Indigenous numbers in the AFL are down, but there's talent in the Top End

By Marnie Vinall

Topic:AFL Women’s

The AFLW Dreamtime match helps Top End Youth Academy players see a way to the top level. (AFLNT Media: Tymunna Clements)

A couple of years ago Hawthorn's Kaitlyn Ashmore, a Dja Dja Wurrung woman, spent some time in Alice Springs.

She was immediately taken by the gift for footy so many kids had up there, but knew the pathways for development were limited.

"I've been out to the communities … the talent up there is incredible," Ashmore said on the eve of the AFLW's Indigenous Round.

"But it's just getting them down here, or getting them in a program, and then keeping them in there and making them feel culturally safe."

She was in the Red Centre in support of the Dreamtime Academy, an initiative founded by AFLW player Lulu Pullar along with fellow First Nations players Courtney Hodder, a Badimaya and Whadjuk woman, and Ally Anderson, a Ghungalu and Wakka Wakka woman.

There are 22 Indigenous players listed across the AFLW competition, down from 26 in 2023. In the men's competition the number has dropped from 87 in 2020 to 62 this season.

Ashmore said that was why the Indigenous Round was so important.

"It's honestly representation," she said.

"If we keep doing that, and celebrating Indigenous people, culture and stories like that, then hopefully we can get some more girls that want to join us."

The AFL is considering a range of measures to boost the number of Indigenous players in the league following a significant decline in recent seasons.

On Sunday night more than 4,000 people packed out the stands at Marrara Stadium to watch Richmond beat Essendon in the Dreamtime match.

Among the spectators were diehard Tigers and Bombers fans and some who had never seen an AFL game before.

Last year the marquee Indigenous Round match was on a Friday night in Darwin and attracted almost 6,000 people.

But the game was fixtured around the men's wildcard round on a day with six AFLW matches and many locals said Sunday's 6:50pm time slot may have led to lower attendance than last year.

Richmond beat Essendon in front of a 4,000-strong crowd in Darwin. (Getty Images: Celina Whan)

Match gets young fans dreaming

The elite game in the Top End was one part of nurturing football in the Northern Territory and helping to grow grassroots participation.

Top End Youth Academy head coach Ben White said just a couple of years ago most kids did not have an answer when he asked who their favourite AFLW player was.

He said now they were naming players such as Richmond's Monique Conti and Sydney's Zippy Fish.

"We've got those figureheads of the AFLW that girls can look up to and see that pathway. It's amazing," White said, crediting the Dreamtime match for bringing the game closer to community.

The crowd in Darwin for the Dreamtime game was a mix of diehard footy fans and new supporters. (Getty Images: James Wiltshire/AFL Photos)

This has also been helped by the recent Northern Territory inclusions to the AFLW of Annabel Kievit, who plays for the Gold Coast Suns, and Dom Carbone, who was elevated to Collingwood's senior list for this season after playing for the Darwin Buffettes.

Essendon captain Bonnie Toogood said one of the most pleasing parts of coming up to the Top End with the Bombers was seeing the next generation of Indigenous kids in the stands.

Essendon has a strong connection with the Tiwi Islands. In April this year, AFLW players Mia Busch and Amy Gaylor, alongside The Long Walk's Jack Peris, ran footy clinics across the Tiwi Islands and West Arnhem Land.

Bonnie Toogood (right) says the Dreamtime game in Darwin is special for the players and competition. (Getty Images: Celina Whan)

The Essendon players and staff will visit schools in Darwin on Monday.

Toogood said it was important to the team to connect with the community.

"It's the main reason as to why we want to come up here and celebrate Dreamtime," she said.

The Top End Youth Academy is fostering young talent and aiming to improve the standard of the game in the NT. (AFLNT Media: Tymunna Clements)

AFLNT launched the Darwin-based Top End Youth Academy this year in response to years of community demand for development opportunities and to strengthen existing talent pathways.

In a matter of months more than 400 players attended academy trials and more than 270 participants were picked up.

Youth Academy manager Josh Kleine was not surprised by the interest.

"Where those numbers might be higher than we expected, it doesn't shock me because there is that love and passion for the game up here," he said.

The AFLW has shown young kids that there is a pathway to the elite level. (Getty Images: Celina Whan)

Kleine said there were a few times during the trials when he and White looked at each other and thought "we've got a fair bit of work to do here'".

But within a matter of months the skills of the kids, aged 10-15, improved out of sight.

"We were actually sitting here in this room and watching them do their warm up and they're just kicking in lanes, getting ready for the game, and nearly every target was being hit," Kleine said.

"We've done some work on things like leg drives and different things. And to see someone who was struggling to get the concept, panicked a little bit, and sort of rushed handballs out, to see that then translate into a game where they're actually taking the tackler on and driving through the contest, it's amazing to see.

"They're the moments that really get you. When you've had that time with the kids and you're coaching them, and you see those things where it's a kid who might have been struggling in this area, you put in the time on the track and then you see it translate on the field.

"It's those little moments that you find really touching."

There are more than 270 players in the Top End Youth Academy. (AFLNT Media: Tymunna Clements)

Kleine said the Darwin kids had a bit more access to programs and competitions than those in other parts of the NT, but the plan was for the academy to expand to places such as Tiwi, Katherine and Alice Springs.

"One thing with our academy [that] we always talk about is, we've only got you for an hour and a half a week on the track with training … we're limited with the time we have," he said.

"So our encouragement is take the lessons we teach you and do the work away from on during the week as well.

"And the girls, the work they're putting in on the track, you're definitely seeing it. You can see when they come back the next week — they've gone away and they've worked on these things. They've done their extra 100 kicks or whatever it is."

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Kleine said he hoped to see more local talent make it to the elite level, but the goal was also to strengthen the game in the NT.

"Ultimately, not everyone's going to make it, but we're creating stronger territory football off the back of it," he said.

"Half our kids, we hope they become the future captains, the future coaches, all those sorts of things, and that the local clubs are here in the next 15 years.

"It's a flow-and-effect to make Territory footy stronger in the long run … it is a tumbleweed-type thing, where it just flows on, and everyone's continually growing and improving.

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