Indigenous Sport Month: Essendon’s Indigenous players speak ahead of Dreamtime at the G
Essendon is aiming to reclaim its mantle as one of the leaders in the AFL’s Indigenous community, with reborn star Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti leading the charge.
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They call it the “Yarning Circle” and it holds the key to the next chapter of the Essendon Football Club’s long and proud history involving Indigenous footballers.
It’s the weekly meeting place at the Bombers’ Hangar home base for the club’s six Indigenous AFL players – Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, twins Alwyn and Jayden Davey, Tex Wanganeen, Anthony Munkara and Alastair Lord.
The tradition of the Yarning Circle is an important process in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities where a collective group seeks to build respectful relationships, learns from each other and seeks to preserve and pass on cultural knowledge.
In Essendon’s version, the six young men also talk about their footy, their journeys, their challenges and their lives outside of the club.
The club’s player development manager Quinton Narkle — the former Cat who is playing with the Bombers’ VFL team — helps set up the meetings along with former Bomber and now Indigenous player development manager Paddy Ryder.
In the short space of five months, it’s become a connecting point for the players, ranging from 30-year-old McDonald-Tipungwuti who is relishing a second shot at AFL football, to first-year Bombers the Davey twins and Munkara who are seeking to make their mark.
“It’s unreal,” Alwyn Davey said. “It’s all about getting to know each other better and getting around each other, and talking about how we are all going.
“Quinton organises most of it for us, but it has been great for us young boys to express ourselves, especially those of us who are pretty new to the club.”
Jayden agreed: “It just connects all the brothers together. If we have something on our mind, we are comfortable enough to speak and talk through any issues we might have.
“It has made us feel more comfortable at the club, particularly those of us in our first year.”
Essendon has had 36 First Nations players wear the red and black, dating back to Norm McDonald, the club’s first Indigenous player, who played 128 games from 1947-53 and won the Bombers’ best and fairest in 1951.
This year marks 30 years since two of the club’s greatest Aboriginal players, Michael Long and Gavin Wanganeen, played significant roles in the 1993 premiership side. Long won the Norm Smith Medal and Wanganeen won the Brownlow Medal that season.
But after a challenging few decades on and off the field, one of the key recommendations of a searching review into Essendon’s operations late last year was to reset the club to once more become a destination for all Indigenous talent around the nation.
The Bombers aimed to make it a priority to nurture Indigenous players and staff and to help them better achieve their professional and personal goals.
Some of the initiatives such as the Yarning Circle have been organic; others have been more strategically planned as the Bombers look to restore its leadership position within the Indigenous community.
One of the recommendations was appointing the club’s first Indigenous board member, former star Dean Rioli, who now chairs the new Essendon ‘First Nations Advisory Council’.
The Council will provide leadership on cultural safety and oversee the revamped Indigenous development program.
Essendon this week became one of the AFL clubs, alongside their Dreamtime opponent Richmond and their Anzac Day rivals Collingwood, to support a First Nations Voice to parliament in the upcoming referendum.
Michael Long, whose Long Walk from Melbourne to Canberra in 2004 helped to raise awareness for important issues for Indigenous people at a national level, said he couldn’t be more proud of his club, nor the game he excelled at.
“I think we have done a lot of heavy lifting (to educate) and hopefully it is now our time to come together as a nation,” Long said.
As Essendon prepares to take on Richmond in a sellout Dreamtime clash on Saturday night, Essendon captain Zach Merrett applauded the club’s direction.
“We have had a long history with Indigenous players all the way back to Norm McDonald in the ’40s and ’50s … he is on our wall at the Hangar,” Merrett said.
“We’ve had some great Indigenous players including Michael Long and Gavin Wanganeen, and I was lucky enough to play alongside Paddy Ryder, Courtenay Dempsey and Leroy Jetta when I got to the club.
“Richmond has probably led the way in the last decade … They have had so many Indigenous players and they have supported them so well. I think we are getting back to that stage and it’s fitting we get to play Richmond every year in the Dreamtime game.”
The Herald Sun was this week able to get five of the six current Essendon Indigenous players together – Lord was unavailable – for a photo ahead of the Dreamtime and VFL clashes between the Bombers and the Tigers.
ANTHONY McDONALD-TIPUNGWUTI
Age: 30
Games: 130
Cultural group: Tiwi
Recruited from: Tiwi Bombers (NT)/Gippsland U18s (Vic)/Essendon VFL
Favourite current Indigenous player: “I enjoy watching Daniel Rioli. He is having a phenomenal season. Hopefully he gets the All-Australian he missed out on last year.”
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti all but farewelled Essendon after sitting in the stands at last year’s Dreamtime clash; now he hopes to stay for as long as the club will have him.
Given the impact he has made on the club in his time there, and on the people of all backgrounds who have followed his journey, it could be for a few more years to come.
“It was my last day on the ground, cheering on the boys, being at the race and tossing the coin,” McDonald-Tipungwuti said of last year’s Dreamtime clash.
Soon after that match, having already retired from the game due to motivation, form and fitness issues, McDonald-Tipungwuti set out on a road trip around Australia with his blue-heeler Drover. He found communities willing to hear his story, scenery that filled his Instagram account and something more important – a renewed sense of himself.
He also found the motivation to return to the game that had been such an intrinsic part of his life and to the club that had given him a chance.
“It was a great journey,” he said. “My sister (Nicki) planned the trip … and my mum was there. I was like, ‘Well, I am retired now, I have got nothing on, so I might as well go and see the country towns and give something back to the community’.
“I went from Melbourne through the middle to Coober Pedy, Alice Springs, Katherine, Darwin, Kununurra, Broome and all the way down to Perth. Then we went to Esperance, then across the Nullarbor and all the way back home.”
