Convicts interest up
The Sydney Convicts have reported a fivefold increase in web traffic since appearing on last week’s Footy Show.
Convicts president Charlie Winn said the experience had earned the world champion rugby team praise from around the country.
There has been some fantastic feedback from places you wouldn’t even expect, Winn told Sydney Star Observer.
Everyone has been really positive and knows that we got the message that we needed to get out, out. Really, 95 percent of the feedback has been good.
The Convicts appeared on the show as a way of fighting homophobia in sport following the airing of a controversial skit about the Johns brothers. The request was welcomed by The Footy Show’s executive producer Gary Burns, who said the Convicts appearance would make a fun and informative segment.
Burns denied the Convicts’ appearance was about buying favour in the lead-up to a court action taken by community ’78er Gary Burns.
It is definitely about raising awareness about gays in football and sport and putting a face to the gay male -” that it’s not just men partying during Mardi Gras, but it is also to demonstrate that we have no phobias. We have no case to answer so we have no fear of anything legally, Burns said.
Winn said he felt the Convicts managed to convey the message they were hoping to on the show. I was personally very happy with the message that got across, he said.
We managed to get across our point on what The Footy Show had done in their skits and we achieved it, although it appeared like The Footy Show didn’t want to be talking about the skits.
The show’s ratings were up almost 16 percent on the back of the appearance.
We’ve had three or four enquiries from people wanting to play or be involved with the Convicts, so I suppose we would have liked a bit more, Winn said.
But our website hits went from about 35 a day to 190 or so in the first two days after the show and they’re still above what we’d usually get.
Winn appeared on the show with team vice-captain Matt Vagulans.
info: View the segment at
youtube.com/watch?v=JnaibyP-T1A
well, afterall everybody had something to gain
The Convicts were a long overdue challenge to the view of gay men as effeminate and/or incapable of playing competitive contact sport because of their sexuality. Well done guys!
HGD, Bruno is a paody and caricature, highlighting the stupidity of right wing conservatives and religious fundamentalists.
Stereotypes are always grounded in some truth. Every March, a group of barely dressed gay men parade down Oxford St, portraying themselves as hedonistic “effeminate camp queens”, squealing to a 90’s Kyie Minogue megamix (ahh so cutting egde those gays!). Of course, when they do it, it’s ” celebrating our identity ” ( what they mean is using Mardi Gras as a platform for their exhibitionsim, forget any mention of those dirty word politics or education)- but when Sacha Baron Cohen does it, it’s “oppression by straight men’s stereotypical caricatures of gay men”.
Glass houses anyone?
The Convicts were not used. They provided a good examples of gay men playing sport and countered the negative stereotypes conveyed by the footy show. I don’t think the footy show’s motives are relevant. So long as the right message is being portayed to public that is what is important. Anyone who knows anything about the Anti Discrimination Act knows that the only defences avaialable relate to the act in question and not other conduct.
So Chris, lay off the Convicts. They were the ones that approached the Footy Show to attempt to counter the John’s Skit. Good on the.
Wow, a five fold increase in web traffic. So from 20 hits to 100??
HGD..we are discussing the appearance on The Footy Show of The Convicts here not Sacha Cohen’s character Bruno.That is a whole different subject. Throwing up a smokescreen will not diminish the fact that the Convicts made a bad decision collaborating with the enemy.
Karen…..NO!!…BTW a really intelligent post , just because you don’t agree with another person’s opinion your response is to tell them to shut up.Great contribution to the deabate Karen !
Chris, if you’re keen to hit peak decibels on the ‘oppression by straight men’s stereotypical caricatures of gay men’ whine scale, you should check out Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Bruno” character. Bruno makes the Footy Show’s Elton Johns skit look like an empathetic multi-orientation love-in hosted by Lee Rhiannon. If Channel 9 need a defence against Gary Burns’ resolute determination to be monumentally offended at every turn, the global popularity of Bruno is hard to beat.
Apparently it’s OK though because Sacha is Progressive and Making An Important Point – which as far as I can see is about how ridiculing effeminate camp queens is always good for a laugh.
Chris….shut up!!!
The Convicts were clearly used by the Footy show in an attempt to take the heat off them re the Elton Johns “skit”.
Never a good idea to consort with the enemy.