, who asked for the supporter to be ejected.
The AFL was criticised for being slow to decry the persistent booing of Goodes that continued over the ensuing months and years.
The premiership-winner ultimately retired from the game in 2015.
After Sunday’s match, the Magpies, Swans and AFL promptly issued statements condemning the booing of Franklin.
It has been the story of the week across both codes.
Mitchell is no stranger to out-of-bounds fan abuse.
He called out racial abuse from a teenage fan at Penrith earlier this year, leading the NRL to announce the fan needed to apologise to the South Sydney star and undergo training programs before being allowed back to a game.
“He’s (Franklin) obviously a proud Indigenous man,’’ Mitchell said.
“It’s definitely a targeted thing, obviously.
“It (booing) is obviously hard to police.
“But there’s a few things that stand out for me. He’s an Aboriginal man, he’s proud and he’s a big name, so he’s a target.
“It could be because of how great he is. But racism comes in and out of that game (AFL), and it also does in ours (NRL).
“The one thing is for sure, if he (Franklin) needs to reach out, or perhaps I’ll reach out to him, we’ve got each other’s back.
“I’ve got everyone’s back that goes through it.’’
Hynes backed up Mitchell while digging deeper.
The reigning Dally M medal winner says he can’t comprehend how fans feel they have a free-reign to verbally abuse athletes.
“What are they getting out of booing him (Franklin)?,” Hynes said.
“Seriously? Every athlete I know, from all sports that I’ve come across, all we want to do is entertain the fans.
“We play for the fans. We do everything, sometimes over and above, for the fans, so I don’t get why fans would come to a game, which is for pure entertainment, why they think that’s okay to boo and be racist towards one player?
“They need to think about if that was their son or daughter or family member, out there, doing something good and fun, to entertain people.
“How would that make them feel?
“I understand if Latrell or myself are lining up a goal kick at a full house at Suncorp Stadium and they boo us.
“But not every time someone touches the ball. That’s ridiculous.
“There‘’ a big difference between being a fan and someone who fails to understand how fortunate we are as Australians to have the best athletes in the world in their sport, to enjoy and who entertain us, just like Buddy Franklin.’’
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