Port Adelaide has picked up Jake Neade. Picture: Andrew Brownbill. Source: Herald Sun
AFL multicultural boss Jason Mifsud says any fears that clubs have gone cold on indigenous draft prospects "could not be further from the truth".
Mifsud addressed scathing criticism from former Fremantle recruiting boss Phil Smart who blasted AFL clubs for unfairly overlooking indigenous prospects.
Only four indigenous players were taken in last Thursday night's national draft.
Mifsud said the 2012 indigenous intake would likely exceed the yearly average when the pre-selected indigenous players, such as Port Adelaide's Jake Neade and Demon Dom Barry, and the top pick in the mini-draft, Jack Martin, were included in the tally.
"I know there has been some discussion about the low numbers in the national draft, but if you take the pre-selected players into account, indigenous players made up 8 per cent of the draft," he said.
"Given the majority of players have come through the rookie system (the rookie draft will be held next month) in the last number of years, we are on track to succeed our percentage of the last couple of years."
In a rare interview, Mifsud downplayed Smart's attack on club recruiting philosophies as "passion" but said the industry needed to work to increase the number of indigenous people in clubs' executive, coaching and administrative ranks.
"If we are serious about measuring success in the indigenous space, in a broader sense, they are the opportunities we need to be pursuing," Mifsud said.
"Ten per cent of our playing list is indigenous, but only two indigenous coaches out of 160 suggests that it is a significant opportunity for us to grow the influence and impact of indigenous people."
He said indigenous draftees weren't the only AFL hopefuls overlooked last Thursday night because of off-field issues.
"It is a bit narrow isolating it to indigenous players because I think, equally, there would be other talented players who are being asked to improve their level of dedication and discipline," he said.
"It is only 20 years ago that AFL lists were made up of 1 per cent of indigenous players. We should not forget we've come a long way in a short period of time."
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