Underlining the wider concern,the AFL Players Association has appointed Indigenous leader and former AFL Indigenous boss Jason Mifsud to chair its restructured and bolstered Indigenous advisory board.

“In recent years the specific cultural rights and interests of Indigenous players have been ignored far too often and I’m determined to support the players’ association to address this,” Mifsud said.

Mifsud first raised his concerns regarding the conflicts and other challenges facing players in chairing such player-led boards to association boss Paul Marsh afterTaylor Walker’s 2021 racial slur directed at North Adelaide’s Robbie Young. Of the falling Indigenous numbers,Mifsud said:“My passion is to make the game more diverse and more welcoming for every corner of society. The data would say the trends are going against that and the data is concerning.”

Of the three-year decline in Indigenous numbers,Dillon said:“It’s certainly something we’re aware of. And it’s a trend we certainly don’t want to continue. The NGAs are an important pillar because we want a game that represents our entire country. In terms of the NGAs I think we over-corrected and the formula lies somewhere in between.”

Of the 11 footballers of Sudanese background playing in the AFL,10 emerged through the NGA system. Port Adelaide’s Aliir Aliir was drafted by the Swans before the diversity academies existed.

Dillon said it was far too soon to draw conclusions fromthe publication of historic allegations directed at Hawthorn from a number of Indigenous players,which some club observers fear could act as a deterrent to both clubs and Indigenous athletes looking at entering the AFL system.

In state terms the numbers in WA at under-18 and under-16 level are alarming and in Victoria only one Indigenous player – Jade Gresham’s brother Tyson – has emerged in either the country or metropolitan teams in the past three years. Recruiters also noticed the dearth of Indigenous talent in Ballarat this week at the soon-to-be-completed national under-15 championships.

Dillon – who comes into the top job with strong experience in game development – shared the view of a number of recruiters that clubs were generally taking a more conservative approach in both the national draft and with their rookie lists and the COVID-19 cuts could also have influenced the downward trend.

AFLPA boss Marsh said the new Mifsud-chaired board had moved from a pure players board to a more experienced and independent body in line with the association’s recently formed human rights steering committee,formed in recognition of recent alleged human rights failings endured at Essendon,Collingwood,Adelaide and Hawthorn.

“Our players add so much value,” said Marsh,“and they are good at identifying problems,but we felt it was crucial to bring generational experience,skills and expertise to handling some of the challenges that the game inevitably faces.”

Both Mifsud and Human Rights chair Kristen Hilton have played roles in the current CBA negotiations.

Of the downward trend in Indigenous numbers,Marsh said:“It’s not something the AFL has spoken to us about. Our job is to look after players while they are in the system and help them as they transition out of the game.[But] as a general comment it’s an issue when you consider the rich Indigenous history of our game and given how much Indigenous players have to offer going forward.”

Senior Aboriginal medical practitioner Ngiare Brown has also joined the bolstered Indigenous advisory board along with seven players:Ally Anderson,Gemma Houghton,Jarman Impey,Aliesha Newman,Natalie Plane,Chad Wingard and Zac Williams.

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