The announcement that a team of Indigenous All-Stars will once again grace an AFL field ahead of the 2025 AFL season was welcomed by most football fans.
The team, last put together prior to the 2015 season, brings the absolute best Indigenous players together to take on Fremantle in the preseason, and will be a game that most take an interest in. However, the AFL are really missing the boat on this concept – there is so much more to it than a collection of players having a hit out against an AFL team in the pre-season.
At least, it should be a lot more.
The AFL is missing true representative football. Once in a while, the code has a hybrid game against the Irish, and whilst that has provided some highlights over the journey, it really isn’t a highlight of ‘our’ game. It is a game played with a round ball on a rectangle pitch. It’s not footy, therefore it is not really rep-footy.
But an annual game featuring the Indigenous All-Stars would provide exactly that.
Many have floated the idea of an annual all-star game, and in lieu of the State of Origin competition all but being abandoned, this is the most logical way to fill that hole in the AFL landscape.
No offence to Freo, and good on them for putting their hand up to be part of this, but this game deserves to be bigger.
And it also deserves to be an annual fixture.
The thing with representative footy is that the pride associated with it went out the window when the national competition became more professional. Players simply stopped caring, and the clubs deterred them from participating. There was a time when the State of Origin concept was sold to players as footy at the highest level. And maybe it was, but those days are gone, and with it, the pride of representing your state is also diminished.
But the pride of representing your culture wouldn’t be so easily diminished, would it?
No, it wouldn’t.
Ever.
Previously, when this concept was part of the AFL calendar, names like Lance Franklin, Cyril Rioli, and Eddie Betts fronted up to play for the All-Stars. It was a proud moment for them, and it was reflected in the way they played the game. So it should have been. And it should be equally proud for anyone of any other culture to play as part of the opposition.
I read a comment today that this would be a divisive way of promoting the game.
Far out. Yep, they walk amongst us.
There is nothing divisive about playing a game of footy like this. If anything, it is an avenue to celebrate both the Indigenous stars of the game, and all the stars of the game. The All-Stars, from both sides, you see?
Think of it this way.
Without diving into too many lists, the Indigenous All-Stars have Izak Rankine, Charlie Cameron, Alex Pearce, Shai Bolton, Jason Horne-Francis, Daniel Rioli, Liam Ryan, Tim Kelly, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Liam Jones, Keidean Coleman, Steven May, Kysaiah Pickett, Brad Hill, Liam Henry, Cam Rayner, Jy Simpkin, Tyson Stengle, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, and Jeremy Finlayson to select from.
Plenty of small, quick forwards… not that deep in terms of a ruckman, huh? They would need a game plan to capitalise on that and a way to cover their weaknesses.
Put them out on the park against the likes of Charlie Curnow, Toby Greene, Jeremy Cameron, Harris Andrews, Sam Taylor, Lachie Neale, Marcus Bontempelli, Nick Daicos, and so on.
Make it about the best of the best, and make it an annual event. Make it an accolade worth having on the CV.
You know the Indigenous players will bring the heat – this is their chance to strut their stuff as a unit. Can the Non-Indigenous opponents match it? Would they be found wanting if they do not being the same passion?
What a game like this does is add a degree of prestige to the careers of those who play in these contests.
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan – eight time All-Star.
Nick Daicos – eight time All-Star.
Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?
Give the best player on ground the Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer Medal. Blokes like Adam Goodes, Andrew McLeod, and Shaun Burgoyne already have one of these each. Ask them how proud they are of that achievement. Ask one of the current Indigenous players what winning that medal would mean to them.
Polly Farmer is not just one of the great Indigenous players – he is an all-time great of the game. Winning a medal with his name attached to it would be an honour for anyone associated with the game. It would be something to cherish!
Feed the passion. Reap the rewards.
An idea like this may seem like something that could run its course, and, you know what, maybe that is the case. However, in speaking to Indigenous people I know, this is a game that would mean something. Each and every year, it would mean something big. The best Indigenous players in the caper turning up and play the best of the rest in an All-Star game.
You think the players are not going to put in?
Over the journey, I have listened to a number of players speak broadly about the “All-Star” concept. Scott Pendlebury was pretty adamant at one stage that it should be on the AFL’s radar (that basketball background, huh?). His ship has well and truly sailed in terms of such a concept, but for players entering the league, both Indigenous and Non-Indigenous, to have the word “All-Star” alongside your name for years on end, or to be referred to as a Polly Farmer Medallist… it might be something they’d like to have.
The AFL may put it in the too-hard basket pretty quickly. After all, they have their own competition to cock up, and are doing a pretty decent job of screwing up the AFLW, as well. However, if there is a genuine feeling that a game like this is wanted, and would be supported by the players on both sides, it is something that really should be considered.
And it is most definitely something that shouldn’t sit on the shelf for another ten years.
As always, massive thanks to those who support this work. It is a labour of love for me, and having you guys as members of the site basically keeps me going. So sincerely… thank you – HB
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