 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Michael Long" footballer – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(June 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Michael Long OAM | |||
|---|---|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Long onThe Long Walk in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Michael Long | ||
| Born | (1969-10-01)1 October 1969 (age 56)[1] Tiwi Islands | ||
| Original team | St Mary's/West Torrens | ||
| Draft | No. 23.,1988 national draft | ||
| Height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Weight | 82 kg (181 lb) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1986-1988 | St Mary's | 53(70) | |
| 1988 | West Torrens | 22(11) | |
| 1989–2001 | Essendon | 190 (143) | |
| Total | 265 (224) | ||
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 1988 | Northern Territory | 3 (9) | |
| 1993 | QLD/NT | 1 (0) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2001. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Michael LongOAM (born(1969-10-01)1 October 1969) is a formerAustralian rules footballer ofAboriginal descent who became a spokesperson for Indigenous rights and againstracism in sport in Australia.
Long played in dualAustralian Football League (AFL) premierships with theEssendon Football Club, including aNorm Smith Medal for his1993 grand final performance. As an activist, he is credited with being instrumental in the introduction of aracial vilification code in the AFL in 1995 and the inspiration behind "The Long Walk" commemorating theStolen Generations, now a strong AFL tradition. In August 2023, Long began a 650-kilometre (400 mi) walk betweenMelbourne andCanberra in support of the forthcomingAustralian Indigenous Voice referendum. He completed the walk in 20 days and arrived in Canberra on 14 September 2023.
Michael Long was born on 1 October 1969[2] to mother Agnes and father Jack Long. Both were removed from their parents at a young age and taken toMelville Island, one of theTiwi Islands. Jack's half Chinese and half English father fought unsuccessfully for custody of his son.[3] Agnes was taken fromDaly River nearDarwin, and Jack was taken fromTi Tree nearAlice Springs.[4] Michael was raised on the Tiwi Islands.[citation needed]
Long moved to Darwin to play withSt Mary's, where he played in several premierships. In 1988, he represented theNorthern Territory at theAdelaide Bicentennial Carnival in March, and his outstanding performances in the dominant NT team saw enormous interest in his recruitment from various first-class clubs throughout the country, including Essendon, which nominated him in the1988 VFL draft.[a][5][6]
Despite being drafted to theVictorian Football League (VFL),South Australian National Football League (SANFL) clubWest Torrens argued that Long was "contracted with the club and could not play anywhere else". Recruiter Noel Judkins said, "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 word '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." However, despite this, Long did play for West Torrens during the1988 SANFL season, winning the club'sbest-and-fairest award, the third-last player to do so, as the Eagles merged with theWoodville Football Club following the1990 season to become theWoodville-West Torrens Eagles.[citation needed]
Long played perhaps the best game of his career in the1993 AFL grand final. Playing onMark Athorn, Long ran amok, helping Essendon gain a healthy quarter-time lead and then maintain it. By the end of the game, he had amassed 20 kicks and 13handballs, totalling 33 possessions.[7] Long's performance was rewarded with theNorm Smith Medal, which was presented to him by fellowTiwi IslanderMaurice Rioli.[8]
In the pre-season of 1994, in a practice match againstWest Coast, Long injured hisknee, which required 12 months of solid rehabilitation, and he was not seen for the entirehome-and-away season. In1995, Long made a triumphant return to AFL football and played almost a full season. In the inauguralAnzac Day match betweenEssendon andCollingwood at theMCG, an incident ofracial abuse targeting Long occurred, which was to have a lasting impact on the game.[9]
For the next two seasons, Long needed knee surgery and only took the field seven times. He missed the first half of 1998 while recovering from the surgery, but he finished the year strongly, playing in nine games. According to the round 3, 1999 edition of theAFL Record, between the beginning of the 1994 and the end of the 1998 seasons, Long played only 38 of a possible 119 games.[citation needed]
Long had the honour of kicking the first-ever goal at the newDocklands Stadium when it opened in 2000. He was also a member of Essendon's record-breakingpremiership team in 2000 which lost only one game for the entire season. Long faced heavy scrutiny for his bump onTroy Simmonds, which rendered Simmonds unconscious and raised the possibility of him losing mobility. While this never eventuated, the incident prompted the AFL to introduce new rules protecting players with their heads over the ball. Long was thus suspended for the act.[citation needed]
2001 was Long's final season, and although Essendon again made thegrand final, Long aggravated ahamstring injury during training in the week leading up to the match and was forced to name himself unavailable on the eve of the game, which Essendon lost toBrisbane.
