Whether or not Sydney or the Western Bulldogs make the grand final, there will be two footballers of African descent playing on grand final day at the MCG.
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On a weekend during which Aliir Aliir and Majak Daw made their finals debuts, the AFL has taken another step towards getting more players from their backgrounds playing at the top level.
The league on Sunday inducted four players of African heritage into the AFL academy in a bid to fast-track the development of footballers from diverse backgrounds. Victorians Ajak Dang, Buku Khamis, Changkuoth Jiath and Kwaby Boakye have all been added to the academy - coached at least for the next six weeks by former Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson, who has been strongly linked to a move to Collingwood. The academy features 60 of the best underage footballers in the country, aiming to prepare them for life at an AFL club. Jiath and Boakye will both play in the under 17s All-Star match at the MCG that serves as the curtain-raiser for the grand final.
The AFL is keen to change the face of the game by adding more African players to the league - joining Aliir, Daw, Richmond's Mabior Chol, Brisbane Lion Reuben William, Essendon's Gach Nyuon and Bulldog Jason Johannisen.
Dang (born in South Sudan) and Khamis (born in Sudan) are both 2018 draft prospects, while Jiath and Boakye will be eligible for next year's draft. Of Ghanaian heritage, Boakye - whose mother Cecilia Yeboah is a health sciences supervisor at Australian Catholic University - has been living in Queensland in recent months, having joined the Gold Coast Suns' academy.
Dang, from the Murray Bushrangers, and Khamis, from the Western Jets, will be eligible to join Richmond and the Western Bulldogs' "Next Generation" academies respectively. If those clubs aid their player's development sufficiently, they will be approved to receive draft concessions similar to those available to clubs in NSW and Queensland, in accordance with rules rolled out by the AFL when they unveiled the academies early this year.
Ethiopian Jiath - a running half-back - has been boarding at Xavier College this year, but comes from Morwell, which is Hawthorn's "Next Generation" zone. The Hawks could receive an exemption to draft Jiath with a discount next year if they invest in his development. Jiath's father Stephen - a Nazarene Church minister - told Fairfax Media that the Hawks had shown preliminary interest in his son.
Changkuoth, who has been playing for the TAC Cup's Gippsland Power - said his parents had endured hardship before arriving in Australia in 1998.
"Mum and dad fled from South Sudan. There was a civil war going on there, that was just crazy. Dad decided just to move to Ethiopia for a better opportunity, and we came to Australia to have an even better opportunity," Jiath said.
AFL diversity manager Ali Fahour said inducting these new players was a positive step towards increasing multicultural involvement in football.
"There are now five players on AFL lists who have an African background which shows young players that it's possible," Fahour said.
"The AFL's multicultural programs have been building over the past years to help develop players from diverse backgrounds. These four young players are all highly rated and represent what the next generation academies are hoping to achieve.
"As Majak Daw has shown, these players have incredible athleticism and add a unique and exciting element to our game."
