Last year, I wrote of my disappointment at the Fremantle Dockers, an Australian Rules Football team from my home state of Western Australia.
Their captain Alex Pearce posted to his Instagram stories some posts by Irish hip hop trio Kneecap, known for being vehemently anti-Israel and pro-terrorist. Pearce was never sanctioned, and the Dockers never apologized or even commented on it, with the most being this from their coach:
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir was asked by Jewish AFL reporter Ronny Lerner after his side’s game on Friday if Pearce would issue an apology to the Jewish community.
“Earlier in the week, your captain caused quite significant offence and distress to the Jewish community. Will he apologise at any stage or not?” Lerner asked during the post-match press conference.
Longmuir responded: “I’m not going to sit here and talk to Pearcey.
“I know the club’s had discussions with Pearcey. I wasn’t involved in those discussions, so I’ll leave that one.”
Not good enough.
In fact after this incident, he posted the below, which seems to be a subtle “FU” to all those who were offended by his original Kneecap posts:
Fast forward to now, and karma got the Dockers in a big way.
They made it to yesterday’s Grand Final after clearly being the best side all year. And they were headed for almost certain victory, leading by 17 points with only 4 minutes to play. Then came what has been described as the bigget choke in Grand Final history:
And the cherry on top?
It seems to have been a partial Achilles tear. Had it been a knee injury, I would be even more sure that karma had struck.
Now, I genuinely feel bad for my Fremantle-supporting friends and followers. That was brutal to watch – but not as brutal as Hamas and Hezbollah, who Alex Pearce’s heroes support.
I know how much this would have hurt. Four minutes away from the club’s first-ever premiership, only to watch it disappear in one of the most extraordinary Grand Final collapses imaginable.
But do I feel bad for the Fremantle Football Club? No.
When its captain offended members of the Jewish community, the club had an opportunity to show its Jewish supporters they mattered. Instead, it chose silence, and the captain almost doubled down.
Karma indeed.
