Sends the wrong message

What’s in a song John (or is it ‘Knuckles’), what’s
in a song about an unemployed, suicidal bum, caught
in the act of sheep theft which defines the Australian
psyche? I’ll bet you don’t know but whatever it is
is good enough for you to decide what is, or is not,
appropriate for a team to do before they face you
on the playing field; whatever it is in ‘Waltzing Matilda’
includes a magic ingredient of self justification, allowing
your flaky, self-righteous pontification on appropriateness.
Perhaps some elements of the haka seem too expressive
for faint hearts (or paying viewers who might complain)
to be allowed before the game. I guess the same
could be said for this song about a sheep thief
which is in equally bad taste – if you don’t appreciate
its implied association. I’ve never complained about it
but I think it sends the wrong message too. About losers.
© I.D. Carswell

John Connolly, aka ‘Knuckles’, Australian Wallabies Coach, raised the issue of an inappropriate gesture in the All Black pre-match haka, the so-called ‘throat slitting’ action of the thumb being drawn across the throat at its conclusion. John is not renowned for particularly intelligent or independent thought so it is likely he has taken advise on this issue. Perhaps the gesture is too graphic for those who struggle with what it means, or perhaps it is not, the overall effect however, is one of a team of rugby players defining and introducing themselves in their cultural idiom very lucidly. It has as much energy and impact as that of the ensuing game. Unfortunately that can’t be said for Waltzing Matilda (which is sung at each Test match as the principal Australian ‘cultural idiom’) or the Wallabies petulant tactic of engaging in a bout of tackle practice after the haka. For the record, All Blacks 13, Wallabies 9.