Email urging AFL to act on risk of Indigenous decline revealed as unwanted history beckons

Almost four years ago, the AFL were warned. Now — as Jade Gresham races the fitness clock — the Bombers may not field an Indigenous player in its Dreamtime clash for the first time ever.

Former Essendon list boss Adrian Dodoro lobbied the AFL four years ago to introduce a rule making it mandatory to recruit one Indigenous player per club as part of a new fully-funded rookie initiative.

In an email to former CEO Gillon McLachlan and current CEO Andrew Dillon in September 2021, Dodoro said the game was at risk of losing “Indigenous flair that we have seen over many years” and that his concerns around Indigenous recruiting were falling on “deaf ears”.

It comes as Essendon may not field an Indigenous player in its ‘Dreamtime at the G’ game against Richmond on Friday night for the first time in its 21-season history amid a declaration from former Essendon star Dean Rioli the game was “going backwards” for First Nations people.

The Bombers have only two Indigenous players on their list and will assess Jade Gresham (adductor) and Alwyn Davey Jr (VFL) at training this week for the clash against the Tigers at the MCG after a 91-point hammering from Western Bulldogs.

Jade Gresham‘s injury could hand Essendon a piece of unwanted history. Picture: Michael Klein

Only one Indigenous player, Hawthorn’s Cody Anderson (pick 64), was taken in the national draft last year, leaving the league with 62 Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island players, down sharply from 87 only five years ago in 2020.

AFL CEO Dillon on Friday sent a memo to clubs calling for feedback on “what more we can do” to improve “elite environments” for Indigenous and culturally diverse players amid the recruitment drop-off.

But the Herald Sun can reveal Dodoro, who moved on from the Bombers last year after 30 years in the game, proposed a shake-up of the club’s rookie rules to ensure each club drafted at least one Indigenous player per year.

Dodoro said the game was becoming too “system-based” for some Indigenous players from remote communities and that clubs were not being incentivised enough to take the chance on raw Indigenous talents.

“It should be mandatory for each club to recruit one additional Indigenous player onto their list on a 12-month contract,” Dodoro said in the email.

“This would be in the form of a scholarship and would have an educational component attached to it.

“We could make a real difference in helping Indigenous youth and bridge the gap.

“We are not are not actually providing the necessary incentives for Indigenous youth to play the game under the current system.”

McLachlan said in his response the proposal “feels like a good idea on face value” but it went nowhere.

Led by legendary former coach Kevin Sheedy, Essendon has been a trailblazer in Indigenous recruitment and played at least one Indigenous player in each of its 20 Dreamtime games including greats Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Paddy Ryder, Nathan Lovett-Murray and Alwyn Davey.

It would be sad to see no Indigenous player represent Essendon in the match. Picture: Michael Klein

But the league’s showcase Indigenous event on Friday night at the MCG could yet be missing an Indigenous Essendon player for the first time.

Former Essendon board member and star forward Dean Rioli said Indigenous participation would continue to regress unless more effort and funding was directed at supporting Indigenous pathway programs and state league initiatives.

Rioli, who played 100 games for the Bombers, said the cultural gap between remote communities and the professional demands of an AFL club had never been greater.

“Right now it (Indigenous participation rates at AFL level) is going backwards,” Rioli told the Herald Sun.

“Whatever the AFL is doing is not working. It doesn’t mean it can’t improve.

“It’s where the AFL needs to support the foundations (such as the Eddie Betts Foundation and Pauly Vandenbergh’s Tjindu Foundation) and having a look at whether clubs are resourced and set up right once the player gets there, and is the AFL grassroots funding really reaching the areas that it should be?

Former Bomber Dean Rioli.

“We hope there is going to be a spike because at the moment it is tracking in the wrong direction.

“There is just a monster, monster gap between say the Tiwi Bombers to where Maurice and Daniel (Rioli) are at right now.

“It is a really big challenge getting these kids to leave their homes (from regional areas) and get them to live a Victorian lifestyle, or Adelaide or Perth.”

Richmond speedster Rhyan Mansell, who is a proud Palawa man, designed the Tigers’ Dreamtime Guernsey and will play on Friday night.

The AFL is currently managing the exit of its most senior Indigenous representative Tanya Hosch after missing the launch of the league’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round in Darwin last week.

Originally published as Email urging AFL to act on risk of Indigenous decline revealed as unwanted history beckons