AFL hopefuls begin Port Adelaide Aboriginal academy

Port Adelaide has launched the AFL’s first Aboriginal academy, designed to streamline the transition from club football to the AFL, and to help players keep their eye on the ball at school.

Port Adelaide has launched the AFL’s first Aboriginal academy, designed to streamline the transition from club football to the AFL, and to help players keep their eye on the ball at school.

Thirty Indigenous high school students, picked from an exhaustive selection process, will spend one day a week throughout the season at Port’s Alberton training base, getting expert advice from the likes of Power premiership players Gavin Wanganeen and Byron Pickett.

Kokatha Mula man Wanganeen was the first Aborigine to win the Brownlow Medal, and the first to play 300 AFL games.

He was also a five-time All-Australian, and spoke exclusively to SBS upon his appointment as the academy’s ambassador.

 

Watch: Extended interview with Gavin Wanganeen