‘Weak’: Collingwood great scorches AFL Welcome to Country

An Australian football great has taken a swipe at the AFL over two controversial incidents during the weekend’s finals.

4 min read

September 16, 2024 - 9:38AM

Welcome to country performed before Giants AFL final

Collingwood great Tony Shaw has taken a swipe at the AFL over the controversial Welcome to Country performed on Saturday.

There has been widespread debate since Brendan Kerin, a cultural educator from the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, delivered a blunt Welcome to Country prior to the GWS Giant’s semi-final against Brisbane at Engie Stadium in Sydney.

The local Arrernte and Barkindji Elder’s comments in explaining why the traditional ceremony is “not for white people” have received criticism and praise from across the country.

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His comments angered some fans on social media and now Shaw has joined in the backlash, blasting the AFL over its handling of the pre-match festivities.

Players lined up for the ceremony. Photo: Channel 7.

The former Collingwood coach also whacked the league over its decision to fine Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley $20,000 following his cheeky sledge and verbal stoush with Hawthorn players on Friday night.

Shaw wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “What a weak politically correct organisation the AFL is.

“$20k fine for verbal taunts same as actual physical contact. The political decisiveness (divisiveness) of welcome to country last night was embarrassing but any public rebuke?”

His comment about “physical contact” has widely been interpreted to be a reference to the incredible scenes of Giants football boss Jason McCartney bumping into Sydney player Tom Papley last week. The football club was fined $20,000.

Tony Shaw, right, holds the AFL premiership cup prior to the 2018 Grand Final.

However, it is the comment about the Welcome to Country that have raised the most eyebrows with his post flooded with comments supporting his position.

Former Aussie basketballer and veteran NBL coach Brendan Joyce was one of those that commented.

“100 per cent Tony, he wrote.

“Huge embarrassment all round over the weekend.”

Channel 9 Footy Show host Tony Jones also called out the AFL over the Welcome to Country performed on Saturday.

Jones said on 3AW the Welcome was “counter-productive” and “creating divisions”.

“There’s a problem and the AFL must address this or at least discuss this morning in their review of the weekend,” he said.

“This is an observance, but during Saturday night’s Welcome to Country there was laughter through it and I’ll tell you why because these welcomes should not be personal agendas.

“They shouldn’t be there for political statements. I’m not sure whether the AFL vets the scripts or maybe they will as of now.

“If this is all designed to sort of unify Australia, I think it’s creating division when we see or hear welcomes like that.”

Joyce also showed support for former Hockeyroos star turned Channel 7 AFL commentator Georgie Parker when she highlighted that Hinkley’s verbal exchange was punished to the same level as Kangaroos coach Alastair Clarkson when the four-time premiership coach acted “inappropriately” during an outburst towards St Kilda players Jimmy Webster and Dougal Howard in March.

Hinkley’s gesture to Ginnivan after the match.

“Wild that Hinkley’s fine is on par with Clarkos,” Parker posted.

Joyce responded: “Joke”.

Others, however, have praised the AFL over its handling of the flash points.

Kerin’s Welcome to Country also received a smattering of applause when he wrapped up his speech.

“I’m here this evening to perform a ceremony of Welcome to Country,” Kerin began.

“A Welcome to Country is not a welcome to Australia. Within Australia we have many Aboriginal lands and we refer to our lands as ‘country’.

“So it’s always a welcome to the lands you’ve gathered on.”

“A Welcome to Country is not a ceremony we’ve invented to cater for white people,” he continued.

“It’s a ceremony we’ve been doing for 250,000 years-plus BC. And the BC stands for Before Cook.”

Those comments were a reference to Captain James Cook, who made the first recorded European contact with Australian land in 1770.

“Prior to colonisation, you could get yourself in a lot of trouble for walking on someone else’s lands without being welcomed onto those lands,” Kerin added. “So for me it’s always an honour to perform this ceremony.”

He finished the speech by saying: “Welcome to the lands of the Wangal people and the home of the mighty Giants”.

The Welcome to Country and national anthem were performed before the game. Photo: Channel 7.

The Welcome included a brief performance on the didgeridoo.

Kerin’s performance was followed by the Australian national anthem, which was sung by Sydney artist Mimi Velevska.

The atmosphere was incredible, according to those at the game.

AFL great Brad Johnson was blown away.

The Fox Footy commentator said on Triple M on Saturday night: “The anthem was good wasn’t it.

“That was well sung by the way. That was an outstanding performance. I really liked it. It’s really started to lift the energy in the stadium. It was a little bit quiet as the players were warming up. But it’s well and truly alive at the moment.”