Collingwood joins the AFL community this week in celebrating the game's Multicultural Round, embracing the stories and cultures of Australia’s game.

The Magpies boast a proud multicultural heritage, with four former players featuring in the AFL’s Multicultural Team of the Century; Peter Daicos, Sav Rocca, Charles H. Pannam and Dermott Brereton, who spent a single season at the club in 1995, while Jock McHale was appointed its coach.

A two-time Copeland Trophy winner, Daicos would become affectionately known as the ‘Macedonian Marvel’ in a nod to his European heritage, playing 250 games across a 15-year Collingwood career.

Also named to the AFL’s Italian Team of the Century as a full-forward, Rocca established himself as a favourite of the Magpie faithful during his nine years in Black and White, booting 514 goals to sit fifth on Collingwood’s all-time goal kickers list.

Though perhaps better known by the wider football community as the grandfather of Lou Richards; Pannam – shortened from Pannamopolous - was a Collingwood legend in his own right.

A two-time Premiership player, Pannam was the first VFL player to reach the 100-game milestone, led the competition’s goalkicking while Collingwood captain in 1905, and was among the inaugural inductees to the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

McHale meanwhile needs little introduction.

The most prolific coach in VFL/AFL history, McHale, the son of an Irish migrant, was at the helm of the Magpies for 38 seasons, leading Collingwood to eight flags from led Collingwood to eight flags from 17 Grand Final appearances.

Holder of the VFL/AFL record for most games coached with 713, McHale has been anointed with legend status in the Australian Football Hall of Fame, while his name has been further immortalised in the establishment of the Jock McHale Medal, awarded to the Premiership coach since 2001.

Modern-day Magpies to boast a multicultural heritage include Mason Cox (America), Marley Williams (New Zealand) and Rupert Wills (New Zealand).

Cox, of course, is one of the stories of 2016.

Debuting against Essendon on ANZAC Day, the 25-year-old American scored a goal with his first kick in the senior side. He has not missed a game since and has developed into a key member of Collingwood's forward line.

He was originally recruited from Oklahoma State University (OSU), and was the tallest player ever measured at an AFL Combine in 2014, standing at 211.4 centimetres.

Recording elite vertical jump scores, including the second highest left-footed running leap ever documented by the AFL in 20 years of testing, Cox also demonstrated impressive speed and agility for his height, completing the 20-metre sprint in three seconds flat.


Showcasing just how multi-skilled he is, Cox in fact had an engineering degree under his belt before arriving in Australia.

Multicultural Round: Background

The league's Multicultural Round highlight the community engagement initiatives currently being undertaken by the Australian football industry, as well as the many players from culturally diverse backgrounds, who make up significant portion of the AFL player list.

Since it started in 2005, the AFL Multicultural Program has ensured that more than 150,000 people from migrant families have experienced AFL games and come into contact with their own local football communities.

The AFL Multicultural Round gives a terrific platform to celebrate the role multicultural communities have played in the game for more than 150 years and importantly encourages new communities to enjoy the game as supporters, players or administrators in the future.

Australian football has the extraordinary power to bring people together regardless of their background and we respect this position enormously.

The AFL Multicultural Round will be celebrated in round 16 and will feature a number of activities throughout the week and game day to celebrate the success of a diverse country, including:

- The AFL Umpires will have the word ‘UMPIRE’ translated into one of six 
languages and printed on their uniform
- Orange flags will be used by the AFL goal umpires at all matches signifying 
harmony
- The Sherrin match balls with have the word ‘WELCOME’ printed in six different 
languages
- Bi-lingual ’50’ on each of the 50m arcs at all of the matches across the round, 
correlating to the language theme for the game
- Umpires will have ‘UMPIRE’ translated into one of 7 different languages, each match delegated a language

Saturday's match will be commentated in Hindi by Manpreet Singh and Harbir Kang, broadcast live on the official AFL website and in the AFL Live App.

For those making their way to Saturday's match at Spotless Stadium, the AFL Multicultural Festival will be staged at Cathy Freeman Park, Sydney Olympic Park (opposite the main entry to Spotless Stadium). The festival will run two hours before and after the match against the Giants.