Bartram_Class
Brownlow Medallist
There is a bond between Aboriginal AFL players that transcends allegiance to a jumper. To celebrate the positive influence of these men on and off the ground, The Sunday Age gathered them together for a series of photographs. John Donegan took the pictures and Chloe Saltau spoke to many of the players involved. The result is a fascinating insight into how they interact and how proud they are of each other.
LOOK closely during a match, and you might see them wink at one another, or brush hands as they run by. "You sort of do it on the sly, but sometimes you get caught," says Chris Johnson.
Occasionally, Johnson's Brisbane teammates have looked at him quizzically after he has acknowledged an act of brilliance by an Aboriginal opponent and been caught, just as Sydney's Adam Goodes caught eyes with Aaron Davey after the Demons forward missed a shot after an electrifying chase during a fiercely contested match at the SCG last season.
As they jogged to their positions, Goodes subtly stuck his hand out near his thigh, Davey slapped it and they got lost in the game again.
"You don't try to do it so everyone can see, but if you watch closely you'll see a little 'low-five', if you can call it that, just to each other, or a pat on the back, or just a quick little wink," Johnson said.
When Johnson reluctantly moved from Melbourne to Brisbane in the wake of the Fitzroy merger in 1996, he took a while to warm to a new club and a new city. The presence of fellow indigenous players Darryl White and Michael McLean made the adjustment easier, and he still hears their advice when young Aboriginal players land at the Lions.
When Anthony Corrie arrived from Darwin a few years ago, he moved in with Johnson and his wife, Vanessa, and their kids, and the 30-year-old feels more than the usual responsibility to help shape the careers of Ash McGrath and a more recent recruit, Rhan Hooper.
There is a brotherhood among indigenous players that transcends their teams and states, which has grown infinitely stronger since Johnson's AFL debut 12 years ago, and which is celebrated by a photograph of all the Aboriginal players in the AFL in The Sunday Age this week at a time when their influence on the game is perhaps greater than ever.
THE Victorian-based players tumble into a photographic studio in St Kilda. They are quiet at first, and then Dean Rioli arrives with his Essendon crew. Instantly the noise rises, as Rioli goes to every player and touches his fist to theirs, slinging an arm around each of them.
Davey is a livewire in life as in football, and darts around winding the others up. But when it comes to talking about his moment with Goodes at the SCG, he is reserved.
"When we play against each other, we look after each other. We give each other a pat on the back," he shrugged, but explains later that when he watches footy on TV, he looks for the Aboriginal players and wants them to do well.
He loved watching Gavin Wanganeen, his older cousin, the most, until the former Essendon and Port Adelaide premiership champion retired on 300 games because of a chronic knee problem.
"I think it's how we've been brought up, to care for each other. There's about 50 of us playing in the AFL and we've got to stay together," Davey said.
In the past few years indigenous camps, started by the AFL Players Association and held before the season in Melbourne, Uluru and Broome, have brought the Aboriginal players closer still, helped younger footballers adjust to the AFL lifestyle, manage their money and, according to Johnson, helped them "learn a bit more about our culture" by visiting Aboriginal communities in remote parts of Australia.
The Aboriginal All-Stars game, Davey says, is cherished above almost all else. "You don't get the chance to play with blokes like Jeff Farmer and Andrew McLeod very often, and we make the most of it and really enjoy it. We've got to go back to our normal clubs, but we do what we have to do and then after the game we catch up and have a chat."
Davey's father and the uncle of hard-working Melbourne defender Matthew Whelan grew up playing footy together in the Northern Territory, and it was Whelan who looked out for Davey when he was taken onto the Demons' rookie list.
"You know you're going to feel safe when you're playing with him, it's like playing with a brother," Davey said. "It's more about helping you enjoy it. He was there for a couple of years on his own after Jeff (Farmer) went over to the Dockers, and if I was the only one at my club I would find it real hard to fit in. He made me feel welcome and we ended up getting Shannon (Motlop) and Byron (Pickett)."
