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The Australian Football Indigenous All Stars first took the field back in 1983. Australian football had yet to see a national competition, other than the VFL moving South Melbourne north to Sydney.
Back in ’83, it was Richmond that took on the then ‘Aboriginal All-Stars’. The late, great Maurice Rioli played against his VFL side for the All Stars. This Friday, 28 years on, Richmond again takes on the All Stars, this time in Alice Springs, with the memory of the recently departed Rioli sure to be close to the hearts of all.
The first game was played in Mildura, somewhat out of the way. VFL still arguably dominated the footy landscape, however, with a small indigenous population in Victoria, there were few indigenous players in the VFL and most of those had come from West Australia, South Australia or the Northern Territory.
The All-Stars concept didn’t reappear until 1994, when Collingwood took on the All Stars (coached by Rioli) in Darwin. Since then, the game was shelved until 2003 where it has taken root in Darwin permanently, and is now a biennial event. Last year’s NRL version was a different beast by comparison. Whether comparisons are fair or not is another matter.
As it is, for the AFL, the game is staged in Darwin. This year though, heavy rains/flooding sees the game transferred to Alice Springs for this Friday night. This has seen the Northern Territory government come under attack from cricket authorities who have a scheduled week long Imparja Cup tournament due to start on the Traeger Park wicket from Sunday.
Up in the Territory, it is important for the 11 Northern Territory reps in the squad to be seen by the local kids. Successful and positive role models are important.
That said, it has not always been a completely smooth transition.
Anyone who watched “Three Boys Dreaming” on the ABC this week will have a greater understanding of the more modern context, let alone have some appreciation for the issues faced by the pioneers 28 years ago who changed the face of indigenous participation in the then VFL from token to now a critical (over 11 per cent) component of the AFL.
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