A disturbing trend is emerging in the AFL with a decline in the number of Indigenous players and coaches at the elite level.
The concern has prompted new AFL boss Andrew Dillon to examine strengthening the league’s diversity policies and reverse its decision to weaken the rules around Next Generation academies.
Bulldogs star Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.Credit: AFL Photos
In figures that have also been reflected in the game at the national under-18 and under-16 level, fewer Indigenous players have been recruited on a year-by-year basis since 2020. There have been 34 Indigenous players drafted in that time, while 44 have been delisted or retired.
Despite the AFL encouraging clubs to employ Indigenous coaches by placing a proportion of their wages outside the football department soft cap, only one full-time assistant – Xavier Clarke at Richmond – is working in the men’s competition. Only eight of the 18 clubs boast an Indigenous board member despite a policy recommendation from head office that every club do so.
Dillon, the CEO-elect, confirmed he was looking at reasons for the downward trend and acknowledged the competition had perhaps over-reacted in toughening up its Next Generation academy rules after the Western Bulldogs took their star NGA recruit Jamarra Ugle-Hagan at pick No.1 in the 2020 national draft.
Next Generation academies were introduced to attract players from Indigenous and multicultural backgrounds, with clubs incentivised through draft concessions to develop the talent in their designated region.
The AFL commission will next month consider a proposal to make it easier for clubs to recruit players from their academies. Dillon said his diversity team, led by Paul Vandenbergh and Xavier Moloney, had been examining the Indigenous numbers to help form a recommendation.
Since the Ugle-Hagan draft, clubs have been prevented from taking their academy players without trading for picks unless they fall outside the top 40 in the draft. In future only the first round of the draft is expected to be off-limits to Next Generation academy players.
Underlining the wider concern, the AFL Players Association has appointed Indigenous leader and former AFL Indigenous boss Jason Mifsud to chair its restructured and bolstered Indigenous advisory board.
“In recent years the specific cultural rights and interests of Indigenous players have been ignored far too often and I’m determined to support the players’ association to address this,” Mifsud said.
Aliir Aliir marks during Port Adelaide’s win over Geelong.Credit: AFL Photos
Mifsud first raised his concerns regarding the conflicts and other challenges facing players in chairing such player-led boards to association boss Paul Marsh after Taylor Walker’s 2021 racial slur directed at North Adelaide’s Robbie Young. Of the falling Indigenous numbers, Mifsud said: “My passion is to make the game more diverse and more welcoming for every corner of society. The data would say the trends are going against that and the data is concerning.”
Of the three-year decline in Indigenous numbers, Dillon said: “It’s certainly something we’re aware of. And it’s a trend we certainly don’t want to continue. The NGAs are an important pillar because we want a game that represents our entire country. In terms of the NGAs I think we over-corrected and the formula lies somewhere in between.”
Of the 11 footballers of Sudanese background playing in the AFL, 10 emerged through the NGA system. Port Adelaide’s Aliir Aliir was drafted by the Swans before the diversity academies existed.
Dillon said it was far too soon to draw conclusions from the publication of historic allegations directed at Hawthorn from a number of Indigenous players, which some club observers fear could act as a deterrent to both clubs and Indigenous athletes looking at entering the AFL system.
Aliesha Newman with the Indigenous jumper she designed for the Demons in 2021.
In state terms the numbers in WA at under-18 and under-16 level are alarming and in Victoria only one Indigenous player – Jade Gresham’s brother Tyson – has emerged in either the country or metropolitan teams in the past three years. Recruiters also noticed the dearth of Indigenous talent in Ballarat this week at the soon-to-be-completed national under-15 championships.
Dillon – who comes into the top job with strong experience in game development – shared the view of a number of recruiters that clubs were generally taking a more conservative approach in both the national draft and with their rookie lists and the COVID-19 cuts could also have influenced the downward trend.
AFLPA boss Marsh said the new Mifsud-chaired board had moved from a pure players board to a more experienced and independent body in line with the association’s recently formed human rights steering committee, formed in recognition of recent alleged human rights failings endured at Essendon, Collingwood, Adelaide and Hawthorn.
“Our players add so much value,” said Marsh, “and they are good at identifying problems, but we felt it was crucial to bring generational experience, skills and expertise to handling some of the challenges that the game inevitably faces.”
Both Mifsud and Human Rights chair Kristen Hilton have played roles in the current CBA negotiations.
Of the downward trend in Indigenous numbers, Marsh said: “It’s not something the AFL has spoken to us about. Our job is to look after players while they are in the system and help them as they transition out of the game. [But] as a general comment it’s an issue when you consider the rich Indigenous history of our game and given how much Indigenous players have to offer going forward.”
Senior Aboriginal medical practitioner Ngiare Brown has also joined the bolstered Indigenous advisory board along with seven players: Ally Anderson, Gemma Houghton, Jarman Impey, Aliesha Newman, Natalie Plane, Chad Wingard and Zac Williams.
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