Every club has a similar support network. Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls, who made his debut for Richmond in the Dreamtime game at the MCG and floated through a late point that helped bury the Bombers, felt an instant connection with Andrew Krakouer, who had visited his school in Perth, and moved in with Richard Tambling for a month after he was drafted.
"I looked up to (Michael) Long and Chris Lewis as I was growing up, I would love to even get near the sort of career they had," Oakley-Nicholls said.
"I respect all the other indigenous players because they've had the will to get up and try to make a name for themselves. Hopefully that's what I can do."
In his nine years at Windy Hill, Rioli has frequently returned to the Territory and watched Tambling play. Nowadays, as he wills his creaky knee to get him 100 games, Rioli's breath is taken away by the pace and creativity of the Kangaroos' Daniel Wells.
"I'm waiting for Richie to mature and get games under his belt. It's going to be exciting. He's the one I'm waiting for most, but out of everyone here at the moment Daniel Wells is probably my favourite," said Rioli, who has talked of setting up a player management company for Aboriginal players after he retires.
Rioli's influence among the younger footballers at the studio is obvious, and when photographer John Donegan asks the 100-gamers, and those who are on the verge of 100 games, to stick around for another shot, the men on either side of him — Essendon's Nathan Lovett-Murray and former Bomber Cory McGrath, now with Carlton — each places a hand on his shoulder, a gentle acknowledgement of what the milestone would mean to him.
Rioli continued: "I've played a lot of footy on Matty Whelan, so I get to see first-hand how hard he is to play on.
"A lot of the times earlier on in my career, coaches liked to play Aboriginal players on each other because we know each other's game, we know we've got the flair and we'll take the risk. It's definitely hard, you always have a laugh and a joke when you're out on the field, but go hard at it when the ball's in your area. In the old days when I used to play against Che (Cockatoo-Collins) and Winston Abraham, we used to have a bit of fun on the field, but footy's gone a bit too serious, these days."
Still, it is common to see the Aboriginal players gather in the middle of the ground at game's end. "It's not quite that you go out of your way, it's just natural that you meet in the middle," Rioli said.
"Even though we all come from different states, we've all got the same sense of humour. When we get together, even if it's for a meeting to get something done, it's very hard to be serious. Everyone likes to clown around. It's a good vibe with these guys. You don't get to talk too much football."
In an age when football increasingly works to a plan, and team rules are sacred, the influence of the indigenous players becomes ever more important.
Thanks to the profound achievements of Long, Nicky Winmar, McLean and co in stamping out racial vilification in the AFL, Johnson believes they now get "a fair go" and are appreciated for the exhilarating gifts on show.
"The way the game has embraced us, they know we're electric and a pretty exciting bunch, they know if they can get two or three Aboriginals in their team, they know there's something special is going to happen," Johnson said.
Leon Davis, the first Aboriginal player to notch up 100 games for Collingwood, who has flourished for the Pies this season, is a quiet, private person who nonetheless felt it was important for him to insist on mediation when broadcaster Rex Hunt described him as being "black as a dog" last year, though he accepted Hunt's remark was not intended to be racist.
"It wasn't my intention to make it as big as it was, but it was good just to let the public know that it does happen," Davis said.
These days the maturing 24-year-old is an unofficial mentor to Chris Egan, the young Aboriginal player who came to the Magpies from Rumbalara, around Shepparton, who has been in the VFL this season. The older Magpie has impressed on Egan the importance of a solid work ethic to accompany his innate talents, and speaks from experience.
"I've always been on his back to make him improve, to let him know it's not all talent," Davis said.
As much as Davis will cherish his status as a 100-game Magpie for the rest of his life, he's now looking for "200, 250, see how we go". Naturally, all the players gathered in this photo would dearly love to emulate Wanganeen (a Brownlow medallist and the first Aborigine to play 300 AFL games), Pickett (a dual premiership player) and McLeod (a dual Norm Smith medallist). Equally, like brothers, they play for each other.
