The NRL has once again been rocked by racial abuse, with South Sydney Rabbitohs star fullback Latrell Mitchell the subject of a fan making a disgusting comment in his direction at halftime on Thursday evening.
Zero Tackle have elected not to republish the alleged comment in every story we have written on the issue today, and will continue to stick to that line as the fallout from the incident continues.
There is little doubt that tribalism amongst fans in the NRL runs deep, and rivalries that have existed for the best part - or in some cases more - of a century aren't going to go anywhere anytime soon.
And nor should they. Those rivalries, and the passion fans follow their team with are what has built the game we know and love today. It's what keeps us coming back every week.
The Panthers and Rabbitohs may not be 'traditional' rivals in the grand scheme of things, but they have played knockout football in each of the last two years against each other, with the Panthers knocking the Bunnies over in the 2021 decider, and then again in last year's preliminary finals.
The match-up between Penrith and South Sydney is now one of the most highly-anticipated on the NRL calendar, and that showed last night with a nearly full house packing in at the foot of the mountains to watch the Round 2 blockbuster on a Thursday night.
Few other suburban grounds would sell out on a Thursday night, but such was the importance of the clash, people wanted to go.
None of that excuses the type of behaviour we saw last night though, and spectators getting personal in their sledging of players is simply not called for - these players are human beings who have real feelings and real responsibilities.
And make no mistake - a big part of the reason this rivalry has become something, and a big part of the reason the Rabbitohs are so good, is superstar fullback, Latrell Mitchell.
His form during the second half of last season after returning from injury had to be seen to be believed as he dragged the Rabbitohs from a fringe top-eight side into the finals, and then onto the preliminary finals where Penrith would shut down their campaign.
But how is it that a player can be as good as Mitchell, and can do as many good things for the game, but still can't shake a stereotype because of his culture, and just how proud he is to represent that?
According to numbers published in a Sydney Morning Herald report last year, approximately 13 per cent of the NRL is made up of Indigenous players - that's about 62 current players.
All up, there are well over 200 Indigenous players who have played in the NRL era - a number that continues to grow with each year that passes, and the current group includes last year's Dally M Medalist Nicho Hynes, leading try-scorer Alex Johnston, star five-eighth Cody Walker and rising Queensland Origin star Selwyn Cobbo, among others.
The impact something like last night's incident has on the younger generation who should be proud to represent their culture - whether that be Indigenous or not - is sickening and absolutely disgusting, and has the potential to stop that number in its tracks.
If you're a parent seeing what Mitchell had to go through last night, why on the planet would you then allow your child to chase a dream in the sport?
That is an indictment of the society we live in, and while, again, I'm not going to republish anything written, some of the comments on social media during the course of Thursday evening and into Friday morning show exactly how far our society has to go over race issues, and why things like this keep happening.
But it's simply sickening that we need to continue to discuss an issue like this, that in our society today, there continues to be issues around racism.
And that doesn't just apply to elite NRL players, given the prevalence of race issues right throughout society, but it always comes to a head when a televised event and a sportsperson on big money is vilified by a member of the public.
But instead of sweeping this under the carpet, the NRL, and the clubs involved, must continue to make a big deal of the issue.
The spectator (calling the person a fan would be a discredit to the disrepute brought to the game by an incident like this) who is alleged to have committed the act, if they can prove it, needs to be slapped with a life ban from attending not just the NRL, but all other sports within Australia and apologise for his actions - of that there is no doubt.
But it takes more than making an example of one spectator in attendance, and this is where the NRL and its clubs need to continue to go to another level in educating the public around race issues.
Racism, realistically, is something that, unfortunately, is never going to be stamped out. There are always going to be pockets of society who don't see it the way the majority do, and no matter how much education and messaging is sent out, the minority will always be a loud, and vocal bunch.
But that minority must continue to be called out for their actions, and continue to be persecuted for them and players must be protected.
The long-term health of the NRL, but also society as a whole relies on it.
Should the alleged person involved in this incident, as with previous incidents from other individual offenders where it has not been dealt with to the strongest letter of the law possible, not have the book thrown at them, then it simply opens it up for the incident to repeat next time someone wants to make a remark such as the one made last night to a player.
The focus today should be on the rugby league being played, but instead, we have spent the whole morning on Friday not discussing two premiership hopefuls and their tactics and strategies, but instead, one comment from a spectator, who reports say may not even be a supporter of either club is where all the attention lies.
Issues around racism and acceptance of the Indigenous culture flared up recently ahead of the Indigenous All Stars vs Māori All-Stars game, which Mitchell played in.
Held in New Zealand for the first time, it was clear just how far ahead New Zealand are in this space. Their national anthem has verses in the traditional language, and the Māori culture is widely celebrated.
The same simply can not be said in Australia, where the national day remains January 26, despite impacting so many Indigenous Australians, who view the date as the start of the genocide of their people.
The seeming refusal to change the date pulls at the deeper issue within Australia - which is that racism is still a very real part of the society in which we live in.
