Right then. That actually happened.

The Socceroos beat Türkiye 2-0 in Vancouver, and if you told me that six hours ago I would have nodded politely and assumed you were winding me up. Türkiye’s squad is reportedly valued somewhere around six times what Australia’s is worth. Their captain had gone on record before the match saying his more talented team would dominate us. That quote aged, as someone online put it, like milk.

Someone posted on the Melbourne subreddit recently about their experience travelling to suburban footy grounds every weekend, watching their kids umpire junior games. It was the kind of post that gets shared around because everyone recognises it. The observations were sharp and specific: wealthier suburbs have food trucks and entitled spectators, outer suburbs have dodgy canteens and genuinely good people, the middle-class suburbs produce the loudest coaching from the fence. Good coaches focus their players inward. Bad coaches blame the kid in the hi-vis.

The decision by Melbourne Storm to cancel a Welcome to Country ceremony at AAMI Park has left a bitter taste in many mouths, including mine. The club’s explanation that they wanted to avoid a repeat of the disgraceful scenes we witnessed at the ANZAC Dawn Service feels like a paper-thin excuse that only serves to embolden the very people we should be standing up against.

Let’s be crystal clear about what happened here. A respected Wurundjeri elder, Aunty Joy, was prevented from performing a Welcome to Country on her own ancestral lands. Even more poignantly, she was there wearing her father’s WWI medals - a stark reminder that Indigenous Australians have fought and died for this country despite facing systematic discrimination and denial of basic rights.