When Fremantle’s Alex Pearce and North Melbourne’s Jy Simpkin lead their respective sides out onto the ground on Saturday, they will be part of a significant moment in the game’s history.
Only once before have two First Nations players captained opposing AFL sides.
Those two players were Gavin Wanganeen for Port Adelaide and Michael Long for Essendon – who captained against each other on two occasions in 1998 and 2000 – both times Long stepped in as vice-captain for the injured James Hird.
At Optus Stadium on Saturday – 23 years on – it will be Pearce and Simpkin who proudly become the second Indigenous captain pairing in AFL history.
The proud Indigenous men will, however, mark the first time that two anointed captains have led two opposing teams.
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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 – with Pearce and Simpkin joining that list in 2023 to become the seventh and eighth players to lead a Club.
Pearce (of the Palawa nation) said the opportunity to lead opposite Simpkin (of the Yorta Yorta nation) and to follow in the footsteps of Wanganeen and Long filled him with immense pride.
"It’ll be a nice moment, Fremantle have always had such a strong and proud Indigenous history so I’m very humbled to be able to help continue that," Pearce said.
"Jy is a guy who has really elevated his game in the last few years and he was a big part of why they were able to start the year with a win last week.
"I was very young when Wanganeen and Long were still playing, so I think my memories are more of replays of games they played and grand finals they won.
"I was a Carlton supporter growing up, so I’ve unfortunately seen the replay of Michael’s goal in the 1993 grand final plenty of times...They are certainly two of the greatest Indigenous players that the AFL has ever seen."
To help mark the occasion, Jett Sibosado, who is part of Fremantle’s Stephen Hill Next Generation Academy squad will toss the coin pre-game.
Pearce broke the news to the exciting NGA talent over a surprise Facetime call earlier in the week, with Sibosado elated to be involved in the coin toss moments prior to the bouncedown of Freo’s first home game of the season.
Tabtouch22: Freo flip one for Roos
Opposition: How North will line-up
Match Day Information: Round 2 v North Melbourne
