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Get on with it, jockeys!
Imagine if the players in the AFL didn't return after half-time of
their round 22 matches in protest of Lance Franklin copping a two-week
ban for his bump on Richmond's Ben Cousins.
Franklin's suspension was in the name of 'protecting the head' – one of
modern footy's catch-cries. Back in the 80s - and earlier – the banning
of the Hawk forward for his bump on Cousins would simply not have
happened and barely raised an eyebrow post-match.
Times change, however, and as society moves away from viewing 'violence
as a form of entertainment', the AFL has tried to promote 'Aussie Rules' as a safe game for kids to play and parents to let them
play. Any AFL player making significant contact with another player's
head is frowned upon by the league and punished by its tribunal.
It seems to be no coincidence the increased popularity in this country
of football (as the rest of the world calls it) or soccer (as AFL fans
still call it) has links in a timing sense with the AFL's hardline
stance on the rough stuff in the game Rex Hunt says the league utilised to
promote via the 'I'd like to see that' advertising campaigns of the mid
1990s.
In those advertisements, official AFL advertisements no less, bumps
which would now be scrutinised by the Match Review Panel are shown as
something great about our game.
Keeping all of this in mind, AFL players and the body which represents
them, the AFL Players Association, realise the newfound importance of
protecting the head regardless of any possible political motivations
behind what league boss Andrew Demetriou constantly refers to as a
medically-driven decision.
While an anonymous player poll would arguably reveal most players think
Franklin should have been let off for his hit, they all got on with it.
Franklin missed his side's do-or-die clash with Essendon in round 22
and the 'show' went on.
OK, time to switch sports in light of a major issue making news.
How can the Australian Jockeys' Association possibly think it's alright
for jockeys around Australia to walk off the job midway – MIDWAY -
through a series of regional race meetings across the country, including
Ballarat in Victoria?
Jockeys claim a rule put in place by the Australian Racing Board on August 1 which
restricts them to whipping a horse no more than three times in the last
200 metres, and over consecutive strides, threatens their safety. The ARB says the so-called threat to jockey safety is 'irresponsible' and wrong.
The jockeys - which will be penalised with fines and suspensions for breaking the new rule - want the rule altered so they can use as many strokes
with the whip on their horse in the final 100 metres if it is in a
winning position. After the ARB met and heard submissions on Thursday from parties including the AJA and rejected the
requested amendment, the national strike action ensued.
Emotional jockey Glen Boss, never shy in offering his thoughts on
pretty much any subject, explained on racing broadcaster TVN jockeys
have been backed into a corner.
"When you're angry you act … we are the ones the rules are imposed on
and they haven't listened to one thing we have tried to say."
The decision to change the rules has not been made lightly by the ARB,
and has come on the back of another torrid season for jumps racing
where every horse death was accompanied by calls to ban the sport
forever.
Boss told TV viewers he and his fellow jockeys had the support of all relevant stakeholders, including the trainers.
However, his cocky assertion the strike action midway through a race
meeting was supported by all seemed to go down in flames when, live on
TVN, trainer Rick Hore-Lacey grabbed a microphone and said in the
direction of Boss: "What you are doing is just a bastard act and you
are putting everyone against you!"
Moments before his verbal spray, Hore-Lacey said the trainers agreed
with the jockeys in principal. But a strike halfway through meetings at
Ballarat, Hawkesbury in NSW and Ipswich in Queensland has angered
trainers and owners who had set their horses for races and had no
idea they would not be run.
A lot of races are used for trainers and owners to prepare horses for
other meetings later in the animals' campaigns, which usually span a
period of two or three months. Missing a single lead-up race can
significantly effect a horse's entire campaign.
Aside from the anger expressed by some owners and trainers, the betting
agencies lost millions of dollars in revenue on Thursday.
For its part, the AJA has confirmed normal practices will resume on
Friday and there is no threat of industrial action being carried out
until after Monday's meeting. The ARB said it will not review its rule until February.
"It should not be forgotten that 10 months ago all of the groups who
now say that padded whips are working well were vehemently opposed to
them," said ARB Chairman Bob Bentley. "It is a credit to the industry
it has come this far in such a short space of time."
"The incidents of breaches of the new rules are less than one per cent
and this is incontrovertible evidence the overwhelming majority of
riders have adapted to them."
The new rules relating to the number of times a jockey can whip their
mount are said to be in the name of changing community attitudes toward
the treatment of horses in the thoroughbred racing industry.
"Stop whipping and the punters will stop betting say industry
heavyweights and that cannot be tolerated. Better that a few thousand
horses suffer so many punters can prosper," 3AW Drive's Peter Maher, a
racing enthusiast and horse-owner, said earlier this week.
"It makes you wonder if those people with these views also promote the
same use of cruelty on other defenceless animals like household pets."
"Probably not because there is no betting on making the household cat perform to the punter's expectation. Not as yet anyway."
Regardless of one's stance on the entire 'whips in racing' issue, one
thing appears to be unanimous after Thursday's drama; there has to be a
better way for jockeys to gain public, stakeholder and industry support
than spitting the dummy - and that is all the strike really was - on the eve of Melbourne's Spring Carnival.
Suck it up jockeys. Life doesn't always seem fair and workplace
rule-changes happen all the time which most Australian workers put up with
and move on. Either that or they attempt to settle the matter behind
closed doors with a mature, measured approach.
Office workers are constantly bombarded with changes to email inbox
storage limits, hospitality workers may be asked to wear
terrible-looking ties to work or cut their hair, AFL players may be
asked to change the way they bump opposing players – but they all get
on with it.
Perhaps jockeys should cop the new rule on the chin and get on with it too?
Jockeys stop work
Jockeys at Ballarat and Hawkesbury are holding stop work meetings to
consider their position after the Australian Racing Board (ARB)
rejected any change to the controversial whip rules. Peter Maher has
his say on the matter and speaks to the Australian Racing Board boss.
We don't whip our cats - yet
"There is a very interesting debate happening at the moment in the
horse racing world that highlights the gap between the racing industry
and mainstream society." Read and comment on Peter Maher's editorial by clicking the image on the right.
Blog comments
-
There's an important point missed in the comparison between the jockeys protest and the other examples given. In no other case is the safety aspect worsened by the change. Thus the AFL rule against head high contact improves the safety of players. The rule restricting padded whip use endangers not only the rider but all other horses and jockeys in the race due to the restriced control jockeys now have to endure. There is an excellent balanced article on this in the New Zealand Herald that shows the middle ground. The current ARB rule is lame headed and simply wrong. I hope no jockey sues them after a severe accident causes injury or worse. No court in the land could allow the ARB to win the case. To do so is the equivalent of saying lets take the rope off in bungy jumping as its uncomfortable for the jumpers!
AJ Saturday 12 September, 2009 - 7:51 PM -
Why don't this go thro
Jade Friday 11 September, 2009 - 12:17 PM





