The brother of the North fan considering walking out on the Kangaroos to support the Lions has lashed out, saying his sibling should be ‘ashamed of himself’ for even contemplating the move.
Last week NMFC.com.au floated ‘John’s’ son/father rule which means:
"If you are living in a new city, have kids that continually give you grief that you support a different team to them, then you may change," John explained in an email to the club.
In a bitter twist, John’s brother Paul wrote to the club and took aim.
“He should be ashamed of himself for having proposed the idea and should also enter a period of soul-searching,” Paul said.
“He should look forward to attending matches with his young sons especially those where the Lions and Roos clash and should expect a lifetime of ribbing from his boys.”
NMFC.com.au asked you to vote and tell John where to go. The response was overwhelming:
Matt Swift
“If he is even contemplating changing it shows he was never a Troo Roo to begin with...”
Garrett Mahady
“Sounds like he needs to get a new family.”
Michael Woollard
“Go we only want passionate and committed Roo supporters especially through thick and thin!”
Erin Daly
“You can go to the Brisbane games with the family and still be a Roo at heart.”
Brendan Ritchie
“I live in Darwin the furthest city of them all. Fremantle and Melbourne try to stake a claim up here. Coming from Melbourne and going to Arden St at the age of 4 in 1980 nobody could sway me!! My wife is a Queenslander and I’ve not only converted her from NRL to AFL, but she is also a Roo. As for my kids, x2 both little joeys!! Go North !!”
Matty Curnow
“Put your big boy pants on john and stay troo to the Roo.”
Daryl Guilford
“I live in Brisbane, I am a member of both clubs (North and Brisbane), but there is only one team that has my heart and my passion and that is North . I've followed them for almost 40 years and no other team could ever replace them. I'm a Lions member to get my footy fix, but when they play the Roos I always hope we thrash them.”
A total of almost 3,000 votes piled in with a remarkable 88 per cent against John being able to switch clubs.
John’s brother’s full email to the club was as follows:
To whom it may concern,
My name is Paul Flynn and I am the brother of John who has proposed the son/father rule as shown on your website. I would like to make comment on this matter and you may feel free to publish my point of view to counter his.
I must admit, growing up in Canberra in the 70’s and 80’s we heard more about the Rugby Union and Rugby League worlds than about the AFL (VFL back then). I have the same dilemma as John does as our Dad encouraged us to support the St George Dragons, but in 1982 the Canberra Raiders were established and set about wresting our allegiances away from our traditional footy sides. As of this date (and still living in Canberra), I toss and turn at night knowing I should probably support the Raiders, but I have been unable to do so. After 33 years you would think I could make a decision and let this matter go, but this only serves to highlight the extreme complexity of this issue.
I can vouch for John's story with the school boys wearing their blue and white stripes to school. The same happened to me with one of my good mates. His name happened to be Brett Allison who never stopped talking about his Dad Tom - a Kangaroos legend. So, for the same valid reason I took to following the Kangaroos.
John and I have discussed the 'changing teams' question over many years. After much discussion (and perhaps a beer or two), we established clearly the rules for changing teams. There are two criteria, but only one needs to be met. These are as follows:
1. You may change allegiances if you play first grade for a different side.
As you rightly point out, John has followed the Kangaroos for around 4 decades. He is to be commended for this loyalty, but this length of time also suggests his age, and I have no concern that, as he is approaching his mid-forties, he is in any danger of playing first grade for any AFL club despite being a talented sportsman. Even if we entertain the unlikely event that that could happen, he would only enter the draft and there is no guarantee that the Lions (the club he wishes to support) would pick him up. There is therefore no chance of John meeting the requirements of this clause.
2. You may change allegiances if your club is no longer represented in the League - i.e. kicked out, no longer in the comp.
Your club must be absent for 5 years during which time you must do all within your power to help cause the reinstatement of your club. You may not support any other club during this time. After 5 years you may change allegiances. If at any time your original club is reinstated, you must revert to supporting it wholeheartedly and enter forthwith a period of intense soul-searching in order to determine why you lost faith so quickly.
As the Kangaroos are a strong and evidently financially successful club, there is no chance of John utilising this clause either.
The proposed son/father rule is a ludicrous proposition. I could propose a mate/mate rule which would have had me following Brett at the Roos for many years, then change to the Swans for a while, back to the Roos while he assisted coaching there and now I'd be following the Demons where Brett assists. How much respect could I expect from my friends and family were I to do this?
By rules partly established by John himself, he is not able to change sides. He should be ashamed of himself for having proposed the idea and should also enter a period of soul-searching. He should look forward to attending matches with his young sons especially those where the Lions and Roos clash and should expect a lifetime of ribbing from his boys.
This is the pure and absolute beauty of footy and why we love it.
Paul Flynn
