It's Friday 10 July 2009, and on the Point Walter foreshore with the Perth city skyline as the backdrop a select group of young footballers from the Western Desert are preparing for the AFL football game of their lives.
13 July 2009
The Western Desert Warriors squad has been training extensively at Telfer over the past week and after a 24-hour bus journey is now in Perth preparing to play in the Newcrest Mining Western Desert Shield game against the Ngarda Goannas.
The atmosphere at the training session is electric, and adding to the players' excitement is the fact that the game will be played on the biggest of AFL stages in our state – Subiaco Oval – as the curtain-raiser to the West Coast Eagles clash against St Kilda on Sunday 12 July.
Former AFL Collingwood player and Telfer-based Indigenous Sports Development Officer (ISDO) Tristen Walker has been preparing a squad of 24 players chosen from five teams who took part in the annual three-day Punmu Sports Festival earlier in the month.
Tristen, whose role is a result of a partnership between Newcrest Mining Ltd and the WA Department of Sport and Recreation (DSR), says the Newcrest Mining Western Desert Shield game showcases the rare and raw Indigenous talent emanating from the Western Desert and adjoining regions in the far north of WA.
"The Western Desert Shield game is an exciting opportunity for these young footballers to experience visiting Perth, many for the first time, and to play at the home of football in WA in front of thousands of spectators," he said.
"They're all keen to give a good account of themselves, and they have already jelled well as a squad.
"We want them to enjoy their experiences and to have many good stories that they can take back and share with their communities."
The Goannas comprise players from the southern and western areas of the Pilbara, while the Western Warriors come from communities up to 600km further to the east.
Many of them learn and play their football in raw conditions that are in stark contrast to the wet and grassy conditions they have found on the Point Walter foreshore, and are accustomed to running, jumping, kicking and bouncing the ball on red dirt ovals, where boots hinder more than help.
Their style of play is quick and slick and, while natural skills abound, they rarely engage in an abundance of tenacious, ferocious, full-blooded tackles, as they prefer to fly, duck and weave, rather than heave.
One leaves the training session in no doubt that, regardless of the result when the siren sounds at the end of the fourth quarter at Subiaco Oval on Sunday, all of these players, and their communities, will come out of this experience as winners.
In addition to Newcrest's major sponsorship, the event is supported by the WA Football Commission, the West Coast Eagles, the Department of Sport and Recreation, Ngarda Civil and Mining, and Eurest Support Services.
