The first AFL men’s player with a Vietnamese background, Essendon’s Jayden Nguyen, held his own against Sydney star Tom Papley on Saturday. Despite the Bombers’ 14-point defeat, Nguyen’s appearance was an important milestone for a game still struggling to come to terms with its place within multicultural Australia.
The 19-year-old, whose parents arrived in Australia in the 1980s, said he hoped he had made others proud. “I’m pretty rapt with the support I’ve got over the past few days from the Vietnamese community, and the Asian community in general,” Nguyen said after the match. “I just feel like it helps push me and makes me feel proud about myself.”
