AFL greats praise ‘special' Welcome to Country to kick off Indigenous Round
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
AFL greats have lauded 'special' scenes in Darwin as the Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round officially got underway.
Before the game between Hawthorn and the Gold Coast Suns got underway, the teams stood under the Maurice Rioli Stand at TIO Stadium for a Welcome to Country ceremony.
FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.
'As we come to together during Sir Doug Nicholls, I'd like to acknowledge the past players and the current players for leading the way for the next generation of Indigenous players for this great game that we all love, AFL,' a local Indigenous representative said.
'For thousand of years, we've called this place home. We are the Larrakia people, the saltwater people. This is the Larrakia country, and we are the Larrakia people.
'Under the souls of our feet, always was and always be Aboriginal land of the Larrakia people. We invite you to walk with us. On behalf of the Larrakia elders, we welcome you and the Gold Coast Suns football club and the Hawthorn football club.'
A traditional Indigenous dance was then conducted, which you can watch in the video above.
A Welcome to Country ceremony was held before the Gold Coast vs Hawthorn game in Darwin. (Photo by James Wiltshire/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Footy greats described the pre-match scenes as 'special'.. (Photo by James Wiltshire/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Ceremony and dancing for the opening of Indigenous Round at TIO Stadium in Darwin. (Photo by James Wiltshire/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Fox Footy host Sarah Jones said: 'Guys, how beautiful was that.'
Four-time premiership player Shaun Burgoyne said: 'It's always beautiful when you get a Welcome to Country like that and it's launching Sir Doug Nicholls Round.'
Indigenous AFL icon Eddie Betts added: 'It's very special and it's different.
'Wherever you go in different communities all over Australia there's thousands of tribes — it's all about learning, growing. They've welcome us here to Larrakia Country and performed that dance, that was pretty special. Really looking forward to tonight. Hoping it's going to be a great game.'
Indigenous players from the Suns (Joel Jeffery, Ben Long, Daniel Rioli, Malcolm Rosas) and Hawks (Karl Amon) then met at the centre circle to exchange gifts at the coin toss.
Premiership players Jack Riewoldt and Jordan Lewis said on Fox Footy the sight of AFL games being in played in Darwin was fitting for the league.
Ceremony and dancing for the opening of Sir Doug Nicholls Round. (Photo by James Wiltshire/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Gold Coast and Hawthorn players exchange gifts before the game. Photo: Fox Footy.
'Up in Larrakia Country, it's one of the great places to play AFL footy,' Riewoldt said.
'The Gold Coast Suns have spent a lot of time here, it's been a very successful hunting ground for them.'
Lewis said: 'I love the Hawks going up early and investing in the community and indulging in the culture of the Indigenous community up there in Darwin.
'Having played up there a couple of times and some community camps there, they're fantastic people and it gives great insight and meaning to the round, which is Sir Doug Nicholls Round.'
Heading into the game against Hawthorn, the Gold Coast Suns had won all seven of their home games in Darwin since making the move to playing two home games per season their since 2022.
That trend continued as the Suns led by 14 points at halftime and held on to win 16.8 (104) to 15.6 (96), making it a perfect eight wins from eight games in Darwin.
Suns captain Touk Miller: 'It's pretty good, I'm not gonna lie. It definitely means we've got to come back here. We love it here, our record speaks for itself.'
Cyril Rioli in the crowd during the game in Darwin. (Photo by James Wiltshire/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
The Suns looking to play finals for the first time since joining the AFL in 2011.
Hawthorn legend Cyril Rioli was spotted watching the game after the four-time premiership Hawk was absent from the club's 100-year celebrations.
Tasmania will join the AFL as the league's 19th team in 2028, but it's not expected to be long before a Northern Territory team is added to the competition. as a 20th team.
Adelaide (Kuwarna), Port Adelaide (Yartapuulti), Fremantle (Walyalup), West Coast (Waalitj Marawar), St Kilda (Euro-Yoke) and Melbourne (Narrm) will be referred to by their traditnaional names this weekend.
