Race accusation ill-founded

Caroline Wilson’s rant against Paul Roos and James Hird today is another example — as if one were needed — of a journalist taking the most extreme and controversial construction of a comment and constructing a story to suit.

 

To suggest, as Wilson explicitly does, that either Roos or Hird have advocated race-based selection from the comments they made is mischevious at best.

 

Their comments referred to the AFL’s move to a two interchange, two substitute bench. Roos and Hird observed that a further reduction in interchanges would force recruiters and coaches to value endurance above skill. They further observed that indigenous players, generally, were high on skill, but less well-endowed with endurance and may thus be impacted by the change.

 

Quite how this equates to advocating race-based selection eludes AussieRulesBlog.

 

Not for the first time, Wilson’s instinct is to go for a sensationalist angle. It might make for ‘interesting’ and ‘provocative’ comment, but it sure ain’t journalism.