HISTORY plays a part in every Grand Final success, and Collingwood's 2010 triumph was no exception.

It wasn’t just the fact that the premiership came off the back of only the third drawn Grand Final in VFL-AFL history, or that the victory was the club's greatest Grand Final winning margin (56 points).

Those elements were important, of course, but there was a lesser known piece of history that somehow made it feel even more complete.

For the first time in almost 120 years, and after 14 earlier VFL-AFL flags (or 15, if you include the 1896 VFA flag), Collingwood finally had an indigenous player as part of one of its winning Grand Final sides.

 On that day, October 2, 2010, Sharrod Wellingham created history in the black and white jumper, and he did so in style, having 20 touches and kicking two second half goals in the premiership win over St Kilda.

It hardly caused a ripple, but it should have. Perhaps it was a little lost amidst the cacophony of the club’s first flag in 20 years. But Wellingham’s achievement, in his 52nd game, was significant in terms of the past and the future of the Collingwood Football Club.

A week earlier, Wellingham's teammate Leon Davis had played in the drawn Grand Final, but one of the club’s earlier indigenous trailblazers had been dropped from the replay.

According to the AFL's 2012 Season Guide, Wellingham is one of 13 known indigenous players to have represented Collingwood in a senior game of VFL-AFL football. That number went up by two this year, with the debuts of Peter Yagmoor and Kirk Ugle.

Speaking this week to mark the AFL’s Indigenous Round, Wellingham spoke of the pride in his heritage and his achievements, with more than a hint of gratitude at the men who blazed the trail before him.

Now, with the enormous contribution made by the indigenous players in our indigenous game, it seems almost absurd that so few Aboriginal footballers played at the elite level of the game in the game’s first half century.

Collingwood's first known indigenous footballer to play a senior game was Norm Le Brun, who has previously been known as much for the number of clubs he played for rather than the early stamp he made on the game.

His time in the VFL was relatively short - albeit with four VFL clubs - and sadly so was his life, having been one of the VFL footballers killed during the Second World War.

Le Brun played 19 games for Collingwood from 1933-34.

There were no headlines when the player who is now considered Collingwood's first known player with an indigenous background ran out for the Round 3 game against South Melbourne in 1933. Then 25, Le Brun played two games that season with limited impact, before being relegated to the seconds again.

But he began to make an impact at Collingwood in the 1934 season. He became a more settled member of a side that had many club greats in it, including Syd and Gordon Coventry, Harry and Albert Collier, Jack Regan, Charlie Dibbs, Harold Rumney and Phonse Kyne.

Acting as a second rover to Harry Collier, and a handy player around the goals, Le Brun played 17 games and kicked 23 goals for the season. At one stage of the season, the Argus called him: "the most improved man in the side."

On three occasions that season he kicked three goals in a game, including in a thrilling draw with Geelong, and his season tally was fourth at the club behind Gordon Coventry (105), Phonse Kyne (29) and Harry Collier (25).

But just as quickly as he came to Collingwood; Le Brun was gone - to Carlton, of all clubs.

Sadly, that ended Collingwood's link to indigenous players for a long time.

Wally Lovett emerged as a tenacious footballer during one of the club's most fractured years in 1982. The young indigenous rover-forward managed 15 games and kicked 11 goals in his one season with the club.

But when Collingwood engaged in a bitter player trading war with Richmond, Lovett moved on to Punt Road where he played for another two seasons.

As the 1980s moved into the 1990s, and the VFL became the AFL, clubs became much more attuned to just how good indigenous players were, and the impact they could have on the game - and the success of clubs.

Collingwood was relatively slow on the uptake and did not always have the most impeccable record in terms of indigenous relations.

In 1993 St Kilda's Nicky Winmar did a fair bit to change that. He raised his jumper and pointed to his skin in a match at Victoria Park, something that ended up having not only a profound impact on the football community as a whole, but also Collingwood and its supporters.

Later that year Essendon's Michael Long starred in his club's Grand Final win.
In late 1994 the Magpies recruited Robbie Ahmat from Darwin. The forward managed 22 games over three seasons before finishing his career in Sydney.

The recruitment of a young kid from Perth - as pick 34 - in the 1999 national draft, and his patient nurturing from new coach Mick Malthouse, had a profound impact on Collingwood's indigenous program.

The kid's name was Leon Davis, and he would go on to become Collingwood's best known and longest serving player with an indigenous background.

Davis would take a number of years to develop into the player that Malthouse knew he would become. But the coach stuck with him, and the exceptionally skilled Magpie would eventually play 225 games with the club.

Only 20 other footballers have played more games in the famous black and white in 120 years of the club's existence.

Davis also kicked 270 goals in his 12 seasons with Collingwood, ranked 15th in the club's history. He won the AFL's goal of the year in 2008, and was twice chosen an All-Australian in 2009 and last year.

Davis played in three Grand Finals for Collingwood. The closest he came to winning one was the drawn 2010 Grand Final, a game in which he kicked a vital last quarter goal.

Having played in the drawn Grand Final, the AFL ensured he got a premiership medal, despite the fact that he was dropped for the replay. Sadly, he missed his chance to win a Grand Final a year later when the Magpies lost the 2011 Grand Final to the Cats.

But Davis' legacy to Collingwood is much more than the indelible on-field memories he gave fans - he helped with the next wave of indigenous players at the club.

Richard Cole played 56 games for the club from 2002-05; Chris Egan played 27 games from 2005-08; Shannon Cox 25 games from 2007-09; Brad Dick 27 games from 2007-11; Anthony Corrie three games in 2009.

One of Davis' great mates, Andrew Krakouer, joined him at Collingwood last year, and while the pair played at opposite ends of the ground, they had a great rapport on and off the field.

Now, with Davis retired, and Krakouer out injured, Wellingham, Yagmoor and Ugle are proud to be carrying on their traditions.
 
# GLENN McFARLANE is a journalist with the Herald Sun and has written a number of books on Collingwood’s history