(Too) Great Expectations

It’s hard to know who’s at fault: the young footballers having a drink during their vacation; the people who may recognise them and decide they’re fair game; or the media for reporting these storms in teacups.

 

A few days ago, Barcode Marley Williams was in a bit of strife after a nightclub session and three Demons have found themselves ejected from the Test cricket.

 

It seems like an annual problem, so let’s get some perspective. These are young men who’ve been selected because of their sporting abilities, not their capacity for deep analysis of finely-balanced moral and ethical judgements. They wouldn’t have been selected if they didn’t have a fair dose of spirit in them. And just in case someone missed it, they’re young.

 

Is Williams the only young man to have found himself engaged in a scuffle outside a nightclub in recent weeks? We’re pretty sure the answer is in the negative. Is he the only one to discover that he’s done some physical damage to someone in the course of the scuffle? Again, pretty sure he’s not.

 

Was anyone else ejected from the cricket on Boxing Day, the same day as the young Demon footballers? We’d be surprised if there weren’t a number of candidates.

 

Now comes the hard part. It’s a fair bet neither AFL club will be delighted by these events. They’d probably prefer their players were safely tucked up at home rather than out drinking, but it’s unrealistic to expect every young man on an AFL list to stay home and/or not drink.

 

Can we sheet the blame home to those people who recognise these (very) minor “celebrities” and decide to have their fun with them? Well, probably a portion. It’s not hard to imagine AFL footballers, especially younger players, getting a bit up themselves and drawing some ire. (Note: AussieRulesBlog has no knowledge of the incidents beyond what is reported in the news.)

 

What about the media? Modern news cycles are not 24-hour, as used to be the case relatively recently, but, as Malcolm Turnbull has observed, are now virtually instantaneous. There’s a constant thirst for new ‘news’. And news values are such that the involvement of a (very) minor celebrity such as an AFL-listed player is enough to get the story run electronically at the very least.

 

Courtesy mainly of a content-hungry media, the community has quite unrealistic expectations of young AFL-listed footballers. We should be grateful that incidents like these are so relatively rare. That they are is due in no small way to the professionalism and dedication of the vast majority of players.