NEVILLE Jetta continues to showcase his leadership within the Indigenous space, organising a dinner for Victorian-based players and their families.
Being held in Melbourne on Tuesday night, the event will bring together over 20 current Indigenous players, as well as club Indigenous program managers and coaches, with the hope of fostering deeper relationships.
The initiative comes after discussions on the Indigenous All Stars Summit in Adelaide earlier this year.
“A catch-up, partly due to the need for players to connect with other Indigenous players in their own states, was a conversation we had on the Indigenous camp,” Jetta told Melbourne Media.
“Other clubs and states have been doing it for some time, and although it can be pretty hard to organise with so many players, I thought now was a good point at the start of the season.
“To be able to have dinner, enjoy each other’s company and create networks of support going forward is something that I’m looking forward to doing.”
Jetta on the Indigenous camp which was held in February (Photo: Mark Piovesan)
Although not the first time Jetta has taken such action – he has previously worked with the AFL Players’ Association in organising similar events – the dinner will see the highest level of involvement to date.
With up to 50 people set to attend, Jetta said it provides great opportunity to reinforce the message that the players are available to each other, regardless of their schedules.
“It’s one of those key recommendations from our camp that we spoke about and to be able to do this now, it shows us that the boys are committed to being around and supporting each other,” he said.
“I really want to see it continue, and for it to be an annual thing, long after myself and other senior players who are driving messages to get players there are gone.”
A much-loved figure of the AFL community, Jetta has been a strong advocate for change among the Indigenous and Non-Indigenous landscape.
With the support of Melbourne, and Indigenous Programs Officer Matthew Whelan in particular, he has now been able to find the balance.
“I look at Wheels’ (Whelan) role and the timeline of when he started to now, and I feel like there’s no coincidence that the stress of the Indigenous side of things within the football club has been lifted off of me,” Jetta said.
“Myself, Jeffy (Jeff Garlett) and the other boys in the club felt like we had to drive a lot of things, but now we feel like we’re able to come in and be footballers, and concentrate on our football.
“There’s no coincidence that we’ve all had some of our best years of our AFL careers to date since Wheels joined us.”
And in facing more challenges than most, Whelan’s influence is not something Jetta takes for granted.
“We feel like we’re probably not on the same playing field as the Non-Indigenous players because we have to deal with issues that we shouldn’t have to deal with,” Jetta said.
“From racial vilification on social media to things like organising jumpers for Indigenous Round and involvement in NAIDOC week – there are a lot of things that we have to be role models for and be leaders in that space.
“To have someone to take that pressure off but to still drive the message and educate the wider AFL in general is something we value very highly as players.”
