Craig O’Donoghue: Indigenous All-Stars game against Fremantle Dockers is a huge opportunity for the AFL

The return of the Indigenous All-Stars game is a great result for the sport and a reminder that we can still have representative footy if it designed in a way that makes people care. State of origin died because clubs didn’t want their superstars to participate. Once the big names pulled out, the next bracket of players didn’t feel as motivated and then the fans didn’t have any incentive to either attend the game or watch on TV. Less than 17,000 people turned up to Subiaco Oval for WA’s last home match against the Allies in 1997. It was hard to blame then. Nine players from the WA team were yet to play 40 AFL games. State footy’s decline was rapid. It went from a must-watch event to dead in the water in about five years. The International Rules series fell away when players lacked motivation too. Just two members of the All-Australian team were part of the 2011 squad and fans voted with their feet with a combined 38,000 people attending the two games in Melbourne and the Gold Coast. But when the AFL got fair dinkum about the games, appointed Alastair Clarkson as coach in 2014, and announced only players who had been selected in an All-Australian team during their careers would be picked, the concept grew again. Luke Hodge, Scott Pendlebury, Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood put up their hands to play. That made others want to join them. Over the next three series, Hodge, Nat Fyfe and Harry Taylor won the Jim Stynes Medal as their team’s best player. We already know that the Indigenous players want to play. They’re the ones who pushed for this game. They genuinely care. They’re really motivated. When Michael Walters is talking about his disappointment at not pulling on the jumper throughout his career and calling the opportunity a dream, we can expect all of the big names to turn up. Turning up and talking it up will give the concept the chance to give AFL a genuine option for representative footy into the future. The league took a huge step by scheduling the game at Optus Stadium. They could have easily sent it to a WAFL venue like they did in 2015. But taking the game to Optus Stadium tells fans that this is a big occasion and the stadium can be used to enhance the product even further. WA has a large Indigenous population which should result in a passionate crowd. And just imagine the level of entertainment that could go on forward of centre if we get Walters, Shai Bolton, Izak Rankine, Bobby Hill, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Charlie Cameron, Tyson Stengle, Kysaiah Pickett, Willie Rioli, Liam Ryan and Jason Horne-Francis in the same team. As the opponents, Fremantle have a huge role in whether this concept will work. It’ll be February 15 but the Dockers need to have Caleb Serong, Andrew Brayshaw and Hayden Young starting in the centre square. You only get one chance to make a first impression and the Dockers have an opportunity to turn this event into a marquee moment of the pre-season. This is a chance to build a long term tradition. Nobody wanted to play on Anzac Day when Essendon and Collingwood decided to make it their own in 1995. The previous season, only 37,870 people went to Waverley on an Anzac Monday to watch the lowly Richmond and St Kilda playing. But when the Bombers and Magpies produced a classic on a Tuesday afternoon in front of 94,825 people and scores were tied at the end, an extraordinary occasion was born. Dreamtime at the G, and the Big Freeze have both captured the imagination of the public as an event along with a game of footy. Good Friday footy hasn’t been able to grab hold of the market. This should be a celebration of icons. The Indigenous superstars of the past - both in the AFL and WAFL - should be brought to Perth to be part of this. The entire week should feel like an event and celebration. It was clear at the announcement on Tuesday that the AFL and Fremantle see this as a huge opportunity to build something that matters. It’s fitting that Fremantle have been chosen as the opposition for this clash. Only 12 men have played 200 games for the Dockers and four of them are Indigenous Between round 12 1995 and round 16 2024, there wasn’t a single game where the Dockers didn’t have an Indigenous player in their team. The incredible streak only ended when both Walters and Pearce were injured at the same time. Fremantle want this to work. They’re invested. That means they’ve already got a head start on the concept. Magic happens when people are emotionally invested. The game has spent nearly 30 years searching for a way to make representative footy relevant in a national competition. This might be the answer.