Um, can you talk us through your experiences in collaboration in designing the, the jumper for Hawks?

Yeah, I mean, I was, um, I was really blown away, um, that, uh, you, you and the footy club, um, at the time, uh, had nominated me to, um, sort of design that, the First Nations guernsey f-uh, for that year.

Um, you know, you, you spent, um...

I, I spent, I think it was 12 years, uh, 12, 13 years at, at the Hawks and, um, you give, uh, so much of yourself and, uh, your family sacrifice so much to help you get there and, you know, your partners and, um, you know, everyone, uh, sort of puts you first and there's, uh, so much, um, sacrifice that goes into, to an AFL career and then, um, you sort of leave and, and you look back at that time like, um, [lips smack] you know, it, it was, you know, some of the best moments of my life.

But I, I didn't really, um, I didn't really think about, um, sort of the impact I was able to have on the footy club.

So for them to, um, you know, look at me and, and my story and my journey and, and think it was worthy of, um, you know, a, a First Nations design was, um, really, um, you know, special to me.

I was, um, quite, uh, overwhelmed by it all, to be honest.

Can you talk us through what you're doing these days? Your, your current role and, um, yeah, what's day-to-day look like in, in your life now?

Yeah, you mentioned it'll make the numbers look good, and that's my fear on this initiative by the AFL to get clubs to take on another Cat B Indigenous player, and that is that in 12 months' time, we'll read an AFL survey that shows that there are 18 more Indigenous players um in the afl system so therefore we're supposed to give them give them a round of applause when it may not be any more meaningful than it is right now i guess one thing that you would see firsthand is the challenges that an indigenous player faces when he enters the afl system and the extra resources you have to put around that um that player can you speak to some of that chance in terms of the challenges these young men face and young women for that matter and and how you approach that and how you try and make their transition into elite sport easier.

Yeah, well, it's not sort of a one-size-fits-all, and it's similar for non-First Nations players that transition or move into state.

You know, there are some unique sort of circumstances with some First Nations players when they come into the game that, We have to make sure that we're aware of and we've got good support in place to help with some of those things.

But, you know, depending on where they come from, you know, the really or the more remote regional places, you know, the pool or the connection to family and country being taken out of that environment in the very first instance can be really hard and challenging on the player.

So making sure that we build as good a relationship as possible with the player so that they feel comfortable enough in our environment that they can come to us whenever they're feeling like there's a need to get home or there's a family situation that they need to get back for and have some time away from the club, the important part you spoke about before is making sure that your football club is as well set up as it possibly can be so that in that environment, the player feels comfortable enough to come to you.

And then there's some understanding from the coaches, the high performance team that, you know, in the short term, it might mean that they're missing a training session here and there and, you know, When players come into your footy club, you want them to stick to the program and be able to do the program as well as they can and do as much as possible.

But, you know, in the short term, centre and home, that might be a greater benefit than them being there just to tune out, you know, a couple of sessions during the week and the long-term benefits and the trust that's built in them knowing that you understand there's a footy club.

I should have actually put myself – in their orbit to start to talk to them about my life and what I'd been doing or what I wanted to do after it necessarily and during the

that player can you speak to some of that chance in terms of the challenges these young men face and young women for that matter and how you approach that and how you try and make their transition into elite sport easier

yeah well it's not it's not sort of a one size fits all and it's you know it's similar for non-First Nations players that transition or move into state.

There are some unique sort of circumstances with some First Nations players when they come into the game that we have to make sure that we're aware of and we've got good support in place to help with some of those things.

But, you know, depending on where they come from, you know, the really or the more remote regional places, you know, the pool or the connection to family and country being taken out of that environment in the very first instance can be really hard and challenging on the player.

So making sure that we build as good a relationship as possible with the player so that they feel comfortable enough in our environment that they can come to us whenever they're feeling like there's a need to get home or, you know, there's a family situation that they need to get back for and have some time away from the club, the important part you spoke about before is making sure that your football club is as well set up as it possibly can be so that in that environment, the player feels comfortable enough to come to you.

And then there's some understanding from the coaches, the high performance team that, you know, in the short term, it might mean that they're missing a training session here and there and, you know...

When players come into your footy club, you want them to stick to the program and be able to do the program as well as they can and do as much as possible.

I should have actually put myself in their orbit to start to talk to them about my life and what I'd been doing or what I wanted to do after it necessarily and during the

Can you speak to some of that chance in terms of the challenges these young men face and young women for that matter and how you approach that and how you try and make their transition into elite sport easier?

Yeah, well, it's not sort of a one-size-fits-all, and it's similar for non-First Nations players that transition or move into state.

There are some unique sort of circumstances with some First Nations players when they come into the game that, we have to make sure that we're aware of and we've got good support in place to help with some of those things.

But, you know, depending on where they come from, you know, the really or the more remote regional places, you know, the pool or the connection to family and country being taken out of that environment in the very first instance, can be really hard and challenging on the player.

So making sure that we build as good a relationship as possible with the player so that they feel comfortable enough in our environment that they can come to us Whenever they're feeling like there's a need to get home or, you know, there's a family situation that they need to get back for and have some time away from the club, the important part you spoke about before is making sure that your football club is as well set up as it possibly can be so that in that environment, the player feels comfortable enough to come to you.

And then there's some understanding from the coaches, the high performance team that, you know, in the short term, it might mean that they're missing a training session here and there and, you know, When players come into your footy club, you want them to stick to the program and be able to do the program as well as they can and do as much as possible.

But, you know, in the short term, centre and home, that might be a greater benefit than them being there just to tune out, you know, a couple of sessions during the week and the long-term benefits and the trust that's built in them knowing that you understand there's a footy club.

I should have actually put myself in their orbit to start to talk to them about my life and what I'd been doing and what I wanted to do after it necessarily and during the