The road back to Melbourne was also a road back to AFL football.
It was the dream of playing in another Dreamtime game that fuelled his decision to return.
“I’ve always looked forward to Dreamtime. It is a special round for Indigenous people around Australia. Hopefully it is now a special round for all Australians,” he said.
He couldn’t be more proud of the club’s recent initiatives.
“We have a great history between the Essendon Football Club and the Indigenous community. It’s great for the club to show leadership and support and to let our fans know it is not just important for them and for us, but also for all Australians,” he said.
McDonald-Tipungwuti feels like a father-figure to Essendon’s Indigenous teenagers.
“They are keeping me young. We have the Davey twins as well as Anthony (Munkara) and Tex (Wanganeen) and Alastair Lord,” he said.
“Hopefully I can stick around to guide these boys become the players and the people we want them to be.”
ALWYN DAVEY
Age: 19
Games: 7
Cultural group: Kokatha
Recruited from: Palmerston (NT)/Ashburton (Vic)/ Xavier College (Vic)/Oakleigh U18s
Favourite current Indigenous player: “Walla (McDonald-Tipungwuti) is getting back to his prime, but I love Shai Bolton too. What he does and what he brings to the game is great.”
JAYDEN DAVEY
Age: 19
Games: Yet to debut
Cultural group: Kokatha
Recruited from: Palmerston (NT)/Ashburton (Vic)/ Xavier College (Vic)/Oakleigh U18s
Favourite current Indigenous player: “I grew up an Essendon supporter, so I loved Tippa (McDonald-Tipungwuti) and it is so good to have him back. I am a big fan of Shai Bolton and Tyson Stengle.”
If it hadn’t been for a selection call made by an unlikely source a decade ago, Essendon’s Davey twins, Alwyn Jr and Jayden, might be wearing different colours.
Instead, they look set for long careers at the same club their dad Alwyn Sr played 100 games with from 2007 to 2013.
Their father was coming to the end of his time with the Bombers and heading into the last round of the 2013 season sat on 99 games. Now Melbourne coach and then Bombers assistant Simon Goodwin stood in as coach for a suspended James Hird for the Round 23 clash with Richmond.
He selected Alwyn, and in doing so, guaranteed his sons would be eligible to play for the Bombers under the father-son rule.
Alwyn Jr and Jayden – who were nine in 2013 – couldn’t be happy a decade on.
“I remember walking out with him that day, and running through the banner,” Alwyn Jr said. “It’s an unreal feeling that we have been able to come to the club we wanted to. We’ve played our footy together all the way through so to be able to keep doing that is so special.”
Alwyn Jr has been impressive in seven games this year, while Jayden is recovering from an ACL and has an eye on breaking into the senior team next year.
“It’s special to be here at Essendon,” Jayden said. “That’s just not for Alwyn and myself, but also for mum and dad.”
“Dad was excited to reach the 100 games (in 2013) as he knew something like this could happen.”
The family connection goes even further. The twins are closely related to Tex Wanganeen – their dads were cousins.
TEX WANGANEEN
Age: 19
Games: 5
Cultural group: Kokatha/Narangga
Recruited from: Sturt U16s/Prince Alfred College (SA)/Xavier College (Vic)
Favourite current Indigenous player: “Walla (McDonald-Tipungwuti) has been a mentor for us, teaching us the ropes. But I’ve also got to say Shai Bolton.”
As a kid growing up with a famous surname, Tex Wanganeen used to barrack for draws whenever Essendon played Port Adelaide.
His dad Gavin won a Brownlow Medal and a premiership with the Bombers 30 years ago, but also won a flag with the Power in 2004 – 11 months after Tex was born.
“I couldn’t choose back then, but I can now,” Tex said.
The 19-year-old couldn’t be more impressed with the way in which the club has treated him since being SSP selection in early 2022.
“It’s a dream come true for me, following in my dad’s footsteps,” he said. “They (Essendon) had the faith in me to pick me up.
“It’s the best thing, especially with the connection behind it with my father, but also the club’s history with Indigenous players.
“Dad has spoken a little bit about the traditions and Longy (Michael Long) was talking about it to us this week. It makes you proud to be a part of a club that has supported Indigenous and Torres Strait Island people … they have helped, acknowledged and educated people on Indigenous culture.”
He played all five of his AFL games last year, but is working diligently to make his mark at senior level again.
ANTHONY MUNKARA
Age: 18
Games: Yet to debut
Cultural group: Tiwi
Recruited from: Tiwi Bombers/NT Thunder/Westminster School (SA)/West Adelaide U18s
Favourite current Indigenous player: “It has to be Walla (McDonald-Tipungwuti), but in the past it would have been Cyril Rioli and Shaun Burgoyne.”
Essendon rookie Anthony Munkara is about to get his first real taste of the MCG – and he couldn’t be more excited.
He will run out for the Bombers’ VFL side against Richmond on Saturday.
“It’s exciting to get the chance to play on the MCG,” Munkara said. “I’m used to watching it on the TV.”
Munkara, 18, was picked up as a Next Generation Academy rookie late last season after spending some time with the Bombers early last year when he lived for a time with fellow Tiwi Islander Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti.
“I stayed with Walla last year before he went on his trip,” Munkara said. “He understands me because we come from the same community.”
Munkara now lives with Tex Wanganeen. He has played seven VFL games and while he is still a raw talent, he has an X-factor about him.
He is loving his time with the Bombers, even if the city’s descent into winter is taking some getting used to.
“I am loving it here. The weather is getting colder, but I am getting used to it,” he said.
“Essendon is like a family for me as my family is back home.”
Now he’s dreaming of being out there for the AFL Dreamtime match next year.
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Originally published as Indigenous Sport Month: Essendon’s Indigenous players speak ahead of Dreamtime at the G
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