Michael Long
Encyclopedia
Michael Long is a former Australian rules football
er of Aboriginal descent and spokesperson for indigenous rights and against racism in sport.
, the West Torrens Football Club
of the Adelaide
based SANFL argued that Long was "contracted with the club and could not play anywhere else." "I was guaranteed this wasn't the case, so I took the contract to Darwin and met with Michael's father Jack and he was irate. He grabbed it and wrote the world 'bullshit' right across the front of it. When it became clear he wanted to play at Essendon, West Torrens agreed it wasn't a binding contract", Judkins said.
However, despite this Long did play for West Torrens during the 1988 SANFL season, winning the clubs best and fairest
award, the third last player to do so as the Eagles merged with the Woodville Football Club
following the 1990 season to become the Woodville-West Torrens Eagles.
. Playing on Mark Athorn
, Long ran amok, helping Essendon gain a healthy quarter-time lead, and to maintain it. By the end of the game, he had amassed 20 kicks and 13 handballs
, totaling 33 possessions.
Long's performance that day was phenomenal. 1993 was also the International Year for the World's Indigenous People. Australian rules football
's greatest ever indigenous player, Graham Farmer
was selected to present the player judged best on ground with the Norm Smith Medal
, which crowned Long's dominant display on the football field.
From that high point, Long experienced great difficulty in returning to the field.
In the pre-season of 1994 in a practice match against the West Coast Eagles
, Long injured his knee
which required 12 months of solid rehabilitation, and he was not seen for the entire 1994 AFL Home and Away season.
In 1995 Long made a triumphant return to AFL football and played almost a full season. In the Anzac Day
match between Essendon
and Collingwood
at the MCG
, Long claimed to have been racially taunted by Collingwood
's ruckman, Damian Monkhorst
.
The AFL
arranged a mediation session between Long and Monkhorst and although Long was clearly unsatisfied by the short-term outcome of this meeting, long-term it set a precedent and since this incident, there have only been three widely publicised accusations of racial taunts on the AFL field.
For the next two seasons he needed knee surgery and only took the field seven times. He missed the first half of 1998 recovering from the surgery, but finished the year strongly playing in nine games.
According to the round 3 AFL Record
of 1999, between the beginning of the 1994 and end of the 1998 seasons, Long played only 38 of a possible 119 games.
Long had the honour of kicking the first ever goal at the new Docklands Stadium when it opened in 2000. He was also a member of Essendon's record-breaking premiership team in 2000 which saw only one loss for the entire season. Long faced heavy scrutiny for his bump on Troy Simmonds
, which rendered Simmonds unconscious and raised the possibility of him losing mobility – which fortunately never eventuated. However, this incident inspired the AFL to introduce new rules protecting players with their heads over the ball. Long was suspended for this incident.
2001 was Long's final season and although Essendon made the Grand Final
that year, Long aggravated a hamstring during grand final training and was forced to name himself unavailable on the eve of the game, which Essendon lost in a major upset to the Brisbane Lions
who would go on to win three straight premierships.
's policies towards Indigenous Australians – most notably Howard's refusal to make an apology to the Stolen Generation
. In a letter published in Melbourne's The Age
, Long likened Howard to 'those cold-hearted pricks' who stole his parents. His political activities culminated in a protest march from Melbourne
to Canberra
, Australia's national capital. The aim of the walk was to obtain a meeting with the Prime Minister. After ten days of intense media scrutiny of the walk, the Prime Minister eventually granted Long a meeting who called an end to the walk, having completed about 325 km of the planned 650 km walk.
In July 2011, Long signed up as the latest ambassador for weight loss agency Jenny Craig. His aim was to drop at least 10 kg in around 10 weeks. Incredibly, Long weighed 112 kg. In September 2011 on The Footy Show, he announced he had smashed his goal, losing 17kgs in 10 weeks.
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
er of Aboriginal descent and spokesperson for indigenous rights and against racism in sport.
Early career
Despite being drafted to the VFLAustralian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
, the West Torrens Football Club
West Torrens Football Club
West Torrens Football Club was an Australian rules football club that competed in the South Australian National Football League from 1897 to 1990...
of the Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
based SANFL argued that Long was "contracted with the club and could not play anywhere else." "I was guaranteed this wasn't the case, so I took the contract to Darwin and met with Michael's father Jack and he was irate. He grabbed it and wrote the world 'bullshit' right across the front of it. When it became clear he wanted to play at Essendon, West Torrens agreed it wasn't a binding contract", Judkins said.
However, despite this Long did play for West Torrens during the 1988 SANFL season, winning the clubs best and fairest
Best and Fairest
Best and Fairest is the term commonly used in Australian sport to describe the player adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition while not receiving a suspension for misconduct or breaching the rules during that season.In the...
award, the third last player to do so as the Eagles merged with the Woodville Football Club
Woodville Football Club
Woodville Football Club was an Australian rules football club that competed in the South Australian National Football League from 1964 to 1990, when it merged with the West Torrens Football Club to form the Woodville-West Torrens Eagles....
following the 1990 season to become the Woodville-West Torrens Eagles.
Australian Football League career
Long played perhaps the best game of his career in the 1993 AFL Grand Final1993 AFL Grand Final
The 1993 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and Carlton Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 25 September 1993. It was the 97th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League/Australian Football...
