I write this having come from the funeral of the West Perth and Buffaloes great Bill Dempsey. I mention this because Dempsey is the first Northern Territory player to play on the MCG. He was a trailblazer that set the scene so many other Territorians like Long, Rioli, Burgoyne, White and McLeod could follow. Demspey’s legacy came about by chance, as he was the support act for the talented Darwin recruit Jimmy Anderson when they both came down to Perth in the late 1950s. Anderson lasted a few weeks. Dempsey went on to play more than 500 games and receive an MBE.
Their stories are instructive given the current situation the game finds itself in and the declining number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players in the AFL. In 2020, 87 Indigenous players were playing in the top men’s competition. In 2025-26 the number sits at 62, the lowest in two decades and an approximate 30% downturn. If this was the decline in pie sales, shit would hit the fan.
