Racism in the AFL: A former Indigenous liaison officer says casual racism is rife throughout the league

“Is his white girlfriend moving over? Are his family members caught up in jail?” A former liaison officer details the shocking way Indigenous players have been treated.

A former Indigenous liaison officer who dealt with several AFL clubs and player managers says casual racism is rife in the industry.

A mentor to state league Indigenous players hoping to get drafted, he said he was often appalled by the questions asked about young players.

They included whether the player had a white girlfriend, a young family, or a family “mob’’ with a history of crime and imprisonment.

The mentor, who did not want to be named, worked for a Western Australia sports management company between 2013 and 2016.

He spoke to Melbourne clubs and sports managers during that time.

He has broken his silence after harrowing allegations by former Hawthorn Indigenous players were reported last week and led to coaches Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan standing down pending an AFL investigation.

The Indigenous liaison officer has spoken out after hearing the Hawthorn allegations. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

“This stuff has weighed heavily on me for the past eight to 10 years or so, and hearing what allegedly happened at Hawthorn, I believe there’s stuff still happening at state level and with player managers as well,” the mentor said.

His role was to help sign Indigenous players “in a culturally safe way” because around the country many “have different cultural obligations and beliefs”.

“Many come from broken families and had suffered intergenerational trauma, and what I discovered as a young Indigenous man myself was continuous casual racism,” he said.

“One of the young Indigenous players I mentored got drafted to a club and he was told not to speak to me after I had mentored him through two years of absurd media.’’

The mentor moved to Melbourne to support the player at the request of the player’s family.

“Leading up to the draft, I was continuously asked if he had a white girlfriend because that would suit AFL clubs, that he had a white girlfriend,’’ the mentor said.

Asked which clubs, he said: “Pretty much the whole AFL system – clubs in Melbourne.

“They would ask if it was a broken family, they asked if his Indigenous family members were caught up in jail, they asked if his white girlfriend would be moving over because they felt him having a white girlfriend that they’d be better off in the AFL system.’’

He claimed clubs and agents didn’t want to recruit Indigenous players because they had young families.

“They wouldn’t touch them because … if they had young families, it would be too much to deal with,” he said.

“One young Indigenous player was told that he wouldn’t be able to bring his young family over because he would have to concentrate on football if they selected him.’’

No Room For Racism written on the wrist tape of Eddie Betts in 2021. Picture: Michael Klein

He said a WA club footy boss told him: “All blacks are the same, they are all the same because they won’t put in the hard yards and will go walkabout.’’

He added that a player manager said the AFL system was “more equipped to deal with Indigenous people than Indigenous people dealing with Indigenous people’’.

“Because, he said, Indigenous people would bring drama,’’ he said. “That’s a massive insult because our culture is built around family.

“I missed out on (signing) a few Indigenous players because agents were buying second-hand cars for Indigenous families just to sign them up

“There was another Indigenous player, who was playing for a team in Melbourne. He was a fringe player and he used to tell me his agent would not speak to him unless he got selected in the senior side.’’

He said he departed the industry dismayed by the environment.

“I have grave concerns about the whole industry,’’ he said.

He said experienced player agents would call him and abuse him for “trying to take their players’’.

“I used to say, ‘I’m not taking any players, I’m just talking to my brother boys’,” he said.

Last week, Eddie Betts called for all clubs to review their historical treatment of Indigenous players amid the fallout from the fresh racism storm at Hawthorn.