Adelaide will help kick off this year’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round when the Club travels to Alice Springs to take on Melbourne on Sunday, May 27.
The Round 10 match, to be played at TIO Traeger Park, will mark the start of a week-long celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and their contributions to Australian Football.
Following the recent success of the fixture, Adelaide will also host a game as part of the round.
The Crows will play Greater Western Sydney in a Saturday night blockbuster at Adelaide Oval on June 2.
The AFL’s General Manager Inclusion and Social Policy Tanya Hosch said Sir Doug Nicholls Round gives the football community the opportunity to formally celebrate and acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players, communities and cultures.
“The AFL has celebrated Australia’s first people’s cultures through a dedicated round for 12 years, with this year being the third time we’ve celebrated under the banner highlighting former South Australian Governor and ex-footballer Sir Doug Nicholls,” Hosch said.
“We look forward to celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures across a full week this year and at all levels of football, beginning in Alice Springs.
“The role football continues to play in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across the country is something we don’t take lightly.
“We are fully aware we have a responsibility to genuinely invest and support programs to ensure everyone has the same opportunities in football.”
Before the Melbourne-Adelaide match, the Central Australian Redtails, a representative team which also seeks to achieve social engagement outcomes through providing health and education program for Aboriginal footballers in the Red Centre, will play in a curtain-raiser against the Top End Storm representative team, with the match to be broadcast live by the Seven Network.
The curtain-raiser will be followed by a 15-minute Aboriginal cultural performance.
The Crows celebrate after defeating Fremantle in the 2017 Sir Doug Nicholls Round
About Sir Doug Nicholls Round
In 2007, following the success of ‘Dreamtime at the 'G matches in 2005 and 2006, the AFL nominated a specific Indigenous Round which in 2016, was renamed in honour of Sir Doug Nicholls. The round celebrates the relationship between the game and Indigenous Australia by connecting AFL fans to Indigenous culture. The round also celebrates the incredible impact Indigenous players have made on our game.
Sir Doug, who epitomised the spirit of reconciliation, played 54 games for Fitzroy and was a brilliant all-round athlete. The first Aboriginal person to be knighted, he also served as Governor of South Australia and was devoted to the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
This year there are 80 male players who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander which makes up approximately 10 per cent of AFL lists, and 10 female players (about five per cent) who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander in the NAB AFL Women’s competition.
