General Discussions

[PaulP]

It's not the Pasifika players' intentions that are at fault Paul.  It's Manly's failure to see that the "pride jersey" could be problematic for a significant part of its playing group, particularly when one of their own, in Roberts, may have brought them along.  Consulting their playing group and, hopefully, raising their awareness of  LGBTQ+ issues should have been the first step.  Now, what was an important initiative has, at best, raised awareness of impact of Christianity on Indigenous peoples.  At worst, it's further marginalised LGBTQ+ and Pasifika folk. 

I should add that Muslim proselytisers have had a similarly deleterious impact on Melanesian communities.

The hearts and minds of these players and others like them were set a long time ago, and whilst change is always possible, I'm not sure any kind of pre match consultation would have changed the outcome.