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Australian Rules (2002)

play May contain names, images or voices of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
clip Best man on ground education content clip 2

Original classification rating: M. This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

Prospect Bay has won the grand final in spectacular fashion. At the awards presentation that night, star-player Dumby Red (Luke Carroll) fully expects to be named best player on ground, but the local publican, Big Mac (Max Fairchild), sponsor of the award, doesn’t like blacks. Dumby’s cousin Pretty (Tony Briggs) heckles the presenters from the rear. Gary’s father (Simon Westaway) moves closer to shut him up. Dumby and Pretty leave in disgust.

Curator’s notes

by Paul Byrnes

The film offers various visions of the future in this scene. Blacky’s father has become a bitter, threatening man, a drunk with a dark side. Dumby’s cousin Pretty has become the angry black man who’s unafraid of upsetting the whites. Dumby’s open-faced optimism about the way the world is disappears before our eyes in this scene – he’s on the way to becoming embittered like his cousin Pretty. It’s happened before, in other words.

There’s a strong if satirical sense of community in this scene, carried by the shots of mothers and children clapping and enjoying themselves. The stage is half-lit, so that the publican stands in the shadows, like a skulking giant. The scene builds a strong sense of tension. Even with all the bonhomie of a community celebration, we feel that the lid is about to blow.

Teacher’s notes

provided by The Le@rning FederationEducation Services Australia

This clip shows racial tension and discrimination at the presentation night for a local junior Australian Rules football team in the fictitious South Australian town of Prospect Bay. An angry remark from Pretty (Tony Briggs), an Indigenous former player, to the compere, Glenn Bright (Brian Torrey), opens the night’s proceedings. Gary Black (Nathan Phillips) then receives an award. Dumby Red (Luke Carroll), the Indigenous star of the team, is discriminated against when he is not awarded the ‘best on ground’ medal. Dumby storms out.

Educational value points

  • Racism, an example of which is depicted in the clip, has its roots in the belief that some people are superior to others because they belong to a particular racial, ethnic or national group. Racist behaviour and racial tensions between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australians are especially prevalent in 'Prospect Bay’ situations in which the Indigenous people, the traditional owners of the surrounding land and sea, are living in poverty on former missions.
  • The racism portrayed in the clip, when Dumby Red is deliberately passed over for the ‘best on ground’ medal, is not an isolated occurrence in Australian sport. According to the 2004–09 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calma, racism has been the ugly underbelly of Australian sport for more than a century, but it is only since the mid-1990s that a range of national sporting codes have recognised it as a significant issue.
  • The emotional effects of racial discrimination are highlighted through the direction and editing of the awards sequence. The camera repeatedly focuses on Dumby Red’s face, showing his excitement at the prospect of receiving the award and the mix of emotions when he is passed over – disbelief, anger and bitterness. The cuts to Pretty storming out and to the studiously blank expressions of other Indigenous people capture their deep-seated bitterness.
  • The atmosphere of brooding threat that pervades the clip is created largely by the cinematography, assisted by the script and the body language of the characters. The director of photography, Mandy Walker, has lit the scenes in the clip to create dark tones and used a fairly harsh spot to highlight the faces of characters on the stage. Her use of light and shadow on the face of Big Mac (Max Fairchild) emphasises his role as the architect of the racial discrimination.
  • The later scenes in the clip explore the way the kind of racial discrimination shown can destroy personal relationships, such as the friendship between Dumby Red and Gary Black, and create new racial divides. Dumby Red projects his bitterness and anger onto Black in the words ‘best man on the ground eh, as long as he’s white’. Black is depicted as being helpless in the face of the truth, using the words nukkin-ya (‘see you later’) to try to bridge the divide.
  • Since the 1970s, in which Australian Rules is set, Australian football has been slow to tackle racism. This really changed only when Essendon player Michael Long (1969–) made a formal complaint of being racially taunted by an opposition player. That incident and Long’s dissatisfaction with the handling of the complaint led to the Australian Football League adopting a code against racial and religious vilification, the first major sporting body in Australia to do so.

This clip starts approximately 50 minutes into the feature.

We see a room full of people gathered for the awards ceremony.
Glenn (compere) You know, it’s a terrific thing to play football. Football made me who I am. It’s taken me places I never thought I’d be going. It’s been my… my guardian. It’s kept me alive. And you know, the great thing about footy is, when you get out on that paddock, it doesn’t matter where you come from or who you are.
Pretty heckles Glenn from the rear of the room.
Pretty More Goonya bullshit.
Gary’s father speaks to a man who goes over to Pretty and gestures that he be quiet. Big Mac takes the microphone and begins the awards.
Big Mac Thanks, Glenn. The first trophy tonight has been donated by the Progress Association. It’s the Best Team Man Award.
Glenn And the very deserving winner of this spectacular trophy is Gary Black.
The crowd is clapping and cheering as a surprised Gary goes up to the stage to collect his award.
Big Mac The final presentation tonight is for the coveted McCrea Medal for the best on the ground, donated by yours truly, Desmond McCrea of the Bay Hotel for all your icy-cold liquid refreshment needs.
Glenn is heckled by someone in the crowd.
Person 1 Your shout…!
Big Mac Bullshit.
Glenn returns to the microphone stand.
Glenn Here we go.
Before he announces the winner, Big Mac whispers something in his ear. In the crowd, Dumby Red is excited and eagerly anticipating the announcement.
Glenn Well, um… the winner of the McCrea Medal for Best-on-Ground at this year’s Grand Final is… Mark Robertson.
Dumby’s face turns to anger. Pretty walks out of the room in disgust. Dumby then runs out of the room followed by Gary. Mark Robertson goes up to the stage to collect his medal.
Mark Yeah! Yeah!

We see Gary and Dumby outside the hall.
Gary Hey, Dumby, wait. That was bullshit in there. That was your trophy.
Dumby Best man on the ground, eh? As long as he’s white!
Gary Dumby…
Dumby goes to his car.
Gary Nukkin-ya. Hey?
Dumby drives away.