Player interviews nearly complete; book, CD/DVD in the pipelineIN the 21 interviews he's conducted so far, there is one common thread author and academic Sean Gorman has found in talking to current and former players from the AFL's Indigenous Team of the Century: that football has opened doors for Aboriginal people.
Australia's Frst People were marginalised by society for generations so it was welcome respite for the majority of Indigenous men who have played the game, together with their families, especially those for at least the first three-quarters of last century.
Gorman, who wrote
Brotherboys: The Story of Jim and Phillip Krakouer among other works on football, is about halfway through in creating a permanent record of the thoughts of members of the 1904-2004 Indigenous Team of the Century, a project he wants to complete before some of the old-timers are no longer with us. He has interviewed all but four of the 25 members of the team and their surviving relatives.
While the contribution Indigenous players have made to the game is becoming more and more widely known and celebrated, Gorman is finding out from the players what football has done for them.
"The thing that stuck out from the interviews with the players was that it wasn't about the money and fame thing but what football has been able to do for them -- to connect up with all sorts of people, to travel and open other doors, and to do many other things in life," Gorman said. "All the players I've talked to so far speak about what football has done for them in their lives and in their family's lives."
There are other reasons to get the project done now, four years after the team was announced, Gorman said.
"Part of the reason for doing it, too, is that we've already lost David Kantilla and Norm McDonald so that's spurred me on a bit because if we leave this for a couple of years, and when some of the older men pass away, then you lose those stories forever," he said.
Gorman said although a common thread has developed throughout the various interviews, the personal experiences varied, among the older men especially.
"Another thing that's stood out is that alot of the older blokes, for instance Polly and Ted Kilmurray, that they aren't bitter about their removal from their families as babies and growing up at Sister Kate's Orphanage (in Perth)," Gorman said.
"But then talking with Syd Jackson about his similar experiences and how he grappled with that. So there was this plurality of experiences. Even though Syd, Polly and Ted all experienced the same kinds of (governmental) policies, each has had a different reaction to it.
"Then you've got the experiences of (current Sydney utility) Adam Goodes. He said playing in those under-age representative sides when he was young opened up to him travel; it opened up his world so much so that he wanted more of it.
"It's been an amazing project in terms of meeting them; like visiting the Tiwi Islands to meet Maurice Rioli in his country and sitting down with Polly, and talking footy with these fellas in their houses. You engage in their stories and learn how they come to footy and their journey to get there."
Gorman expects the project to be available to the public by the middle of next year. He hopes to release it in book form with an accompanying CD/DVD containing brief snippets of footage of each player, where it exists.
DARREN MONCRIEFF
Darren@AboriginalFootball.com.au
Friday, February 20, 2009
Last Modified on 30/03/2009 22:21