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Not specifically about Melbourne, but Whelan,Davey and Pickett are all mentioned and its great to see they are all admired by there fellow aboriginals and the Davey/Goodes slap is good to see, footy really is taking too seriously these days.
LOOK closely during a match, and you might see them wink at one another, or brush hands as they run by. "You sort of do it on the sly, but sometimes you get caught," says Chris Johnson.
Occasionally, Johnson's Brisbane teammates have looked at him quizzically after he has acknowledged an act of brilliance by an Aboriginal opponent and been caught, just as Sydney's Adam Goodes caught eyes with Aaron Davey after the Demons forward missed a shot after an electrifying chase during a fiercely contested match at the SCG last season.
As they jogged to their positions, Goodes subtly stuck his hand out near his thigh, Davey slapped it and they got lost in the game again.
"You don't try to do it so everyone can see, but if you watch closely you'll see a little 'low-five', if you can call it that, just to each other, or a pat on the back, or just a quick little wink," Johnson said.
When Johnson reluctantly moved from Melbourne to Brisbane in the wake of the Fitzroy merger in 1996, he took a while to warm to a new club and a new city. The presence of fellow indigenous players Darryl White and Michael McLean made the adjustment easier, and he still hears their advice when young Aboriginal players land at the Lions.
When Anthony Corrie arrived from Darwin a few years ago, he moved in with Johnson and his wife, Vanessa, and their kids, and the 30-year-old feels more than the usual responsibility to help shape the careers of Ash McGrath and a more recent recruit, Rhan Hooper.
There is a brotherhood among indigenous players that transcends their teams and states, which has grown infinitely stronger since Johnson's AFL debut 12 years ago, and which is celebrated by a photograph of all the Aboriginal players in the AFL in The Sunday Age this week at a time when their influence on the game is perhaps greater than ever.
THE Victorian-based players tumble into a photographic studio in St Kilda. They are quiet at first, and then Dean Rioli arrives with his Essendon crew. Instantly the noise rises, as Rioli goes to every player and touches his fist to theirs, slinging an arm around each of them.
Davey is a livewire in life as in football, and darts around winding the others up. But when it comes to talking about his moment with Goodes at the SCG, he is reserved.
"When we play against each other, we look after each other. We give each other a pat on the back," he shrugged, but explains later that when he watches footy on TV, he looks for the Aboriginal players and wants them to do well.
He loved watching Gavin Wanganeen, his older cousin, the most, until the former Essendon and Port Adelaide premiership champion retired on 300 games because of a chronic knee problem.
"I think it's how we've been brought up, to care for each other. There's about 50 of us playing in the AFL and we've got to stay together," Davey said.
In the past few years indigenous camps, started by the AFL Players Association and held before the season in Melbourne, Uluru and Broome, have brought the Aboriginal players closer still, helped younger footballers adjust to the AFL lifestyle, manage their money and, according to Johnson, helped them "learn a bit more about our culture" by visiting Aboriginal communities in remote parts of Australia.
The Aboriginal All-Stars game, Davey says, is cherished above almost all else. "You don't get the chance to play with blokes like Jeff Farmer and Andrew McLeod very often, and we make the most of it and really enjoy it. We've got to go back to our normal clubs, but we do what we have to do and then after the game we catch up and have a chat."
Davey's father and the uncle of hard-working Melbourne defender Matthew Whelan grew up playing footy together in the Northern Territory, and it was Whelan who looked out for Davey when he was taken onto the Demons' rookie list.
"You know you're going to feel safe when you're playing with him, it's like playing with a brother," Davey said. "It's more about helping you enjoy it. He was there for a couple of years on his own after Jeff (Farmer) went over to the Dockers, and if I was the only one at my club I would find it real hard to fit in. He made me feel welcome and we ended up getting Shannon (Motlop) and Byron (Pickett)."
Every club has a similar support network. Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls, who made his debut for Richmond in the Dreamtime game at the MCG and floated through a late point that helped bury the Bombers, felt an instant connection with Andrew Krakouer, who had visited his school in Perth, and moved in with Richard Tambling for a month after he was drafted.
