Victorian Indigenous leader Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin has reportedly broken down while on stage over what she perceived to be an AFL snub at the Dreamtime at the ‘G game on Saturday night.
The traditional fixture is the most celebrated event during the league’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round, which shows appreciation for the contributions Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players have made to the sport.
The Herald Sun first reported Aunty Joy, who performed the welcome to country and cultural leaf burning ceremony, earlier also spoke at a pre-match presidents function at the MCG.
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The senior Wurundjeri elder is reported to have been left feeling “disrespected” by what she perceived to have been a lack of representation from the AFL’s top brass.
News Corp reports she was visibly emotional after seeing an empty table at the front of the room directly in front of the stage she was speaking from. The table is reported to have been reserved for AFL executives and senior powerbrokers.
She is also reported to have told the crowd exactly how she felt about seeing the empty seats in front of her in an unexpected outburst.
It has since emerged the Indigenous speaker’s feelings were potentially unwarranted as a result of a misunderstanding of how many senior AFL officials were in attendance at the time.
Three directors on the AFL commission, Paul Bassat, Helen Milroy and Robin Bishop, were reportedly in the room at the time of the welcome to country, while incoming CEO Andrew Dillon is also reported to have been among several members of the AFL’s executive team to have attended the function.
Dillon is reported to have missed the start of the presidents function after taking part in the annual ‘The Long Walk’ event. Dillon was joined by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews at the event which is championed by Essendon cult hero Michael Long. The event raises money to support Indigenous education programs across the country.
The scheduling clash caused the group to miss the start of the presidents function because of a delayed walk to the MCG ahead of the traditional Essendon-Richmond clash.
Aunty Joy went on to host an extended welcome to country out in the middle of the MCG ahead of the match.
She told the crowd of 78,300 spectators: “Welcome to the Dreamtime at the ‘G. I want to pay my respects to all Elders, ancestors throughout this great nation of ours and neighbouring islands.
“To each and every one of you who has joined us tonight, I acknowledge you and your culture and your belonging. Tonight is a game to honour very many people, but especially to the wonderful one and only umpire that has been in the VFL and the AFL and
that is our wonderful Uncle Glenn James alongside with every other nominee.
“There are also many people that work hard behind the scenes and tonight we celebrate the Go Foundation (an aboriginal led organisation that supports indigenous student scholarships).
“I thank Essendon Football Club for the wonderful opportunity to be here with you again and thank you, Richmond for all of the years that we have had together.
“These leaves are for you. This is our gift. I want to acknowledge and pay my respects to all our players, not only across Sir Doug Nicholls Round, but each every time you take a
footprint, make another foot print on a ground somewhere that enables all of our community to be included.
“Love you all. Good luck tonight. May the best team win. You are most welcome to the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri people.”
The spectators were treated to watch one of the most dramatic matches of the year with the Bombers kicking a goal in the final 15 seconds to win a thriller.
With the final kick of the contest Sam Durham kicked the goal that handed Essendon a one-point lead with only seven seconds left on the clock.
