AFL teams take a knee as season reboots

The entire Collingwood and Richmond teams, along with match officials, kneel in the centre of the eerily empty MCG.

Players take a knee to support the Black Lives Matter movement at the MCG. Picture: Getty Images

Shortly before the siren sounded to resume an extraordinary AFL season on Thursday night, every Richmond and Collingwood footballer featuring in the historic match sank to a knee in the middle of the MCG.

The gesture in support of the Black Lives Matter movement was ticked off by both clubs and the AFL as the Melbourne rivals relaunched the season after a three-month break with a nailbiting draw 5.6 (36) to 5.6 (36).

Indigenous stars Shane Edwards, Sydney Stack, Daniel Rioli, Marlion Pickett and Shai Bolton were centre stage, as the Tigers and Magpies took a united stand. Umpires, coaches and support staff joined in the player-led initiative.

Players from Collingwood and Richmond at the MCG. Picture: Michael Klein

“Certainly both our clubs are endorsing and supportive of our players doing that,” Magpies chief executive Mark Anderson told ABC radio. “We strongly support them doing so.”

Then when Tiger Ivan Soldo won the tap at the opening bounce against champion Magpie Brodie Grundy, the footy was back and an unprecedented season underway.

Not long after Taylor Adams kicked the first goal and, as he celebrated with a raised finger, the Seven Network cut to a FanZone of Magpie supporters cheering from their homes.

While fans will trickle back into stadiums from Saturday’s Showdown between Port Adelaide and the Crows, for the moment this is as close as fans will get to the action.

In a significant move, the AFL reached an agreement with Seven West Media to extend their television deal by another two years to 2024.

It is understood the Seven Network will save $150 million over the next three years of the deal. But with negotiations with Fox Sports Australia ongoing, it cannot yet be described as a triumphant moment.

Spurred by the Black Lives Matter protests that started in America and have spread across the globe, the first match of the resumption round was also the scene for a moment of unity.

On the day a stunning portrait of Adam Goodes was unveiled on a Sydney building – the dual-Brownlow medallist a towering figure in art as he was in the game – one of the most important moments in Australian football was chosen to highlight the issue.

When documentaries detailing the pain Goodes felt in the latter stages of his career were aired last year, the code’s indigenous players were devastated.

They felt they should have done more to support the champion Swan at the time and were determined to ensure they raised awareness of indigenous lives and causes.

The great stadium was silent as Tigers and Magpies alike, along with the umpires, dropped to a knee as one in the centre square one minute before the siren sounded to restart footy.

Earlier each player had worn a black T-shirt during their warm-ups and it is certain symbolic gestures will occur at games in Adelaide and along the eastern seaboard this week.

On the training track over the past three weeks, the focus has been on regaining match fitness ahead of a weekend most footy fans have been desperate for since March.

The footy itself, the stars who play it and the spectacular skills that have made the indigenous code the nation’s biggest.

The clash between the reigning premiers and the Pies is the first of 144 games needed to reach the finals, with the AFL aiming for a grand final by the end of October.