The West Coast Eagles has been fortunate to have a regular home game to recognised the contribution of Indigenous players to our great Australian game. Not just those who have been so prominent not and influential in the 30-year history of our club, but their impact more broadly.
This year the AFL decided to recognise trail-blazer Sir Douglas Nicholls by naming the round in his honour.
Graham Briggs, a cousin of former West Coast champion David Wirrpanda and great nephew of Sir Douglas, has provided some context to the achievements and influence of his famous fore-father which will give West Coast fans some perspective of the impact Sir Douglas had in football and society. With his permission we publish the following letter:
My Grand Uncle “Sir Douglas” Nicholls (Pastor) was born on December 9, 1906 on the Cummeragunga mission in NSW. Uncle Doug's mother, Florence, was my Great Grandmother Minnie (Atkinson) Briggs sister. Aunty Florence worked as a domestic helper and his father as a farm hand. However, unemployment was a regular occurrence. Schooling for Uncle was provided to grade 3 standard and strict religious principles were emphasised. As a supplement to government rations, Uncle Doug, his brother Howard (Dowie)and his first cousins, my grandfather Selwyn Briggs and his five brothers Arron, Alec, William, Lesley and Hartley would collect tiger, brown and copperhead snakes for sideshows organisers, who would pay them 1 shilling (10 cents) per snake.
Aunty Hilda Nicholls, Uncle Doug’s sister, was taken from the family when he was only eight and she was 16. The Government had decided she would be sent to the Cootamundra Training Home for Girls. His mother, Florence, threw herself into the car and refused to get out. The police drove her 20km from the mission and dumped her on the roadway, making her walk back to the mission, heartbroken. This brutal invasion of his family by the authorities left Doug with a deep fear of the police. Our family never forgot the trauma created by the incident, my grandmother and her three sisters had also been forcibly removed and taken to the same place around the same time.
Uncle Doug went to Melbourne in 1927 seeking a football career after success with country club Tongala. Back in the day Carlton FC rejected him, and a number of players didn’t like him because of his colour, so he turned to Northcote Football Club were the family boarding him were supporters of the ‘Brickfielders’. Uncle Doug debuted for Northcote in 1927 and was paid £2 for the game. To help supplement Uncle Doug's income the club provided him, like many teammates, with a job with Northcote Council’s outdoor staff during the season. In the off-season, Uncle Doug travelled the country with my grandfather Selwyn and other relatives with Jimmy Sharman’s Boxing Troupe. Members of the public could challenge a member of the troupe to a bout. Uncle Doug had discovered his boxing ability after a fight on a sheep ranch he was working on prior to coming to Melbourne where he was always challenged because of his height.
Uncle Doug soon established himself as a star player, and as the only Aborigine playing senior football in the state; he was Northcote’s number one drawcard. He had outstanding speed, having also competed in professional sprint races, and was lauded as one of the game’s outstanding wingmen. He played in the club’s first Premiership in 1929 before the lure of League football could no longer be resisted. Northcote had withstood the advances of Carlton and Collingwood for uncle's services, but following the 1931 season, he transferred to Fitzroy. In five seasons he played 54 games, finishing third in the club’s best and fairest count in 1934 and representing Victoria in 1935. With failing eyesight, Uncle left Fitzroy and returned to Northcote in 1938, before retiring in 1939.
A visit in the early 1930s to the Northcote Church of Christ would be a life-changing event for Uncle Doug. Struggling to deal with the death of Aunty Flo, his mother as well as suffering from a knee injury, the church was an inspiration for uncle, and this took his mind back to the days of growing up on Cummera. I can remember my mum telling me lots of stories that she was told by her mother and father. Uncle soon converted to the church, becoming a pastor in 1939. Football had opened doors for Uncle Doug that were closed to so many of our people, and he used his position to advance their cause. In 1939 he was a key speaker at an Aboriginal Night where he called for social justice and equality for Aborigines. He was also involved in the newly created Australian Aborigines’ League.
His association with football continued and in 1944, with the VFA in recess, Uncle Doug arranged for an Aboriginal football team to play an exhibition match against Northcote. Several thousand football-starved supporters came to the match, with proceeds going to the Aboriginal welfare funds. The success of the match saw the exhibition repeated in later years. Uncle Doug also coached Northcote in 1947, although the club had a poor season, finishing last. In the same year he was appointed curator of Northcote Park. He stayed in that position until 1956, living in the house provided at the park and dividing his time between the curator’s responsibilities and working for Aboriginal causes.
To combat the problem of Aboriginal homelessness, Uncle Doug led an effort to purchase the All Saints Church vicarage in Cunningham St, Northcote. Uncle Doug formed a committee, which became the Aborigines’ Advancement League to help raise funds for the purchase. The large home was converted into a hostel for Aboriginal girls, opening in 1958. In 1957 Uncle Doug was appointed the field officer for the Aborigines’ Advancement League. In 1962 a similar hostel for boys was opened across the road and then in 1967 the ‘Douglas Nicholls Centre’ was opened adjoining the original hostel. The centre contained recreational and meeting facilities.
Throughout his career as a crusader for Aboriginal rights, the Doug Nicholls approach was for acceptance and reconciliation. He asked white people: “…is there a reason why we should not march beside you? Do you extend to us the hand of friendship?” He was prepared to be involved in events like the Batman Treaty re-enactments, which some considered demeaning to Aborigines. Uncle Doug felt that they brought attention to the nation’s history and of the Aboriginals place as the original owners of the land. He co-founded the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, helped develop more housing alternatives for Aboriginal children and was part of the creation of a national day of remembrance.
Uncle Doug was awarded an MBE in 1957, made a Justice of the Peace in 1962, named Father of the Year and given an OBE. In 1972 he was the first Aboriginal to be knighted. By the 1970s some Aborigines, encouraged by the Black Power Movement, were promoting a more aggressive stance in their campaign for equality. While such an approach would not have been possible without the efforts of Nicholls, it signalled an end to his style of campaign.
In keeping with his intention to always demonstrate that Aborigines were capable of holding any post, Uncle Doug accepted the appointment of Governor of South Australia in 1976. He was the first and only Aboriginal to hold such a position. Unfortunately he was forced to retire after just one year in office after suffering a severe stroke. Uncle Doug and Aunty Gladys returned to live in Northcote following his period as South Australian Governor.
I can remember going with my mum Margret Wirrpanda, my nan Geraldine Briggs and my sister Racheal and cousin Graham Briggs going to visit him in Mooroopna (near Shepparton) to visit him in the days leading up to his death back in 1988.
I can still remember his soft hands & frizzy white hair as he sat up in bed at Mooroopna (near Shepparton) where he was really excited to see us all. That was the last time we would see Uncle Doug, he passed away a few days later. Uncle Doug was given a state funeral, it was held at the Aborigines Advancement League in Thornbury, Melbourne. I can remember the white funeral car taking Uncle Doug home to Cummera for his burial , whenever any one important or special passed away you would always see Eagles flying around above the Cummera Cemetery, I can still see the worawa’s flying above.
