Until yesterday, I had never heard of Groote Eylandt, a small island off the coast of Australia’s Northern Territory that became part of the Arnhem Land Aboriginal Reserve in 1976. Groote Eylandt is home to the world’s largest manganese mine, which produces 3.8 million tons of the mineral each year. It is also home to the Anindilyakwa people, who still speak in their native tongue.
And the Anindilyakwa don’t take too kindly to that call, ref.
Police feared for their safety when they turned up to a disturbance at a sporting field on Groote Eylandt to discover it had escalated to a full-scale brawl.
The brawl, involving several hundred people, some of them armed with axes and spears, broke out about 5pm (CST) on Sunday at the Angurugu sports oval during an AFL match.
It is understood the feud started on the football field when one of the teams was awarded a free kick.
Ummmm… did he just say “axes and spears?”
“A number of those people were armed with axes and spears and a large number were involved in hostile and aggressive behaviour, which was later directed at police,” (Police Superintendent Brent Warren) told AAP…
“As you can imagine, even when a number of police cars turn up, when you’ve got a crowd that’s potentially 500-strong, it’s difficult to take proactive action at the time.”
Oh, come on! You’re Australian! Be a man! Get a dick!*
Okay, maybe seeing an angry mob wielding sharp weaponry would encourage even the most hearty Australian to run away from confrontation. But let’s back up a bit. What got that angry mob started? A questionable call from the ref. They hated the call so much that they absolutely had to take matters into their own hands — kind of like the Dawg Pound, if you replaced the beer bottles with, y’know, axes and spears.
Let’s just hope and pray the Anindilyakwa haven’t given SEC fans any ideas.
(Spotted on The Sporting Blog.)
* – Australian blokes here in the Triangle shouted those last two sentences at the TV a year ago when Buddy Franklin took a dive during the AFL Grand Final. True story.
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Tags: Australian Football