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Footy may have played possum for 40,000 years

Michael Long, the former Essendon star who now works as a skills coach with the Bombers, talks about moments in games when coaching and training becomes irrelevant and instinct takes over.

"It's just certain moves that you haven't seen before or that haven't been taught that show you they have a connection with the game," Long says.

"It comes from heritage. Maybe from hunting for survival or something else."

Long is talking about the way his fellow Aborigines do not merely play Australian football but seem to express themselves on the field. He is one of many native Australians who believe that is no coincidence.

At the Olympic stadium on Saturday night, Sydney and Essendon will play for the Marn Grook trophy. The name is derived from a game that was played by the Djab wurrung and Jardwadjali clans in Victoria's Western Districts and, in similar form, in other parts of Australia - the game some believe was the inspiration for Australian football.

"I suppose that's where it all started," said Long, who has studied Marn Grook and also the "desert games" played by Aborigines in central and northern Australia. "It was where they got their talent for high marking and the other uncanny things they can do."

The historical link commonly made between Marn Grook and Australian football is through the experiences of Thomas Wills, the man widely regarded as the father of what used to be called Australian Rules.

According to journalist and author Martin Flanagan, who wrote a biography of Wills, there is no definitive proof that Wills used Marn Grook as a model for the game first played between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College in Melbourne in 1858.

However, at the very least, Wills's life story gives grounds for strong speculation that he was influenced by Aboriginal culture.

Wills was raised in Victoria's Western Districts where he regularly played with Aboriginal children. Later, he was to recall watching a game in which they kicked a possum skin about the size of an orange stuffed with charcoal. The game was played between large groups on a totemic basis - the white cockatoos versus the black cockatoos, for example - with the greatest honour going to those who could leap or kick the highest.

Later Wills was educated at Rugby School where Flanagan says he was bemused by the English game.

Wills's grazier father was killed by Aboriginal tribesmen in 1861 yet, fives years later, he coached the Aboriginal team before it toured England in 1866.

It is this strong and frequent exposure to Aborigines and their culture that has led some to draw the conclusion Australian football is derived largely from a game that could have been played up to 40,000 years ago. However, despite his exhaustive research on the topic, Flanagan prefers not to enter the debate.

"What I can say for a fact is that there are a lot of Aboriginal people convinced that it is an Aboriginal game," he says. "There are plenty who will tell you the white fellas just added some rules."

One of those is ATSIC chairman Geoff Clark, who grew up in Victoria's Western Districts where Marn Grook was played. "From what people in the area says what he [Wills] saw was similar in a lot of ways to the early games of football," Clark says.

Clark's son, Aaron, who works as a game development officer with the AFL, has also researched the links between Australian football and Marn Grook. He says Marn Grook resembled a massive game of keepings-off with ball kicked as high as possible.

Beyond the possible historical links, perhaps the strongest evidence of a link between Marn Grook and footy is the uncanny skills exhibited by Aboriginal players every weekend.

In the past decade the AFL has aggressively addressed problems with racism on and off the field, as well as the cultural hurdles, that once severely limited the number of Aborigines playing at the top level. Now 6 per cent of AFL players are Aborigines (Aborigines make up 3 per cent of the total population).

The Sydney-Essendon game will be played in Reconciliation Week each year and Swans chief executive Kelvin Templeton says it will celebrate the Aboriginal contribution to the game.

On Saturday night 4000 Aboriginal schoolchildren from around NSW will be in the crowd, there will be an exhibit of photographs and tributes paid to Aboriginal sports stars.

Clark believes the success of Aborigines in the AFL has become an important tool in fighting problems with alcoholism, petrol sniffing and other health issues in communities and that the message will become stronger if the link between Marn Grook and Australian football is acknowledged. "It is a real step in the right direction and when they have that sense of ownership I think it will be an even greater attraction for the Aboriginal people."

Source:The Sydney Morning Herald

Influence of Aboriginal players

Aboriginal footballers had starred periodically at the elite level of Australian Football before the 1980s, but their presence in the AFL has grown enormously in the past two decades.

Their ball-handling and evasive skills have thrilled many crowds. In some cases, the way players of Aboriginal descent have played the game has changed everyone’s perceptions about what is possible on a football field.

Unfortunately, it has also taken great courage for many Aboriginal players to play Australian Football as they have had to overcome racial prejudices and a lack of cultural awareness in order to excel at their chosen sport. Thankfully, with innovations such as the AFL’s Racial and Religious Vilification Rule and the leadership and actions of such people as Essendon’s Michael Long, former Brisbane player and assistant coach Michael McLean and former St Kilda and Western Bulldogs player Nicky Winmar, the football community has gained a greater understanding of the issues confronting Aboriginal players. Their achievements have also made them role models for other Aborigines.