. Playing on Mark Athorn
Mark Athorn
Mark Athorn is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Footscray, Fitzroy, Sydney and Carlton in the Australian Football League ....
, Long ran amok, helping Essendon gain a healthy quarter-time lead, and to maintain it. By the end of the game, he had amassed 20 kicks and 13 handballs
Handball (Australian rules football)
Handball is a term in the sport of Australian rules football which describes a method of disposing of possession of the football by hand. It is the most frequently used alternative to kicking the ball...
, totaling 33 possessions.
Long's performance that day was phenomenal. 1993 was also the International Year for the World's Indigenous People. Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
's greatest ever indigenous player, Graham Farmer
Graham Farmer
Graham Vivian "Polly" Farmer, MBE is a retired Australian rules football player and coach. Born in Western Australia, he joined the East Perth Football Club as a ruckman in 1953, where he won several awards and contributed to the team winning three premierships...
was selected to present the player judged best on ground with the Norm Smith Medal
Norm Smith Medal
The Norm Smith Medal is the award given in the AFL Grand Final to the player adjudged by an independent panel of experts to have been the best player in the match.-History:The Norm Smith Medal is named after former Melbourne player and coach, Norm Smith...
, which crowned Long's dominant display on the football field.
From that high point, Long experienced great difficulty in returning to the field.
In the pre-season of 1994 in a practice match against the West Coast Eagles
West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...
, Long injured his knee
Anterior cruciate ligament
The anterior cruciate ligament is a cruciate ligament which is one of the four major ligaments of the human knee. In the quadruped stifle , based on its anatomical position, it is referred to as the cranial cruciate ligament.The ACL originates from deep within the notch of the distal femur...
which required 12 months of solid rehabilitation, and he was not seen for the entire 1994 AFL Home and Away season.
In 1995 Long made a triumphant return to AFL football and played almost a full season. In the Anzac Day
ANZAC Day
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all...
match between Essendon
Essendon Football Club
The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
and Collingwood
Collingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
at the MCG
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, Long claimed to have been racially taunted by Collingwood
Collingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
's ruckman, Damian Monkhorst
Damian Monkhorst
Damian Monkhorst is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the VFL/AFL.'Monkey' came to Collingwood from Woori Yallock and made his debut in 1988. The 202cm, 116kg big man was classed as a no.1 ruckman as soon as he got to Victoria Park, and his early career headed him to become a...
.
The AFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
arranged a mediation session between Long and Monkhorst and although Long was clearly unsatisfied by the short-term outcome of this meeting, long-term it set a precedent and since this incident, there have only been three widely publicised accusations of racial taunts on the AFL field.
For the next two seasons he needed knee surgery and only took the field seven times. He missed the first half of 1998 recovering from the surgery, but finished the year strongly playing in nine games.
According to the round 3 AFL Record
AFL Record
The AFL Record is the official program available at Australian Football League matches. The publication began as the Football Record in Melbourne, Australia in April 1912, making it one of the oldest magazines in Australia....
of 1999, between the beginning of the 1994 and end of the 1998 seasons, Long played only 38 of a possible 119 games.
Long had the honour of kicking the first ever goal at the new Docklands Stadium when it opened in 2000. He was also a member of Essendon's record-breaking premiership team in 2000 which saw only one loss for the entire season. Long faced heavy scrutiny for his bump on Troy Simmonds
Troy Simmonds
Troy Simmonds is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne, Fremantle and Richmond in the Australian Football League.-Melbourne: 1999 – 2001:Simmonds was first drafted by Melbourne in the 1999 Preseason Draft...
, which rendered Simmonds unconscious and raised the possibility of him losing mobility – which fortunately never eventuated. However, this incident inspired the AFL to introduce new rules protecting players with their heads over the ball. Long was suspended for this incident.
2001 was Long's final season and although Essendon made the Grand Final
2001 AFL Grand Final
The 2001 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and the Brisbane Lions, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 29 September 2001. It was the 105th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League/Australian Football...
that year, Long aggravated a hamstring during grand final training and was forced to name himself unavailable on the eve of the game, which Essendon lost in a major upset to the Brisbane Lions
Brisbane Lions
The Brisbane Lions is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was formed from the merger of the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions in 1996...
who would go on to win three straight premierships.
Post-football
Following his retirement, Long became a spokesman for Indigenous Australians. He was also a critic of then Prime Minister John HowardJohn Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
's policies towards Indigenous Australians – most notably Howard's refusal to make an apology to the Stolen Generation
Stolen Generation
The Stolen Generations were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Federal and State government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments...
. In a letter published in Melbourne's The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
, Long likened Howard to 'those cold-hearted pricks' who stole his parents. His political activities culminated in a protest march from Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
to Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Australia's national capital. The aim of the walk was to obtain a meeting with the Prime Minister. After ten days of intense media scrutiny of the walk, the Prime Minister eventually granted Long a meeting who called an end to the walk, having completed about 325 km of the planned 650 km walk.
In July 2011, Long signed up as the latest ambassador for weight loss agency Jenny Craig. His aim was to drop at least 10 kg in around 10 weeks. Incredibly, Long weighed 112 kg. In September 2011 on The Footy Show, he announced he had smashed his goal, losing 17kgs in 10 weeks.