In the inaugural Anzac Day match of the1995 season betweenEssendon andCollingwood at theMCG, Long made an official complaint after he had beenracially taunted byCollingwood ruckmanDamian Monkhorst. TheAFL arranged a mediation session between Long and Monkhorst and held a media conference. Although Long was clearly unsatisfied by the short-term outcome of their meeting, and both players receiveddeath threats, the long-term result was that it set a racial vilification code that held players to account for racist acts on the field. An AFL investigation after the incident showed that at least 10 players from six clubs regularly racially abused players.[9] Since this incident, there have only been a handful of widely publicised accusations of racial taunts by a player on the AFL field in the following three decades, although racial abuse from fans has proved to be a recurring issue over the years.[10][11][9][12]Twenty years after the incident, at the MCG to launch the 11thLong Walk in 2015, Monkhorst and Long met and shook hands in a mutually respectful manner. Long said that Monkhorst had since shown great leadership.[9]
In 1997,Peter "Spida" Everitt reportedly racially abused Long,[clarification needed] which ironically drew a free kick to Everitt due to Long's enraged physical response.[13][14] Although nothing of consequence happened from the Long–Everitt incident, Everitt racially vilified Melbourne'sScott Chisholm two years later and undertook a racial awareness training program as well as donating $20,000 to a charity of Chisholm's choice. In addition, Everitt lost $50,000–$60,000 in match bonuses (depending on sources) from the incident.[15][16][17] The incident came a week afterSam Newman infamously donnedblackface to mockNicky Winmar for declining to come onThe Footy Show.[18][14]
Following his retirement, Long became a spokesman for Indigenous Australians. He was a critic of then-Prime MinisterJohn Howard's policies towards Indigenous Australians — most notably Howard's refusal to make an apology to theStolen Generations. In a letter published in Melbourne'sThe Age, Long likened Howard to "those cold-hearted pricks" who had removed his parents from their families.[19]
Long's political activities culminated in a protest march fromMelbourne toCanberra, leaving on 21 November 2004. The aim of the walk was to obtain a meeting with thePrime Minister. After ten days of intense media scrutiny of the walk, Prime Minister Howard eventually granted Long a meeting, at which point Long called an end to the walk, having completed half (about 325 kilometres (202 mi) of the planned 650-kilometre (400 mi)) of the walk.[19][20] He later said: "I wanted to make a change. It was about challenging the government about some of the issues Aboriginal people were facing and still face – education, employment, health, housing, the Stolen Generations."[21]
The walk became known as The Long Walk, and the tradition of a commemorative community walk in Melbourne has continued, with thousands turning out for the event.[22] The walk takes place in late May or early June before the annualDreamtime at the 'G match, starting atFederation Square and ending at theMCG.[21] Long is patron of The Long Walk, an organisation inspired by his walk and which works for the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians.[22]
In August 2023 Long began a 650-kilometre (400 mi) walk between Melbourne and Canberra, this time in support of the forthcomingAustralian Indigenous Voice referendum.[23] He completed the walk after 20 days, arriving at Parliament House in Canberra on 14 September. He reported that he had experienced "overwhelming support" from people he met in regional Australia.[24]
In July 2011, Long signed up as ambassador for weight-loss agencyJenny Craig, partly to highlight Indigenous health.
