{"id":643522,"date":"2026-05-01T21:07:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T21:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/643522\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T21:07:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T21:07:14","slug":"indigenous-greats-shaun-burgoyne-michael-oloughlin-michael-walters-slam-afl-over-new-subcommittee-to-boost-first-nations-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/643522\/","title":{"rendered":"Indigenous greats Shaun Burgoyne, Michael O\u2019Loughlin, Michael Walters slam AFL over new subcommittee to boost First Nations numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"

May 2, 2026 \u2014 5:30am<\/p>\n

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A growing cohort of the game\u2019s most decorated First Nations footballers has expressed deep disappointment in a new AFL subcommittee designed to address the falling numbers of Indigenous players across the AFL and AFLW.<\/p>\n

All-Australians Shaun Burgoyne, Michael O\u2019Loughlin and Michael Walters are among the retired AFL stars critical of the make-up and lack of Indigenous representation on the Greg Swann-led 16-member panel. The panel includes only three First Nations Australians, no one from the Northern Territory, NSW or Queensland, and minimal input from Western Australia.<\/p>\n

\"IndigenousIndigenous AFL greats Michael Walters, Shaun Burgoyne and Michael O\u2019Loughlin.Artwork: Michael Howard<\/p>\n

Four-time premiership player Burgoyne led the chorus, telling this masthead: \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone apart from two people at AFL House knew they were going down this path. Not that I wanted to be on it, but who was consulted? There is altogether a lack of process.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have been nice to get a phone call because I had a lot of people I would have recommended. Sonny [Michael] Walters would have had an opinion. Micky O [O\u2019Loughlin] would have had an opinion.<\/p>\n

\"StSt Kilda\u2019s Bradley Hill responds to AFL Media\u2019s post about the sub-committee. Instagram<\/p>\n

\u201cIf growing numbers in New South Wales or Queensland are top priorities then where is the representation? If growing AFLW numbers, which are down again, [is a priority] then why are there only two women?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf numbers out of the Northern Territory are down and there is talk of a 20th licence, why is no one from the NT on the panel? It\u2019s embarrassing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burgoyne, along with O\u2019Loughlin, Walters, Eddie Betts, David Rodan, Daniel Motlop and Mathew Stokes, also communicated their shock at the exclusion of the game\u2019s national AFL talent diversity manager Paul Vandenbergh<\/a> \u2013 the most senior Indigenous football staffer at head office \u2013 from the panel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt lacks credibility because Paul Vandenbergh is not on it. If he leaves, then they [the AFL] have no credibility in this space. There are legends of the game who have lived experience throughout Australia who should have been a part of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer Port Adelaide and North Melbourne player Daniel Motlop\u2019s social media post.Instagram<\/p>\n

The AFL\u2019s stated blueprint to lift Indigenous playing numbers comes with the current figures \u2013 62 in the AFL \u2013 at a two-decade low. The AFLW averages just one First Nations player per club. The subcommittee is reportedly targeting 81 AFL and 29 AFLW Indigenous players by 2030, as this masthead exclusively reported in March.<\/a><\/p>\n

AFL bosses downplayed the significance of the subcommittee when contacted by this masthead, saying it was a group charged specifically with determining list spot mechanics.<\/p>\n

Taryn Lee, the game\u2019s new general manager of First Nations and inclusion, said every club had been offered the opportunity to take part in an email circulated late last year.<\/p>\n

Although the AFL\u2019s official website described the new body as a \u201csubcommittee\u201d, Lee said it was more of a working group that would meet twice later this month. She could not explain why the AFL\u2019s own media team had heralded it as a subcommittee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI presented the game\u2019s First Nations strategy to the club CEOs late last year and the membership [of the panel] was formed in an organic way. The origins of this, and the intentions of this, were to work with the clubs on what the opportunities going forward were going to look like.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do we need to do to reach our goals? It\u2019s not going to magically happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LiamLiam Ryan celebrates victory over Fremantle in last year\u2019s Indigenous All-Stars match at Optus Stadium.Getty Images<\/p>\n

When asked why the majority of the AFL\u2019s First Nations staffers \u2013 most of whom work under Swann and his new football lieutenant and subcommittee member Justin Reid \u2013 had not been told about the working group Lee said: \u201cI do my best to have an open relationship with everyone in the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Loughlin, the Swans\u2019 303-game premiership player, and now club director, added: \u201cThis is such a major piece of work. I haven\u2019t been consulted as one of the Indigenous board members, but I\u2019m dumbfounded at Pauly Vandenbergh not being on it. It has to be addressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe work he has done builds relationships with players from when they leave home through their post-football life. It\u2019s pretty important to have a guy that\u2019s got everyone\u2019s ear and their hearts and minds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just have the utmost respect and appreciation for what Pauly has been able to do. The Indigenous All-Stars game (in 2025) was a test case and a great success. That only happened because Paul and [former AFL executive] Tanya Hosch brought it all together.<\/p>\n

\"Hawthorn\u2019sHawthorn\u2019s Chad Wingard celebrates a goal.Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cMy sole focus now is being here in Sydney and our Swans First Nations program, but the programs we used to run at the AFL just dropped away. Like the All-Stars: If you can\u2019t see it, you can\u2019t be it.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Loughlin owns and runs ARA Indigenous Services, an Indigenous-owned and operated cleaning and property maintenance service providing employment pathways and education for Indigenous Australians. He also founded the GO Foundation with Adam Goodes<\/a> and remains a director.<\/p>\n

Walters, forced out of AFL football due to chronic knee pain midway through last season after 239 games, now works for WA Football as its indigenous and multicultural relationship manager. He said this week: \u201cThe issue in NT is massive and in WA it\u2019s massive. We need more eyes out there; it\u2019s made up of so many areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd especially when we are trying to grow the game in Queensland and New South Wales to have minimal representation [on the subcommittee]. I\u2019m not sure how that works.\u201d<\/p>\n

West Coast\u2019s new player movement manager and draft strategist Adam Shepard is one of nine club representatives from football, recruiting and list management on the subcommittee, with two representatives from the Adelaide Crows and the rest from Victorian clubs.<\/p>\n

The First Nations panellists are Hosch\u2019s AFL replacement Lee, her AFL colleague Chad Wingard and Richmond premiership player-turned Adelaide recruiter Shane Edwards.<\/p>\n

Lee\u2019s role is no longer an executive position at head office. Wingard recently joined the AFL as its first national Next Generation Academy manager.<\/p>\n

Editor’s pick\"Saints<\/a><\/p>\n

Burgoyne, Port Adelaide\u2019s Indigenous welfare manager, added: \u201cThere\u2019s no representation from the clubs who have drafted the most Indigenous players over the past two decades and that\u2019s Fremantle, Port Adelaide, and Hawthorn.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lack of consultation with the game\u2019s key Indigenous voices in setting up the panel comes after this masthead reported that Paul Briggs, the long-time chairman of the AFL\u2019s Indigenous Advisory Council, described the new head office plan to address the decline of First Nations footballers as \u201cshallow and self-centred\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Burgoyne, who served on the IAC, said he too had stepped off the council two years ago because he felt \u201cdisrespected\u201d and believed it was \u201ca box-ticking exercise\u201d.<\/p>\n

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"CarolineCaroline Wilson<\/a> is a Walkley award-winning columnist and former chief football writer for The Age.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"May 2, 2026 \u2014 5:30am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643523,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-643522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}