i'll probably get bagged here but fairdinkum, Tahu needs to man up!!
I was born in Sydney and am of ethnic descent. I have been called every name in the sun. You learn how to roll with the punches and deal with certain situations.
What Joey did was wrong but walking away from an origin is the wrong thing to do IMO. T should have stayed in camp and worked this out.
Now we don't know the full story, and frankly i dont care what the story is. I just feel that Tahu walking out on the team is the soft option. It punishes the whole NSW team. Joey has now left the NSW team, T should still be there playing on wednesday night..
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Tahu soft?, pleaseeeeee.........if your trying to say sensitive, well I'll give you the time of day, but SOFT, yeah right....
I support Tahu in his actions and hope the NRL look into trying to clean up racial slurs in our game.
As for Johns. In any coaching position, saying something like he said at a team 'bonding' session is inexcusable and I hope he gets everything that's coming to him.
But reading Tahu's comments he felt he needed to take a stand to esnure it becomes clear that this sort of thing should not be tolerated in the game. His comments were quite calculated and mature so you would think he's maybe more concerned with the big picture.
On the other hand, he obviously knows Joey well and would understand that the comments were born of ingnorance not hatred or degredation. Joey's words were footy speak and without a doubt not meant to offend.
Part of me thinks Tahu has used a sledgehammer to break an egg here but at the end of the day I am commenting on something I know little about (racism towards aborigines).
Its a shame that in a country like ours it's okay to make discriminative racist comments about people's backgrounds. Its a massive problem in which people who make these comments have no idea what they have done wrong. Its normal to them!!!!!
Johns said "I look forward to sitting down with Timana and learning from him what is acceptable when it comes to sensitive issues such as this."
WTF? Really? Does he really need to 'learn' that?!
Scary.
The assistant coach is looked upon as a man in AUTHORITY as a MENTOR of what is right and what is wrong. There is the long term belief that he is the greatest player to have ever played this game, This mentor then attacks the senior player verbally with whatever tone he delivered ( racial, sexual, ability ) in front of his very own PEERS. This is not on. If this happened in a workplace enviroment - he would have been bundled up and stood down and prepared for a stint at the tribunal for his comments.
It is not about whether TAHU is soft or needs to harden up. He is a NRL footballer - something many of us are NOT and will never be, He is a very strong, physical man who obviously took this hard emotionally. Respect the man for being a strong individual - to walk away from that team enviroment due to his own principles and beliefs.
WE may never know what it was or how it was said and in what context. In the end of the day - TAHU did what he thought was best for NSW and himself. That takes balls.......JOHNS needs to have a look at himself.
if johns did say something off the top of his head which someone has taken offence to , surely he should be given the chance to explain his actions and have the chance to apologise - isnt this the australian way.
acceptance is a two way street.
As for Tahu ...... some people deal with situations differently. Tahu may have deep issues that have come from his childhood or his ancestors for all we know. No one walks out of a Origin team for no reason.
I'm glad he has stood up for what he believes in. Says a lot about his character.
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