How a club unwelcome to Indigenous players became a safe place – The Age

At Hawthorn it was a combination of players and enlightened football department officials that started a process that, while not perfect, is way ahead of where the club was in 1999, the year after Eddie McGuire became Collingwood president.
In 1999 the Hawks drafted an Indigenous player, Chance Bateman. It was a move out of step with the clubs history. Until that point Cyril Collard (1957-58) and Percy Cummings (1964-65) had been the only two Indigenous players to play with the Hawks.
Willie Rioli…

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