"I looked up to (Michael) Long and Chris Lewis as I was growing up, I would love to even get near the sort of career they had," Oakley-Nicholls said.
"I respect all the other indigenous players because they've had the will to get up and try to make a name for themselves. Hopefully that's what I can do."
In his nine years at Windy Hill, Rioli has frequently returned to the Territory and watched Tambling play. Nowadays, as he wills his creaky knee to get him 100 games, Rioli's breath is taken away by the pace and creativity of the Kangaroos' Daniel Wells.
"I'm waiting for Richie to mature and get games under his belt. It's going to be exciting. He's the one I'm waiting for most, but out of everyone here at the moment Daniel Wells is probably my favourite," said Rioli, who has talked of setting up a player management company for Aboriginal players after he retires.
Rioli's influence among the younger footballers at the studio is obvious, and when photographer John Donegan asks the 100-gamers, and those who are on the verge of 100 games, to stick around for another shot, the men on either side of him — Essendon's Nathan Lovett-Murray and former Bomber Cory McGrath, now with Carlton — each places a hand on his shoulder, a gentle acknowledgement of what the milestone would mean to him.
Rioli continued: "I've played a lot of footy on Matty Whelan, so I get to see first-hand how hard he is to play on.
"A lot of the times earlier on in my career, coaches liked to play Aboriginal players on each other because we know each other's game, we know we've got the flair and we'll take the risk. It's definitely hard, you always have a laugh and a joke when you're out on the field, but go hard at it when the ball's in your area. In the old days when I used to play against Che (Cockatoo-Collins) and Winston Abraham, we used to have a bit of fun on the field, but footy's gone a bit too serious, these days."
Still, it is common to see the Aboriginal players gather in the middle of the ground at game's end. "It's not quite that you go out of your way, it's just natural that you meet in the middle," Rioli said.
"Even though we all come from different states, we've all got the same sense of humour. When we get together, even if it's for a meeting to get something done, it's very hard to be serious. Everyone likes to clown around. It's a good vibe with these guys. You don't get to talk too much football."
In an age when football increasingly works to a plan, and team rules are sacred, the influence of the indigenous players becomes ever more important.
Thanks to the profound achievements of Long, Nicky Winmar, McLean and co in stamping out racial vilification in the AFL, Johnson believes they now get "a fair go" and are appreciated for the exhilarating gifts on show.
"The way the game has embraced us, they know we're electric and a pretty exciting bunch, they know if they can get two or three Aboriginals in their team, they know there's something special is going to happen," Johnson said.
Leon Davis, the first Aboriginal player to notch up 100 games for Collingwood, who has flourished for the Pies this season, is a quiet, private person who nonetheless felt it was important for him to insist on mediation when broadcaster Rex Hunt described him as being "black as a dog" last year, though he accepted Hunt's remark was not intended to be racist.
"It wasn't my intention to make it as big as it was, but it was good just to let the public know that it does happen," Davis said.
These days the maturing 24-year-old is an unofficial mentor to Chris Egan, the young Aboriginal player who came to the Magpies from Rumbalara, around Shepparton, who has been in the VFL this season. The older Magpie has impressed on Egan the importance of a solid work ethic to accompany his innate talents, and speaks from experience.
"I've always been on his back to make him improve, to let him know it's not all talent," Davis said.
As much as Davis will cherish his status as a 100-game Magpie for the rest of his life, he's now looking for "200, 250, see how we go". Naturally, all the players gathered in this photo would dearly love to emulate Wanganeen (a Brownlow medallist and the first Aborigine to play 300 AFL games), Pickett (a dual premiership player) and McLeod (a dual Norm Smith medallist). Equally, like brothers, they play for each other.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Not specifically about Melbourne, but Whelan,Davey and Pickett are all mentioned and its great to see they are all admired by there fellow aboriginals and the Davey/Goodes slap is good to see, footy really is taking too seriously these days.