Originally published as AFL greats praise 'special' Welcome to Country to kick off Indigenous Round
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
23 minutes ago
- News.com.au
On The Punt: Flemington best bets for Saturday June 7, 2025
News Corp form analyst Chris Vernuccio takes a look at the Flemington meeting on Saturday. â– â– â– â– â– BEST BET JIMMY THE BEAR (Race 5 No.3): Jimmy The Bear is backing up after winning last week over 1400m at Caulfield when second-up. The six-year-old gelding has come back in great order after resuming with a second behind War Machine and he is capable of holding his form. He has won four time at 1600m. NEXT BEST SOFT LOVE (Race 4 No.4): Soft Love won her first starts this prep before suffering her first loss when she stepped up to stakes grade in the Denise's Joy Stakes at Scone. She was only beaten 1¼ lengths in a bunched finish and will find this easier. AHHA AHHA (Race 6 No.9): Progressive filly Ahha Ahha steps up against the boys after a dominant three-length win in a Benchmark 78 fillies race at Sandown last time out, which followed a close third behind potential star Madiyya at Caulfield. She looks ready for 1600m.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Football Australia facing integrity probe amid match-fixing allegations
Football Australia is being investigated over its ability to protect the sport's integrity as it grapples with the A-League's second match-fixing scandal in 12 months. ABC Investigations can reveal the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission will launch a 'suitability review' of Football Australia that will examine the governing body's integrity measures, as well as the range of betting markets it allows on soccer games in Australia. The revelations of the probe come after Victoria Police this week charged 25-year-old Western United player Riku Danzaki with 10 match-fixing charges for allegedly intentionally receiving yellow cards during A-League matches in April and May. In May last year, NSW Police charged Macarthur FC players Ulises Davila, Kearyn Bacchus and Clayton Lewis with match-fixing offences also allegedly involving yellow cards. The VGCCC says the latest match-fixing allegations involving the Western United player were "concerning." "The VGCCC will conduct a suitability review of FA in the 2025–26 financial year to assess its ability to ensure the integrity of its events," the regulator said in statement. "This will include looking at the activities FA allows betting on, such as yellow cards. "The scope of the FA review is yet to be finalised but will focus on the legislated integrity requirements of sports controlling bodies." In a statement, Football Australia said the VGCCC informed it of the review in April. "Football Australia welcomes the opportunity to continue to refine our vigilance against integrity threats," it said. "Football Australia subscribes to continual vigilance in our standards to meet this challenge, but it's something that all Australian and international sports, regulators and government agencies must do together, as this stain isn't unique to footy players. "The job on integrity is never complete as offenders are becoming more and more sophisticated." Under Victoria's gambling laws, Football Australia is a designated "sports controlling body", which gives it the responsibility to oversee integrity of soccer and the power to negotiate with betting companies about the range of events on which they can offer bets. It also enables Football Australia to earn a portion of the revenue of gambling on soccer games – including bets on the number of yellow cards in a match. Football Australia has similar powers and responsibilities under New South Wales gambling laws. In 2023, Four Corners revealed Football Australia was allowing bookmakers to offer bets on all levels of the sport – from international games to amateur suburban matches. Most other major sporting bodies, such as the AFL and NRL, only allow betting on first and second-tier professional competitions. While the VGCCC has not disclosed the terms of reference for its inquiry, Melbourne University sports law expert Jack Anderson said it would likely focus on the range of gambling Football Australia allows on all levels of professional and amateur soccer in the country. "Probably what [the regulator] is doing is saying, yes, we have agreed that Football Australia can allow a range of bets on football. But are some of these bets presenting such a risk that they should be struck off and not offered?" he said. Professor Anderson said soccer governing bodies and authorities around the world are grappling with rising instances of alleged match fixing involving yellow cards, which is one of the few elements of play in the sport that can be influenced by a single player. "It's very discrete, in that a player can effect the foul that generates the yellow card. And they can do it almost to the minute, or to a particular time in the game." Brazilian midfielder Lucas Paqueta, who plays with English Premier League side West Ham United, is facing a possible lifetime ban after the UK Football Association charged him with allegedly intentionally receiving yellow cards as part of a spot-fixing operation. Paqueta has denied any wrongdoing.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
The Pitt medical drama could easily be set in an Australian emergency room
