Magpie missionary to teach about Sir Doug
FORMER Collingwood footballer Peter Yagmoor has arrived in Townsville on a mission to educate local Aussie rules players on the life of Indigenous football pioneer Sir Doug Nicholls, who will be celebrated across the AFL over the next two rounds.
Nicholls was a trailblazer for First Nations footballers, playing 54 matches for Fitzroy between 1932 and 1937 before a distinguished career in politics, including the governorship of South Australia in 1975-76.
In 2016 the AFL renamed its Indigenous Round after him to celebrate Nicholls’ contributions to the sport.
“He was a real trailblazer in the sport for a lot of Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander AFL players,” Yagmoor said.
“Back then he would have been one of the only few and the way he went about it … created a lot of change in Fitzroy and the AFL to have people coming together.”
Yagmoor, now the Indigenous and Inclusion Programs Lead at AFL Queensland, also delivered education sessions about the state’s Racial and Religious Vilification Policy.
He said many players were unaware a specific policy to protect them from racial discrimination existed.
“A lot of people see AFL as a physical game and you get reported for things like high tackles but there’s also that aspect of vilifying someone,” he said.
“We’re making sure players are aware of that and are confident to speak up and report that so AFL Townsville is really diverse and inclusive of everyone.”
Yagmoor also delivered a training session for University Hawks’ junior women’s program.