My world on the web
When Adam Kneale was offered a chance to help out around the Footscray Football Club as an 11-year-old, he thought he was realising every kids’ dream. Instead, he faced unimaginable trauma. WARNING: This story contains graphic descriptions of sexual abuse.
“His brother lives in the country now, and he’ll call and say he’s broken a chainsaw. I say ‘that’s an incident, not a disaster’. Adam has had disaster after disaster and they’re two very different things. To lose the boy when he’s becoming a man is heartbreaking.”
It is scary how such things can happen without anyone being aware. This continues his investigation into abuse and neglect within football clubs.
As fans reel from the news of his death, it is impossible to avoid conjuring images of Shane Warne that are not sombre and serious at all. How could a “Warnie” moment ever be sombre and serious, writes Russell Jackson.
It was also interesting watching Leigh Sales’ interview, especially when he discusses his own obituary at the end.
And the first question, he said, “You’ve got to write this. Write your own obituary.”
And I went, “Oh, right” and I had a few goes at it, and I didn’t like, at that stage, I wasn’t happy with who I am and I felt I needed to change, I needed to do a few things and be better.
Jackson also wrote a piece celebrating the life of Rod Marsh.
Rod Owen was a St Kilda star at 16, but within a year he was an alcoholic and drug addict. Many blamed his spiral on injuries and partying, but his addictions masked childhood traumas he’ll never forget.
A decade-long campaign of racial abuse pushed St Kilda’s 1970s star Robert Muir to the point of despair. Russell Jackson spoke to the man who football wiped from its Indigenous history.
The most perverse element of football’s television problem, coaches say, is that the solution is not more cameras, but strategic use of the two most revealing angles — behind the goals, and the lower wing camera that follows the play from side-on without zooming in.
It is from these angles alone that coaches and analysts decode, process and understand the game.
“I can understand the limitations of the 1980s and 90’s, because the fidelity of the vision was not there,” one coach says.
“But the fidelity is there now, with how good the HD and 4K technology is.
“They just need to zoom out so we can see more players, and where the guy with the ball is kicking, and what the patterns of play are. That’s what we need to see.
“In the end, fans just get used to it and cop it. And it’s disappointing, because you want the game to be shown in a better light.”
What has become increasingly apparent is that TV broadcasts no longer provide anything more than basic clues to explain the outcome of each game.
He unpacks a number of scenarios demonstrating what is missed by not being there. The solution suggested is to be more strategic with the use of angles and perspectives to capture more of the periphery.
