Giving back to the community is important to Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti

Visiting the remote indigenous community of Maningrida, West Arnhem Land, as part of the Club’s ‘Right of Passage’ camp with first to fourth year players this week, McDonald-Tipungwuti said the group would benefit greatly from the experience.

“The players will take a lot away from the whole experience,” Mcdonald-Tipungwuti said

“For our young players to meet the kids, come out to the community, most of them haven’t been to a remote community before so it’s a good experience for them to see how it is and get out of their comfort zone and share their stories,” McDonald-Tipungwuti said. 

“We had handball, kicking, bouncing and marking activities – skills that we do playing AFL so we wanted to teach the kids and encourage them to work on their skills.

Maningrida is in Essendon’s Next Generation Academy Zone. The visit included footy clinics, education sessions and a traditional welcome to country dance from the local students.

“There are talented kids up here, hopefully they can develop more with Essendon being here. It’s good for us to come here and hopefully teach them and hopefully get a few more players in the AFL,” McDonald-Tipungwuti said.

“It’s good to come out and share our experience with them and encourage them, that if they want to back an AFL player, this is what they need to do.

“It’s really good coming back and seeing the kids again and doing football clinics with them. It’s been a fantastic day and the boys have all really enjoyed it.”