In 125 years of VFL / AFL football, there have been just six Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island players to be named as a Club captain.

Then in 2023, two more players joined the list in Alex Pearce and North Melbourne’s Jy Simpkin.

The pair become and seventh and eighth players to lead a Club, with Pearce on Thursday announced as Fremantle’s captain and Simpkin voted in earlier this month as the Kangaroos’ co-captain with Luke McDonald.

It’s an important sign of both the continued advancement of Indigenous players and their leadership in the AFL.

Prior to this year, Pearce had led Fremantle for 16 games as a stand in captain, a role Indigenous teammate Michael Walters also filled for one game in 2020.

In the lead up to the leadership vote on Tuesday, Pearce said he spoke to Walters about the history of Indigenous leadership in the game.

“I was only speaking to Sonny about it before, we were trying to work out who the Indigenous leaders might have been,” Pearce said.

“It’s incredibly humbling and special and something that I certainly would never have expected. I don’t feel like I belong alongside any of those names.”

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As well as Pearce’s links with Fremantle’s no.10 in Walters, the number 10 has added meaning for Pearce in 2023 – as Fremantle’s 10th captain, Pearce will also design Fremantle’s 10th Indigenous jumper in what will be his 10th AFL season.

The jumper is set to draw on his journey at Fremantle and his links to Palawa country in Tasmania.

On Wednesday, the Club announced it will play as the Walyalup Football Club for its future Sir Doug Nicholls and AFLW Indigenous Round games.

“This year with the Indigenous Round and the influence that I have had on designing the guernsey, it’s going to be a special couple of weeks,” Pearce said.

“To wear the jumper and lead the team out, it will be incredibly special to me.”

Pearce has previously credited the history of Indigenous leaders at Fremantle on his own development.

“When I got to the club, we had Michael Johnson as a leader, Sonny became a leader pretty quickly,” Pearce said.

“We've always had such a rich history of Indigenous players and leaders. My first coach was Roger Hayden and he's still a leader within the club.

“I feel like within the Fremantle Dockers, there's always been a really strong representation of Indigenous leaders.”

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