ONE OF the pleasures of the Hall of Fame Tribute Match will be the opportunity to see some of the country’s finest indigenous footballers playing together.
There is an over-representation of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in the Dream Team squad, and this should be cause for celebration.
Approximately three per cent of Australians are indigenous. However around 10 per cent of all AFL players identify as indigenous. There are indigenous players at every club, with 73 spread across senior lists. (Amazingly the club with the fewest indigenous players is West Coast. The home of legends like Chris Lewis, Chris Mainwaring and Peter Matera currently only has one indigenous player – David Wirrpanda – on its senior list.)
The over-representation does not end there, however. Think of the great individual efforts from the season so far. The great goals, freak marks, brilliant runs, inspirational tackles. Odds are that names like Lance Franklin, Cyril Rioli, Michael O’Loughlin and even newcomer Austin Wonaeamirri spring rapidly to mind.
Think of performances on the biggest stage of all, the AFL Grand Final. Five of the past 16 Norm Smith Medal winners have been indigenous.
When the Dream Team squad was announced, almost one-quarter of the selected players were indigenous, including captain Andrew McLeod. After it was trimmed to 30 players on Sunday night, there were eight indigenous members of the Dream Team left – a remarkable 27 per cent. They are McLeod, Franklin, Peter and Shaun Burgoyne, Graham Johncock, Leon Davis, Mathew Stokes and Daniel Motlop.
Wirrpanda was omitted from the original 40-man Victorian squad when it was trimmed to 30, leaving Adam Goodes the solitary Koorie in the running to play for the home team.
However, there is even some dispute about Goodes’ status. Johncock and Shaun Burgoyne both claim that the dual Brownlow Medallist should he in the Dream Team rather than wearing the Big White V.
“Goodesy should be on our side,” Johncock says. “I reckon he’s a South Australian.”
Burgoyne concurs: “I always thought he was South Australian. I’ll have to have a chat to Goodesy and see what he thinks.”
Both men have previously played in All Stars games in Darwin which they regard as wonderful football experiences.
“I’ve been lucky enough to play in some of the indigenous games and it’s unbelievable playing with those guys,” Burgoyne says. “With us all being recognised in this Dream Team, it’s great. Hopefully the boys will turn a show on for the spectators.
“We’ve obviously played a couple of times, there’s some boys we’ve played with in junior footy, so we should jell pretty quickly. With the rest of the team, we just need to have a bit of a kick and catch together, learn each other’s nicknames.”
“I played with a few of the boys before in the Aboriginal All Stars and this is another opportunity to enjoy running around with them,” Johncock says. “Aboriginal players bring a lot of flair to the game. I think on field we might have more flair than them (Victoria) and that could be a little edge.”