I don't usually set my friends homework before I agree to catch up with them, but I had questions — many, detailed questions, and only someone who worked in the emergency room of a public hospital was going to be able to answer them. And to do that, my highly skilled, incredibly busy friend Nadine was going to have to sit down and watch all 15 episodes of The Pitt. The series depicts 15 hours of one shift in an under-funded, overcrowded emergency department of a Pittsburgh hospital, and it's the co-creation of the star, writer and co-producer of ER, the most famous TV emergency room of all: the actor Noah Wyle, R. Scott Gemmill and John Wells. The Pitt is riveting, real and unsentimental television, set in a time of fentanyl abuse, a national bed crisis and assaults against health workers. It's been lauded by many US emergency doctors as the most realistic medical drama ever. Watching it you ask yourself one question over and over — is this how it really is? Is this happening here in Australia? I needed my friend to answer this for me. Nadine is a specialist in one of the best-known emergency departments in the country. She has had the almost unbearable task of dealing with the aftermath of some of our most significant public tragedies. The day we made our plan to meet she had just finished a "rotten day: six trauma cases in the space of two-and-a-half hours." By the time we sat together for dinner, almost everyone she knew in her field had told Nadine she had to watch the show, and finally she did. In one go. Her verdict? "It's everything you ever see in emergency medicine all crammed into one day. And it's absolutely true." Nobody in Australia who enjoys this incredibly well-written and brilliantly acted show will want to recognise any elements in our publicly funded system, of which we enjoy being proud. The US hospital comparison is one we only ever make to land the point about the importance of our universal, public coverage. But increasingly, our intensivists, doctors and nurses will tell you that the experience is becoming the same. My friend talks of families of six children arriving early to her emergency room, clearly unable to afford or secure the multiple GP visits they need. The room is crowded by 11am and stays that way, with many cases better suited to the primary care that families can't afford. Noah Wyle, who played young doctor John Carter on ER, has said that one of the key differences between his time on ER and now, and one of the reasons he decided to revisit the subject, is that in 1994 around 40 million Americans were without health insurance and relied on emergency departments for primary health care; that figure, he says, has now doubled. This week both the ABC and the Nine newspapers have highlighted emergency department waiting times and bed shortages in NSW and Victorian public hospitals: wait times of up to 88 hours, no beds for admissions and deaths in EDs of untreated patients. Workforce shortages have forced mental health services to close and left staff struggling to keep the system functioning. All the while, primary care in this country has taken a beating. The Royal Australasian College of GPs has argued over the years that governments have tended to direct more funding to hospitals and emergency services rather than investing in primary care, despite strong evidence that primary care reduces hospital demand. According to the Productivity Commission, the average cost to the government when a patient visits an emergency department is $692 compared to $82.90 for 20 to 40 minutes with their GP for early diagnosis and preventative care. But you need enough GPs in clinics to make that a reality, and you need to fund Medicare well enough to make it worth the while of being a GP, which is one of the most important, complex and unsung roles in the medical system. Anyone who is lucky enough to have a good GP, and have them over the decades of their life, will attest. During the election campaign, the Albanese government promised an injection of $8.5 billion into Medicare, but GPs argue that the focus, and money, needs to be on funding longer consults for patients who increasingly have co-morbidities and complex health conditions that a bulk-billed 15-minute consult can't solve. The government wants "nine out of 10 visits to the GP to be free" but with complex medical needs, this won't help cover costs for a doctor's visit that will keep you out of the emergency room. If you have had the unfortunate need to turn up to an emergency department, I hope that like so many others you came away amazed and grateful for the generally excellent care that our public hospitals provide. If you get to see someone like my friend Nadine and her colleagues, you will be in exceptionally good hands. I just hope you don't find that you have to go see her because, in Australia in 2025, you can't afford to go anywhere else. This weekend, if medical dramas are your thing, check out The Pitt or read about how to remove the burr under the saddle of so many relationships — dividing household chores. If you can't afford a doctor, you won't be able to afford a cleaner. Have a safe and happy weekend and with the magical and otherworldly singer Marlon Williams in the country, have a listen to his latest album, Te Whare Tīwekaweka, performed in Maori. Here, he is collaborating with the singer Lorde. It's simply beautiful. Go well. Virginia Trioli is presenter of Creative Types and a former co-host of ABC News Breakfast and Mornings on ABC Radio Melbourne.
