Yiooken Award
 |
|
| Locale | Melbourne, Victoria |
|---|---|
| Teams |
Essendon Richmond |
| First meeting | 2005 |
| Latest meeting | 28 May 2016 |
| Next meeting | TBA |
| Broadcasters |
Network Ten (2005-2011) Seven Network (2012-present) |
| Statistics | |
| Most wins |
Essendon Richmond (6 wins each) |
| Largest victory |
Essendon – 50 points (31 May 2014) |
Dreamtime at the 'G is an annual Australian rules football match between Australian Football League clubs Essendon and Richmond.
The name of the match comes from Australian Aboriginal mythology The Dreaming or Dreamtime and the Australian, but more specifically Victorian, colloquial reference to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, "the 'G", where the match takes place. Since the 2007 season the match has been held on Saturday night of the AFL's Indigenous Round each year.
The winning club is awarded the "Kevin Sheedy Cup" and the best player on the ground is awarded the "Yiooken Award".
Dreamtime at the 'G was first held in 2005, with the aim being to celebrate the contribution of all Indigenous players to the AFL. It was held during NAIDOC Week.
From 2006, the Yiooken Award has been awarded to the player judged best on ground in the match. In 2007, following the success of the Dreamtime at the 'G match in 2005 and 2006, the AFL nominated a specific Indigenous Round (round 9) which has become an annual event in which the Dreamtime at the 'G match takes centre stage. The success of the annual match, which now usually features crowds in excess of 80,000, led to the two clubs agreeing to cement the match's official status for an additional decade in May 2016.
The match is associated with the pre-game ritual "The Long Walk", which is a charity inspired by Indigenous former Essendon player Michael Long, who walked to Canberra in 2004 to get the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people back on the national agenda. On the day of the Dreamtime game, The Long Walk hold a community celebration featuring entertainment and activities as well as community organisation information stalls. Prior to the Dreamtime match, Long, and several other thousand participants walk from Federation Square to the Melbourne Cricket Ground to promote . In 2013, over 15,000 participants walked to the MCG. The walk has grown in stature and in recent years has been attended by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and the Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten.
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