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Nicky Winmar praises Jamarra Ugle-Hagan for emulating iconic stance against racism in AFL

Nicky Winmar's famous protest came after a game in 1993 against Collingwood. (Supplied: Wayne Ludbey)

Jamarra Ugle-Hagan's response a week after he was rocked by racist abuse from St Kilda supporters was iconic in its irony, a tribute to the same statement made by Saints great Nicky Winmar.

The AFL launched an investigation after Bulldogs star Ugle-Hagan said he was racially abused in the second-round match against St Kilda, and the pain for the 20-year-old was still there when he took the field against Brisbane on Thursday night.

After kicking the first goal of the game, he lifted his guernsey and pointed to his skin as he let out a roar.

Ugle-Hagan acknowledged what those who went before him had to go through.

Jamarra Ugle-Hagan was born nine years after Winmar's stand. (Getty Images: Daniel Pockett)

"Back in the day they would've had it a lot worse but now players are getting sick of it and they're making a stance," Ugle-Hagan told Channel Seven after the win over the Lions.

"We're calling them out and we're sorting it out, and everyone's getting behind our back nowadays."

Ugle-Hagan's protest came less than three weeks before the 30th anniversary of Winmar's original gesture to the black skin under his guernsey, shown to Collingwood fans at Victoria Park.

"I'm proud of Jamarra for standing up for himself. It's up to the new generations to reinforce the stance I made back in 1993," Winmar said in a statement.

"I'm still here, still involved with the issue, but it's been 30 years now. It's like a big relay race, time to pass on the baton."

Winmar, who played a season for the Bulldogs in 1999, said he spoke to ex-teammate and current coach Luke Beveridge to thank him for backing the young Indigenous stars in the current side.

'I wanted to make a stand': Jamarra Ugle-Hagan on performing Nicky Winmar gesture

"It's a great club that I respect. I was welcomed and felt supported when I played for them in 1999," Winmar wrote.

"Things are getting better, with increased awareness, and kids are getting educated in schools now about racism in sport and in society, which is great.

"There's still a few who can't control their negative attitudes, all we can do is keep supporting each there, and keep calling it out."

He signed off with "Still black and proud" — a reference to his famous quote and stance from almost 30 years ago.

The image, the quote and the action make up one of the most famous moments in Australian sporting history, but what exactly sparked Winmar's stand, what happened on the day and what came after?

Nicky Winmar with his statue in front of Perth Stadium. (Getty Images: Paul Kane)

What happened on that day 30 years ago?

St Kilda lined up against Collingwood in round four of the 1993 AFL season, in a rematch of the previous year's elimination final, which the Saints won by eight points.

During the warm-up for the match at Collingwood's then-home ground, Victoria Park, Indigenous players Winmar and Gilbert McAdam received racist abuse from the stands.

The story goes that it was third-year player McAdam, who viewed Winmar as an "elder", who went to the more experienced star and told him: "Bro, we have to do something today. We have got to make a statement.

"We'll show this mob, we'll make them quiet today."

The pair showed out in the game.

Friday Fix: Tony Armstrong on Jamarra's Winmar moment

Like Ugle-Hagan, McAdam slotted five goals and was best on ground in the game, while Winmar picked up two Brownlow votes with his 25 disposals, seven tackles and a goal.

After the siren sounded on the Saints' 22-point victory, fans in the stands continued with their vitriol directed at the black stars.

Winmar raised his arms in victory right in front of the Collingwood supporters and then, with bile being hurled his way, raised his guernsey and pointed, with his middle finger, to his skin.

"I'm black and I'm proud to be black," he said.

What happened in the aftermath?

Winmar is a leader and an inspiration in the AFL, particularly for Indigenous players. (Getty Images: Paul Kane)

The photographs were splashed across the Sunday Age and Sunday Herald Sun, with Age photographer Wayne Ludbey arguing with his editors to make a late change to the paper to include it.

"It was something that you weren't used to seeing and photographing on the football field," he told ABC Radio Perth in 2019.

"The paper was set, and I made the editors change the paper. I kept repeating the quote because I knew it was so important."

Many condemned the scourge of racism in the league, although perhaps without realising how pervasive and persistent it was.

McAdam spoke later about every round feeling like "Anti-Indigenous Round" in those days.

Collingwood president Allan McAlister tried to reassure the public that his club was not racist, but finished his television address by saying of Indigenous Australians: "As long as they conduct themselves like white people, well, off the field, everyone will admire and respect them."

By the end of the season, the AFL pledged to establish a code of conduct and eventually, in June 1995, a racial and religious vilification rule was put in place.

It came after multiple incidents in the 1995 season, including Essendon's Michael Long making an official complaint to the league after being racially abused by Collingwood's Damian Monkhorst, who was also playing at Vic Park when Winmar made his stand two years earlier.

What is the legacy of Nicky Winmar's protest?

Former AFL player Tony Armstrong speaks about Jamarra Ugle-Hagan's stand against racism.

The fact that it was emulated by Ugle-Hagan, who was born nine years after Winmar's stand, tells you everything you need to know about how ingrained those photos from 1993 are in Australian sporting culture.

There was a statue of West Australian native Winmar pointing to his stomach erected outside Perth Stadium in 2019.

It has also been replicated in other codes, including by Josh Addo-Carr for the NRL's Indigenous All Stars game.

The power of Winmar's statement transcends sport. (Getty: Jason McCawley)

Players like Winmar, McAdam, Long and Michael McLean also helped change perspectives about the racism Indigenous players were, and are, subjected to around the league, be that from on-field or off-field from fans, clubs' power structures or fellow players.

That is evidenced by St Kilda's response to Ugle-Hagan's allegation last week, especially compared to McAlister's assimilation rhetoric.

"To be repeatedly addressing these repugnant instances of racism is a blight on our game and society," a club statement, titled We Will Not Stand For This, read.

"We will continue to stamp out and call out this unacceptable behaviour by having these important conversations, as well as make ongoing education available for the wider community."

Adam Goodes's war dance in front of opposition fans, Lewis Jetta's follow-up, Eddie Betts's willingness to call out racial abuse and now Ugle-Hagan's moment are all testament to the effect Winmar had on young Indigenous stars.

Like all those moments, the stand itself is powerful but also a reminder of how much work is still to be done to stamp out racism.

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