In 2015, he became board member of the newly founded Michael Long Foundation (MLF), and in 2016 the Michael Long Learning and Leadership Centre (MLLLC) opened in Darwin. MLF funds education and football programs for indigenous people, and the MLLLC, funded by the federal government and managed byAFL Northern Territory, aims to nurture talent and improve lives and communities.[25][26]
In 2002, an Essendon panel ranked Long at number 23 in theirChampions of Essendon list of the 25 greatest players ever to have played for Essendon.[citation needed]
Long was awarded theMedal of the Order of Australia in the2021 Queen's Birthday Honours, for "service to Australian rules football, and to the Indigenous community".[27]
He received the 2025NAIDOC lifetime achievement award.[28]
Long is renowned for his sharp wit. In an incident recalled by Long's only VFL/AFL coach,Kevin Sheedy, there was a fundraiser to reconstructWindy Hill that was under way, and Sheedy was conducting a serious training session in front of awhiteboard and 200 people, mostly money donors. He paused to ask if anyone had a question. To the surprise of all that knew him, Long, who apparently hadn't spoken up during a training session in five years, raised his hand, causing people to fall silent to hear Long speak. Long asked, "What was wrong with theblackboard?"[29]
In 2006, Long was charged with assaulting a man at a football club function inDarwin.[30] He pleaded guilty when the case came to trial in 2009, saying he had struck a man who had attacked his sister. No conviction was recorded, with the magistrate saying that he was unlikely to reoffend.[31]
In 2018, Long was treated for a life-threatening infectious disease,melioidosis, in a hospital in Darwin; however, this did not stop him from announcing plans for a second Long Walk, as he was honoured for theSir Doug Nicholls Round at Dreamtime at the 'G in May 2019.[32]
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks | ||
# | Played in that season's premiership team |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
| 1989 | Essendon | 4 | 24 | 19 | 10 | 233 | 203 | 436 | 68 | 63 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 9.7 | 8.5 | 18.2 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 8 |
| 1990 | Essendon | 4 | 25 | 13 | 9 | 221 | 184 | 405 | 58 | 51 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 8.8 | 7.4 | 16.2 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 5 |
| 1991 | Essendon | 13 | 18 | 13 | 6 | 170 | 132 | 302 | 26 | 34 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 9.4 | 7.3 | 16.8 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 6 |
| 1992 | Essendon | 13 | 17 | 13 | 8 | 182 | 157 | 339 | 56 | 34 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 10.7 | 9.2 | 19.9 | 3.3 | 2.0 | 7 |
| 1993# | Essendon | 13 | 18 | 12 | 4 | 228 | 188 | 416 | 72 | 40 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 12.7 | 10.4 | 23.1 | 4.0 | 2.2 | 1 |
| 1994 | Essendon | 13 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1995 | Essendon | 13 | 22 | 27 | 18 | 294 | 221 | 515 | 80 | 40 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 13.4 | 10.0 | 23.4 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 16 |
| 1996 | Essendon | 13 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 4.5 | 3.0 | 7.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0 |
| 1997 | Essendon | 13 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 37 | 39 | 76 | 19 | 3 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 7.4 | 7.8 | 15.2 | 3.8 | 0.6 | 2 |
| 1998 | Essendon | 13 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 54 | 60 | 114 | 30 | 9 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 6.0 | 6.7 | 12.7 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 2 |
| 1999 | Essendon | 13 | 20 | 12 | 12 | 223 | 122 | 345 | 62 | 27 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 11.2 | 6.1 | 17.3 | 3.1 | 1.4 | 9 |
| 2000# | Essendon | 13 | 23 | 18 | 18 | 230 | 135 | 365 | 72 | 59 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 10.0 | 5.9 | 15.9 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 2 |
| 2001 | Essendon | 13 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 42 | 30 | 72 | 16 | 16 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 6.0 | 4.3 | 10.3 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 0 |
| Career | 190 | 143 | 99 | 1923 | 1477 | 3400 | 560 | 378 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 10.1 | 7.8 | 17.9 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 58 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
