Trailblazers Phil and Jimmy Krakouer are proud to see Aboriginal players getting a fair shake

Thirty years after exploding on to the VFL, indigenous trailblazers Jim and Phil Krakouer are proud to see Aboriginal players getting a fair shake.

Phil Krakouer

PHIL Krakouer was a kid trying to forge his way in the football world, a highly talented youngster who liked to begin his games by shaking an opponent's hand.

It was the way he and older brother Jimmy had been taught - to play the game hard but never forget sportsmanship.

So out went his hand in a match back in the early 1980s accompanied by the time-honoured words, "Good luck, mate."

What came back has stuck with Krakouer for every one of his 30 years: "I don't shake hands with b---gs, they smell."

Phil Krakouer's reaction was to beat his opponent with skill, while brother Jimmy resorted to delivering some well-executed punches with either hand.

For Phil, it was a time when "many people still viewed Aboriginals as uncivilised, black, smelly and likely to go walkabout''.

Phil Krakouer

"I would like to think that Jimmy and I helped change those perceptions, just as Syd Jackson had before us. We are proud of our contribution, and that of blokes like Robbie Muir and Maurice Rioli,'' Phil, 53, said.

Jimmy, 54, knows today's AFL would have provided a far better working environment.

"Had we played in this era with all the protection against racism it would have been easier,'' he said.

"I wouldn't have been reported as often (16 times for nine guilty verdicts and 25 weeks in suspensions).

"You know, it wasn't until the late 1960s that Aboriginals were recognised as a race so everything was still new. The education of people has got so much better.

"My way of dealing with it was to retaliate. It was spur of the moment, never held grudges. I wasn't a dirty player, but I thought if someone wasn't being fair to me I would respond.

"I remember big Jimbo Stynes. A fight broke out and I went in to break it up. I was a good guy that day. Then Jimmy slung me into the fence so I whacked him. I had a yarn and a laugh with Big Jimbo years later.''

The struggle they faced in an uneducated environment was raised by the brothers on Thursday when they spoke with North Melbourne's players at the bequest of Lindsay Thomas, one of two indigenous players on the Kangaroos' list.

For 22-year-old midfielder Jack Ziebell it was a moment of enlightenment.

"They explained how they had to be out of their town by 6pm otherwise the police would arrest them,'' Ziebell said.

Krakouers

"It opens your eyes to see how lucky we are today and it's becoming better every day. I have never heard racist remarks in my career and wouldn't be too happy if I did.

"Fortunately, there has been so much education over the last four to five years. Even in junior programs we were getting racial vilification talks.

"Hopefully, the AFL has just about gone past on-field racial abuse and we are all equal.''

The Krakouer brothers were born to Eric and Phoebe in Mt Barker, 350km south of Perth.

They are descended from an English-Polish Jewish convict named Theodore Krakouer, who married a Noongar woman.

They were raised on a reserve without electricity and where disease was rife (two of Jim and Phil's siblings died young).

To escape the poverty the boys spent their days perfecting rare skills with a plastic footy.

When Western Australian Football League team Claremont came knocking in the late 1970s the boys were ready, first Jimmy in 1977 followed by Phil the next season.

They took the WAFL by storm, culminating in a pulsating 1981 grand final victory over the Mal Brown-coached South Fremantle, a team containing indigenous guns in Maurice Rioli, Stephen Michael, Benny Vigona and Basil Campbell.

Brown, who was as happy with a fight as a feed, recalls it as a particularly fiery encounter.

Krakouers

"Early in the game Basil Campbell ran at Jimmy and if he connected Jimmy would have landed at Rottnest Island. Stephen Michael pulled Jimmy out of the way, that's how fair Stephen was,'' Brown laughed.

"I first saw the brothers at Mt Barker when I was coaching Claremont and didn't need long to tell they would be stars.''

After that grand final, North Melbourne and Geelong were locked in a battle for the brothers, North being represented by their indigenous coach Barry Cable and the Cats relying on the influence of Graham "Polly'' Farmer, prompting the headline "Polly Wants A Krakouer''.

But the Kangaroos also had a very skilled negotiator in CEO Ron Joseph, who offered the brothers a guaranteed contract as distinct from Geelong wanting them to sign on a performance basis.

They went on to enjoy strong careers at Arden St - Phil playing 141 games (224 goals) with North Melbourne from 1982-90 and Jimmy 134 games (229 goals) 1982-89.

"The North crowd loved them from that first game in 1982 against Richmond at the MCG,'' Joseph said.

"How good were they? Well, I have no doubt Jimmy should have won the Brownlow in 1985 but for a disgraceful tribunal decision, probably the worst I have ever seen.

"They gave him six weeks for kicking Melbourne's Alan Jarrott. It was an accidental trip.''

At the time Krakouer had polled 14 votes in the Brownlow in 16 rounds.

The winner that year, Footscray's Brad Hardie, finished with 22 votes from 22 matches.

Donald McDonald, who made his North Melbourne debut alongside the brothers in 1982, shakes his head when recalling their on-field magic.

"They just had this vision which we had never seen before,'' he said.

"Originally, we thought they were sharing the ball, but it was because they were both in the best position to receive the ball. When one went for it the other would back him to win possession and run to the best spot.

"Jimmy was a 168cm enforcer. He just had a real presence about him, unbelievable courage and great skill. I thought he was a leader in the way he attacked the ball. He inspired us.

"Phil could do things that other players couldn't. John Kennedy would isolate him one out in the forward 50, such was his ability to win one-on-ones. There has never been a double act like Phil and Jimmy.

"Carlton wanted North Melbourne to play in England in the 1980s and it was because of the Krakouer brothers, they wanted to showcase them.

"They were both good blokes, incredibly loyal. Jimmy liked the more exciting part of life, whereas Phil was more a stay-at-home type. But Phil was cheekier and Jimmy quieter.''

Phil lives today in Melbourne and remains a passionate North man, claiming Brad Scott is the right man to lead the club deep into September.

Jimmy is Perth-based, having recently been working in the mines up Port Headland way.

He watches the Kangaroos on TV.

"We've got some good players,'' Jimmy said.

"Wellsy (Daniel Wells), old Boomer (Brent Harvey), Lindsay (Thomas), number seven (Jack Ziebell) and Big Firrit (Michael Firrito).

"And I love watching my son, Andrew, with the Magpies.

"I don't say much to him because they have enough coaches already.''