First Aboriginal Player

The first known player of Aboriginal descent to play at AFL level was Fitzroy’s Joe Johnson, who played 55 games, including premierships in 1904 and 1905.

In AFL history, only 132 players known to be of Aboriginal descent have played AFL football, but in 2002, there were 48 players of Aboriginal descent on AFL lists.

That growth recognises both the ability of players of Aboriginal descent and the clubs’ efforts to recruit them.

Geelong’s Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer, who revolutionised the game with his use of handball and was named in the AFL Team of the Century, and Carlton’s Syd Jackson were stars of the 1960s and early 1970s. Both were from Western Australia.

A great reference for information about players of Aboriginal descent who have excelled in Australian Football is AFL’s Black Stars, published by Lothian Books in 1998.

Aboriginal Footballing achievements

Players of Aboriginal descent have won:

• Two Brownlow Medals: Gavin Wanganeen (1993), then an Essendon player but now at Port Adelaide and Jason Akermanis of Brisbane in 2001.
• Five Norm Smith Medals: Maurice Rioli, Richmond (1982); Peter Matera, West Coast (1992); Michael Long, Essendon (1993); Andrew McLeod, Adelaide (1997 and 1998).
• Two AFL Rising Star awards: Byron Pickett, Kangaroos (1998) and Adam Goodes, Sydney (1999).
• Six Sandover Medals: Ted Kilmurray 1958; Polly Farmer 1956, 1957, 1960; Barry Cable 1964, 1968, 1973; Stephen Michael 1980, 1981; Phil Narkle 1982; Michael Mitchell 1984.

Nineteen players of Aboriginal descent have played in premierships.

They are: Jason Akermanis (Brisbane 2001, 2002), Winston Abraham (Kangaroos 1999), Shane Bond (WCE 1994), Troy Bond (Adelaide 1997), Barry Cable (North Melbourne 1975, 1977), Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer (Geelong 1963), Des Headland (Brisbane 2002), Eddie Jackson (Melbourne 1948), Syd Jackson (Carlton 1970, 1972), Chris Johnson (Brisbane 2001, 2002), Joe Johnson (Fitzroy 1904, 1905), Chris Lewis (WCE 1992), Michael Long (Essendon 1993), Norm McDonald (Essendon 1949, 1950), Andrew McLeod (Adelaide 1997, 1998), Peter Matera (WCE 1992, 1994), Shannon Motlop (Kangaroos 1999), Byron Pickett (Kangaroos 1999), Gavin Wanganeen (Essendon 1993) and Darryl White (Brisbane 2001, 2002).

Nicky Winmar became the first player of Aboriginal descent to play 250 AFL games. Winmar played 230 games for St Kilda and 21 for the Western Bulldogs. He won two best and fairest awards at St Kilda, was an All-Australian twice and won the Michael Tuck Medal as best on ground in the 1996 pre-season grand final.

Rio Tinto AFL Kickstart

The Rio Tinto AFL Kickstart program, implemented in 1997, funds specific development programs for Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, northern Queensland and north Western Australia.

The program is designed to develop Australian Football and promote healthy lifestyles in Aboriginal and Tiwi Islander communities in northern Australia. It also facilitates career opportunities in the AFL.

The relationship with the Rio Tinto program emanated from the AFL’s Racial and Religious Vilification Rule which was developed in 1995. It is also an extension of the AFL’s commitment to indigenous Australians, particularly those in remote northern Australian communities.

The AFL’s annual budget for the program is $550,000.

The program employs former AFL players as regional coordinators in the Northern Territory, north Queensland and north Western Australia. Most coordinators have an Aboriginal background.

The program aims to lift participation in AFL football at junior level. In older age groups, it aims to identify talented athletes and provide them with a career path to AFL football.

The program includes such activities and initiatives as:

• visits to Aboriginal communities from AFL role models and coordinators. Players and coordinators talk about football, career aspirations and social issues.
• the establishment and support of junior football competitions.
• coaching and umpiring clinics.
• donations of equipment such as footballs, jumpers, T-shirts and hats.
• clinics at Aboriginal cultural events.
• skills camps in Cairns, Broome, Alice Springs and Darwin.
• high-level skills testing and fitness programs at the NT Institute of Sport.
• football carnival.
• identifying outstanding players for inclusion in elite squads such as Territory Thunder.
• education scholarships at Kormilda College, Darwin, and assistance with relocation costs.

Source: AFL

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