Dustin Martin Defends His “Houso War Dance”

25 August, 2015. 10:10

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Richmond Tiger’s midfielder Dustin Martin has vowed to fight the AFL’s investigation into his two-fingered salute towards Collingwood supporters with the “Goodsie defence”.

During Collingwood’s 91-point fingering by the Tigers last Sunday, Martin gave the Magpie’s supporters a couple extra digits to think about, after copping three-quarters of consistent abuse from the crowd.

Martin defended his gesture as an expression of his blue collar Australian cultural heritage, and termed it a “traditional war dance”.

“I came up in Campbelltown and Castlemaine. When any c*** was kickin (sic) off back home, the prongs would come up, no worries ’nuff said,” Martin told the Betoota Advocate.

“My old man is a Kiwi and me mum’s Aussie, so showing people where they can sit is a part of my cultural heritage.”

Associate Professor in Cultural Studies at Melbourne University, Chris Healy agrees that telling people to “get f***ed” is an ingrained part of Anglo-Australian culture.

“White Australians have been telling people to sit and rotate since the convict ships of the first fleet. There is even anecdotal evidence to suggest colonists saluted the Aboriginals in Botany Bay with this very gesture,” said Healy.

“Dustin Martin’s mullet and neck tattoo combination would suggest he comes from a demographic that spends a great deal of time telling people to get f***ed. Whether it’s the police, staff at Centrelink or a pub-owner – your typical ‘houso’ frequently reacts to conflict in this manner, leading me to consider it an Anglo-Australian war dance.”

This latest scandal for Dustin Martin comes less than a year after being handed a suspended $2000 fine from the AFL for throwing up a “jailbird salute” after a goal in a losing game against Carlton. Martin believes he can fight off a second fine.

“If Goodsie and Jetta can run around throwing spears, What’s wrong with throwing up the forks? This campaign against me is racially motivated, people are just scared of a proud white battla (sic) standing up and saying get f***ed,” said Martin.

“I’m tired of white Australians getting treated like second class citizens for expressing our culture. You have no idea what it feels like when a tidy young mum crosses the street with her kids after seeing your neck tatts, we feel like we don’t belong in our own country.”

Rumours emerged in recent days that Josh Dugan could lead a group of NRL players showing solidarity with an embattled Martin by performing similar houso war dances in games next round.