DESPITE his standing in the game as a key figure in fostering Aboriginal and Islander football at the highest level, even Kevin Sheedy concedes that having an all-Indigenous club in the AFL is not a good idea.
The question was put to the football icon yesterday at the launch of the AFL's KickStart program in Melbourne. Sheedy, now an ambassador for the AFL, said any such moves towards an exclusive club would undo much that the AFL has worked for in the past 15-20 years in regards to Indigenous Australia.
The former Essendon coach said he'd rather see a continuation of what we have today: Indigenous talent spread throughout all the AFL clubs, including the two new expansion clubs on the Gold Coast and in western Sydney.
"Why would you want to do that?" Sheedy said of creating an all-indigenous AFL club. "The one thing that really makes our game is spreading the talent right throughout the whole nation. Otherwise it ends up becoming exactly what you don't want.
"I would rather have the spread of (Indigenous) players so we build a nation together. That's not probably nowhere near where the AFL would want to go. They want a spread of talent, so let's enjoy it in everybody's camp."
Sheedy said Aboriginal and Islander players' skill levels had been a godsend for the competition.
"We've struck gold with the Indigenous players,” he said. "You think you're a coach and then you get some really wonderfully talented people and they actually teach you how to coach.
"Indigenous players ... they don't need a compass and a protractor. They know the angle coming into the goals."
DARREN MONCRIEFF
AboriginalFootball@westnet.com.au
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Last Modified on 30/07/2008 22:55