The only way to stamp that out is with time, education, and a realisation that nothing on this planet should be determined by the colour of your skin.
If this was a one-off incident, it would still be equally as sickening, but the fact that it's not just goes to show the real problems Australia face, and that attitude starts at the top, and then makes its way down.
There is history at the foot of the mountains, but not just there. It's a widespread issue that doesn't just impact the NRL.
We should simply not have to talk about an issue like this in modern society, but it's going to continue to happen until things change at every level working its way down the chain.
Unfortunately, the attitude still has a long way to go, and the Penrith Panthers' statement acknowledging the issue failed to make any significant claims or denounce the incident in any meaningful way, which only serves as a slap in the face to every Indigenous player in the game.
"Penrith Panthers is aware of an alleged incident involving a rugby league fan that occurred at half-time of the Round 2 match against South Sydney Rabbitohs at BlueBet Stadium," the Panthers wrote in a short two-line statement.
"The NRL was immediately informed of the alleged matter, and the club will work with the NRL to investigate the situation."
Compare that to the Rabbitohs' reaction, where Jason Demetriou immediately jumped onto the front foot last night calling for life bans for the alleged offenders, before CEO Blake Solly unleashed in a statement this morning, and it's apples and oranges between the two clubs.
The NRL went most of the way in their statement on Friday morning, with Andrew Abdo calling out the behaviour, but failing to come on board with the Rabbitohs' views of life bans.
"We will do all we can to make sure we leave the game better than we found it and that means that these types of incidents are not occurring," NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said on Friday morning in a statement.
"You're going to be called out, and not just by players but by fans and officials.
"We self-regulate in our game and eventually it becomes eradicated. That has to be our goal and our vision."
Penrith's reaction and those social media comments isn't to say the NRL haven't made strides in this space. Indigenous Round exists, as does the annual Indigenous All Stars fixture, and the now-accepted Welcome to Country is a big part of proceedings for major games, but it's still not enough unless they walk the walk after an issue like this.
Talking the talk with a jersey for each club and a speech is nice, but unless more is done, the same issues are going to repeat themselves.
And it's in the NRL's best interests to ensure this type of behaviour simply doesn't happen. You only have to look at Damien Cook's comments to The Sydney Morning Herald on Friday morning to understand why.
“This is why he might talk about being done at 30,” Cook told the Herald.
“We have a great player who puts bums on seats, everyone wants to see him play, but when you get things like this, and when it comes to a time to choose farm or footy, these things come up.
“He leads so well by example for the Indigenous culture and the young kids coming through, it's an absolute joke it's happened. And why?
“It's 2023 and this is happening. This isn't the first time Latrell has had to go through this."
Racism acting as the potential reason for Mitchell's retirement at the age of 30 should sicken every NRL player, fan and executive, but not only that.
It should set alarm bells ringing at every level of government in this country over the current national attitude and policy towards racism, and even should ask the minority the question of why.
Why would you drive a player to give up their career because you enjoy using the colour of their skin against them?
It's deplorable behaviour which has no place in modern society.
I don't claim to have all the answers, but the bottom line is this:
Enough is enough, and it's time for something major to be done at every level.
Scott: please do not indict all of Australian society on the basis that a few people call out insults that include reference to race.
It happens everywhere in the world. In my experience, Australians are more tolerant than the other societies in which I have lived.
You write: “The focus today should be on the rugby league being played, but instead, we have spent the whole morning on Friday not discussing two premiership hopefuls and their tactics and strategies, but instead, one comment from a spectator, ”
The fact that someone called out a player, racially, is – I would suggest – sufficiently rare that when it happens it’s news ! This does not support the idea that the entire country is worthy of indictment.
On a separate matter:
You claim that “Indigenous Australians, (who) view the date (Jan 26) as the start of the genocide of their people.”
I would suggest that if that is what they believe, and what you believe, you ought to take a serious look at what is meant by “genocide”. It is a systematic attempt to destroy a cultural group (like 6 million Jews, in Nazi Germany) or a racial group (like 1 million Armenians, during the first world war).
The UK and the Australian governments have not attempted such a genocide of Aboriginal and Torres Straights islanders.
The number of people identifying as Aboriginal is increasing, not decreasing.
Estimates of how many Aboriginal and Torres Straight islander people were living in 1788 vary wildly.
I’ve seen an estimate of 750K – 1250K (nationalgeographic.com).
I’ve seen an estimate of 350K – 950K (teacherscollegesj.org) .
I have seen an estimate as low as 250K (culturalsurvival.org)
In short, nobody knows.
What can be said with more certainty is that the ABS identified the population in 2019 as 800K, with an estimate that it would be 900K in 2022 and 1100K in 2031. (See https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/profile-of-indigenous-australians)
These figures do not indicate an ongoing genocide of Aboriginal and Torres Straight islanders, and any such claims deserve to be rejected as racial hatred.