Lance Franklin and Shaun Burgoyne to headline AFL Indigenous All Stars Summit hosted by Port Adelaide

Australian football’s biggest indigenous names, headlined by Lance Franklin and Shaun Burgoyne, will be flanked by their club executives and AFL Commissioners in Adelaide next week for an historic summit hosted by the Power.

Port Adelaide's indigenous players: Back: Sam Powell-Pepper and Paddy Ryder: Front: Tobin Cox, Joel Garner, Steven Motlop, Karl Amon, Aidyn Johnson, Jarrod Lienert with Aboriginal programs manager Paul Vandenbergh, centre. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe.

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Football’s biggest indigenous names headlined by Lance Franklin and Shaun Burgoyne will be flanked by their club executives and AFL Commissioners in Adelaide next week for an historic summit hosted by the Power.

The Indigenous All Stars Summit, ran by the AFL and AFLPA, will be held in SA for the first time when 140 players and industry leaders gather for four days of workshops, cultural celebrations and training from Sunday.

But more significantly for the first time the summit will also include non-Aboriginal participants including players, CEO’s and presidents who were invited in a show of unity across the competition.

They will come together on Monday to carve their own boomerangs and take part in traditional dance.

The All Stars camp is typically held every second year and has previously been in Perth and Alice Springs.

Last August Port Adelaide’s Aboriginal programs manager Paul Vandenbergh presented a plan alongside Geelong premiership player Mathew Stokes and the AFL’s inclusion and social policy manager Tanya Hosch to the league’s competition committee about bringing the camp to Adelaide.

“I’ve been to the last three camps and they’ve always been really successful and a great opportunity for the players,” Vandenbergh said.

“But my thinking was there has been a gap for the rest of the industry to come into it as well, and the more we can bring non-Aboriginal people into our space the more we understand each other and get better as a society.

“I contacted Tanya and asked would we have the opportunity to host it at Port Adelaide and she was very supportive and confident in us because of the programs and work we have already done.”

Collingwood’s Travis Varcoe, pictured with West Coast’s Lewis Jetta and Willie Rioli after the 2018 AFL Grand Final. Picture: Michael Klein

About 83 Aboriginal players from rival clubs including Burgoyne, Franklin, Eddie Betts, Daniel Wells, Chad Wingard and Travis Varcoe will meet in Adelaide on Sunday and spend four days doing workshops, community visits including to Point Pearce on the Yorke Peninsula, and hold an open training session at uni loop in North Adelaide.

The University of Adelaide has partnered with the summit to provide its lecture theatres, gym and training grounds for the event.

“The feedback I’ve had from talking to players like Shauny Burgoyne is it’s a great opportunity for them to connect with the younger guys and mentor them,” Vandenbergh said.

“So the guys are really excited, they love the cultural element to it and sharing it with non-Aboriginal people as well.”

Former Power big-man Jackson Trengove has put his hand up to represent the Western Bulldogs which is the only team in the competition without an indigenous player currently on its list while Patrick Dangerfield will represent both Geelong and the AFL’s competition committee.

Port Adelaide legend Gavin Wanganeen at Alberton Oval after being appointed to the Port Adelaide board. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

Players will also hear from the newly formed Indigenous Past Players Alliance with Gavin Wanganeen, Des Headland and Michael O’Loughlin speaking about life after footy.

“I feel really proud of Port Adelaide and the support I get from Kochie (David Koch), Keith Thomas and the board to allow a dream of mine and my team to do this,” Vandenbergh said.

“It’s quite unique and as we know football and sport can be such a powerful tool for this sort of message so I’m really excited about it.”

As well as celebrating Aboriginal culture, Port Adelaide chief executive Keith Thomas said the summit would address an important issue of which he will present to clubs during the week.

“It’s a great privilege for the industry to choose Port Adelaide and there is recognition of what we’re doing in the industry space which we are very proud of,” Thomas said.

“So we’re looking forward to welcoming industry leaders to talk about this ongoing issue which is too many really talented indigenous players finding their way into the AFL but not having the length of career they should have.

“And a lot of that has to do with the support that we as clubs are able to put around them.

“I think our game has been at the forefront of this changing level of acknowledgment that the journey many indigenous players take to the get to the AFL is to overcome enormous obstacles, and when they get there it’s incumbent upon us to provide the best environment possible to get the most out of their opportunity.”