Before the beginning of the match Nicky Winmar and his Indigenous mate, Gilbert Mcadam, were racially abused by the Collingwood crowd. Slurs most likely included criticism about their culture, hatred towards the team they play for and racist remarks about the colour of their skin. At this point, Nicky Winmar was no stranger to copping racist abuse by the opposition crowds. So what he decided to do next was very brave of him. Nicky Winmar was fed up with the abuse him and his teammates had to deal with, so he stood up for himself. After both playing sensational games, Gilbert Mcadam and Nicky Winmar were both awarded best on ground awards. It was no surprise that they won the best on ground as they used the opposition’s slurs as fuel to keep going and going. What was a surprise was what happened after the siren. Nicky Winmar stood up for himself as he lifted his jersey and pointed to his skin saying “I’m black and I’m proud to be black.”

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This action became a symbol in the football community, showcasing that Indigenous players and the league wouldn’t tolerate racism towards the Indigenous players and community in the sport. Because of this monumental moment in the AFL’s career, they decided it would be fitting to create a statue of the very moment Nicky stood up for what was right. On July 6th 2019, Nicky Winmar unveiled the statue of him pointing at his skin at the Optus Stadium in Western Australia. Even though the statue was created and unveiled around 26 years after the famous moment, it shows how Nicky allowed the AFL to evolve and know what shouldn’t be tolerated in any games.