Two of the game’s greatest Indigenous players have warned that the AFL’s move to expand playing lists to make room for an extra Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander could prove tokenistic and provide only a “sugar hit” to boost declining numbers across the competition.
Shaun Burgoyne and Eddie Betts told this masthead that a key platform of the game’s recently unveiled First Nations strategy could do more harm than good while failing to address the alarming drop-off of Indigenous footballers across the country’s football pathways.
Burgoyne, the 407-game four-time premiership player, said that while the AFL’s new strategy had some merit, it lacked detail and depth.
“Numbers are declining and careers are shorter, and while the extra category B rookie spot will provide a sugar-hit and the numbers will increase, this will only last maybe for a year,” he said.
“They could have done more work on the issue, I believe, to make it less tokenistic and more authentic.”
Burgoyne, Port Adelaide’s Indigenous player development manager, expressed his views in a recent robust meeting with the AFL’s First Nations inclusion general manager Taryn Lee and game development boss Rob Auld.
He said head office needed to “turbocharge” its work in the AFLW competition. The ambition as put to the AFL Commission late last year was to increase the number of female Indigenous players from 22 to 29 by 2030.
“We should be aiming higher,” said Burgoyne. “We can make a team of ladies from Ireland to play representative football but not a team of Indigenous ladies. Don’t get me wrong. I love the Irish contribution to our game, but that is an indictment.”
Betts, a champion of 350 games for Carlton and Adelaide, added: “I’m worried this could do more damage than good. I think personally the perception of Indigenous people is that they’re always being given stuff whether it be housing or benefits, or other handouts.
“Now it’s rookie spots. I want a young kid to be in there because he’s worked his arse off, and he deserves it. Not because he’s black.
“The way we get more kids drafted is equity in the pathways, starting from under-15s.”
And AFL Players Association boss James Gallagher said that while the extra list spot “may have tactical merit, it is not, on its own, a solution.”
Despite these misgivings, the AFL remains determined to push through the extra list spot in time for the 2026 national draft. This would require a negotiation with the AFLPA, given that the playing list structure – which currently provides for two category B rookies per club – falls under the current collective bargaining agreement
Gallagher said the AFLPA shared the AFL’s ambition of increasing Indigenous players across both the AFL and AFLW.
“That starts with ensuring they have the same workplace experience and career opportunities as their non-Indigenous peers,” he said.
“We continue to take advice from our Indigenous advisory board on the merits of an additional list spot. While it may have tactical merit, it is not, on its own, a solution. Our priority remains ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players have the same opportunity to build long and successful careers as their non-Indigenous peers.”
The AFL subcommittee looking at the mechanics of increasing Indigenous footballers at the elite level meets on Thursday to debate whether the extra rookie spot should come with additional soft-cap funding for host families, travel and cultural support at clubs.
The subcommittee’s initial make-up – including only three Indigenous members and lacking representation from Queensland, the Northern Territory, NSW, and having only minimal representation from WA – drew disappointment and criticism from some of the game’s most decorated First Nations footballers.
The panel has since been expanded to include new members, such as Geelong’s Indigenous player development manager Brett Goodes and David Chippendale, the former Melbourne Football Club executive who recently took on a key – AFL-funded – role at the Eddie Betts Foundation.
Taryn Lee has in recent weeks unveiled details of the strategy, including adding an extra category B rookie spot to 16 of the 18 clubs. The move has been met with predominantly cautious optimism, despite some misgivings about under-funded junior football programs and a lack of resources at some clubs.
While Indigenous stars, including Shai Bolton, Jason Horne-Francis and Kysaiah Pickett, continue to dominate the competition, First Nations numbers sit at a two-decade low, falling from 64 to 62 this season. More alarmingly the recent WA under-16 carnival did not feature any Indigenous players.
The immediate futures of Norm Smith medallist Bobby Hill and one-time all-Australian Tyson Stengle look in doubt beyond 2026 as their circumstances and personal problems have spiralled.
Despite cautious support for the strategy three club football bosses – who did not want to be named – said the AFL remained overly defensive regarding the sensitive nature of Indigenous playing numbers, and they remain concerned league bosses still failed to adequately prioritise the First Nations pathways.
Former AFL diversity executive Tanya Hosch, who departed the game in acrimonious circumstances last year, frustrated club recruiters when she questioned their failure to select Indigenous footballers in adequate numbers. The response indicated that the AFL had failed to support the pathways and that cultural failings existed at junior levels despite the warning signs that intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Betts said he feared Indigenous rookies would struggle at certain clubs if they were not adequately resourced culturally.
“A teenaged rookie goes to St Kilda and there’s Brad [Hill], Nas [Wanganeen-Milera] and Liam [Ryan], and he feels safe,” he said. “Not every club has that.”
While the AFL has mandated that every club must engage an Indigenous player development manager for a minimum of three days a week, some clubs have preferred a different model, or have struggled to fill the role.
Hawthorn are still searching for a replacement for Jamie Bennell and the Western Bulldogs have engaged Betts’ foundation while they continue their search.
The AFL was contacted for comment.
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Caroline Wilson is a Walkley award-winning columnist and former chief football writer for The Age.Connect via email.
