Welcome to Country PF1

[The General]

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet but I think due to the attention it has received during the last week, it deserves its own thread.

I was at the game last night and can I just say how proud I was the crowd during the Welcome to Country. Especially with all the social media noise asking for people to boo during it.

To me, it appeared to be the most silent the crowd has been during the final series and from my vantage point, got the loudest applause yet. Well done.

If the crowd had booed as some clowns were encouraging us to do so, it would have reflected very poorly on the supports, the team and the entire club. And you can bet your bottom dollar that certain un-named media people would run with that agenda all week using it as a distraction for our Grand Final appearance.

Well done Collingwood supporters. You should all be proud.

[slangman]

FWIW i don’t see the relevance of Welcome to Country in modern Australia.
I would never boo as some have suggested that we should do but it has a very political feel about it that reminds me of some other regimes where you were constantly bombarded with a doctrine that you dare not criticise publicly.
Just another cog in the wheel of division that has somehow reared its head within society.

I would much rather prefer a Welcome To Collingwood!!!

Go Pies!!!!!!!!

[David]

[slangman]

Would it be political and divisive it there wasn’t a Welcome to Country?
This lands history is not exclusive to any one particular group and thats the position that i start from.
Im not against a Welcome to Country but I think it should be in the manner of the Last Post, acknowledged once or twice a year on a special occasion. Our history didn’t start from 1788 nor did it end in 1788.
btw, i know an Elder and i sure as hell am not acknowledging him past, present or emerging EVER.
How about an acknowledgment of the immigrants who came here and transformed this country into a multicultural mecca which is the envy of the world?

[Asclepius]

Slangman

I agree completely with your sentiments.

[think positive]

[23 YIPPEE!!!]

Look I don’t mind it I normally switch off when ever they do it
Then tune back in once it’s over
But you see one you see them all

[The General]

[stui magpie]

I have no problem with the Welcome to Country for big sporting events. It's like playing the National Anthem, you do it in Finals, not every game during the season. Unlike one place I worked a few years ago where you had to do an acknowledgement of country before every fkn meeting, of which you'd have 5 a day. Seriously.

I'm also glad that the calls for people to boo it were ignored and people respected the occasion. Respect.

[inxs88]

[Meredith1965]

Agree. Do it for the indigenous round but not at every final. We are not primarily an aboriginal nation, and it is not our identity. The national anthem is for all of us. Welcome to country is not. If you sincerely believe it is all aboriginal land, move to the smallest possible enclave of it and give it all back. Anything else is just hypocrisy.

Of course, booing would have been a terrible look and thankfully that did not happen.

[Piesnchess]

Sam Newman, now an irrelevant old bigoted fart, brought this all up, all the Botox hes had leaked into his vile old mind, so he unleashes all this crap. He once painted his face black on the footy show, he is beneath contempt. To actually want fans too boo indigenous folks is disgusting. I dont mind it, 65 000 yrs of a culture, has to mean something. Thats my take, and dont bother having a go at me, I am entitled to my opinion, and I am not on a footy site to discuss this issue. No way Jose.

[Asclepius]

You just did discuss it.

It is not about booing indigenous people or culture, it's about whether we need to have a "Welcome to Country" dogmatically and frequently shoved down our throats.

The "Welcome" at today's final in Brisbane was exceptionally good and appropriate. I recommend that you watch it if you can find it. Uncle Russel (I think he said it was) specified it wasn't going to be about Indigenous history, instead taking the crowd through a rousing "Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi"

Brilliant.

[3rd degree]

I was happy with it. The bloke who does it is cool as.

[lazzadesilva]