Sometimes words and numbers do not accurately articulate the spectacular nature of the game of Australian football.
There are instances where words fail to surmise the enormity of the acts being performed.
Shai Bolton’s leap in the above clip is a mark — a contested mark. The stats caller would mark it down on their sheet, similarly to the other 4,759 marks taken in 2021. Of course, it is far more than that.
Bolton’s explosion skywards is a symbol of football past, present and future. He seemingly has steel springs for legs and vices for hands.
He can clear packs in a single bound and break through contests with speed and agility. His ability to read the flight and bounce of the ball gives him an advantage on almost all of his opponents. He beats opponents at will, often smiling while doing so.
He might be the most important player for the resurgent Tigers, poised to make a return to finals after a year away.
The young Richmond star has gone from being a bit-piece of a dynasty to one of the best young players in the league. He is also the latest of a long, great line of Noongar footballing legends, and shapes as being the boodrdahwan — the "future" — of the sport.
A proud history
Few players get to run out in the AFL in guernseys they created, but Bolton did just that during the Sir Doug Nicholls Round in 2020.
Bolton, along with his mother and grandmother, designed the Tigers guernsey based on the Noongar dreaming.
Bolton is a proud Menang and Wilman Noongar man, carrying on a rich footballing legacy. There are 14 Mena groups that make up the Noongar people, including the Menang and Wilman groups.
The Noongar people have a long and storied history with Australian football. The first Indigenous footballer in one of the top-level state competitions is generally acknowledged to be Jimmy Melbourne, a Noongar man who later fought in World War I and won a Western Australian league premiership with West Perth.
Since Melbourne, a host of Noongar players have impacted the game, such as Graham Farmer, Barry Cable, Ted Kilmurray, the Krakouer family and Nicky Winmar.
Noongar players still have a huge impact on the league. There are currently 21 Noongar players in the AFL across 13 clubs, more than a quarter of all Indigenous AFL players. Four are currently at the Tigers, the most of any club.
The Noongar people are also writers of another part of Australian history. In the middle of NAIDOC Week — just days after the 30th anniversary of the Mabo decision in the High Court (and Mabo Day) — the Noongar people are in the process of taking traditional control of their land.
The Mabo decision in 1992 rejected the concept of terra nullius and held that the Meriam people remained traditional owners of their land, the Mer islands. It also held that other Indigenous people held rights to their lands according to their own laws and customs.
After decades of claims and years of negotiation, the Western Australian government and the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council (on behalf of the Noongar people) finally settled their native title claim, the Single Noongar Claim covering the Noongar boodja (land).
The Western Australian Act of Parliament that recognises the Noongar people and their connection to lands states:
“Since time immemorial, the Noongar people have inhabited lands in the south‑west of the state; these lands the Noongar people call Noongar boodja (Noongar earth). The Noongar people continue to have a living cultural, spiritual, familial and social relationship with Noongar boodja.”
The 195,000-odd square kilometres covered by the settlement is about the size of Victoria, a giant swathe of country across south western WA. The Noongar boodja covers down south in Albany and Mt Barker right up to Geraldton and Mullewa, including Perth on the way. It covers a wide ecosystem, and ways of life.
The settlement is wide ranging and includes financial elements and access to land, an investment in the Noongar people in conjunction with Western Australia. Some have called it the first real treaty with Indigenous people in Australia.
Bolton stands as a strong representative of his people, knowing his past and carrying on the rich tradition of footballers from Noongar boodja.
What makes Bolton so great?
When Bolton came into the league most thought he had potential as a small forward who could become an outside midfielder if everything went right.
For most casual fans, Bolton might be known for his goal kicking or his prodigious leaping talent. Even before he broke through to the AFL in earnest, Bolton was turning heads with his aerial ability at VFL level.
But his biggest strength is winning the ball in contests of all types.
The modern era of football — and footy fandom — fetishises size in all parts of the game. Big bodied players are prized, while those slighter of frame are often overlooked. However, most of the time how you read play and react is more important than height or reach.
Bolton — at just 175 centimetres tall and weighing 77 kilograms — is dwarfed by the biggest midfielders but he has an innate sense of working out where the ball will go before anyone else. That attack and ability to win the ball at the contest is at the core of the Richmond identity: its hyper-speed, direct style of play.
Bolton excels at all types of contest: marking, stoppage and general play.
He is Richmond’s deadliest player at stoppages, especially in centre clearances. When he is deployed in the middle, it generally leads to Richmond scores, with 43 points coming from scoring chains where Bolton gets the first disposal after the bounce.
That is 24 more points than Dion Prestia, the next highest Tiger.
Some teams may be drawn into using Bolton almost exclusively in the middle, but the flexibility of the Tigers is part of their skill as a side.
Instead, coach Damien Hardwick largely deploys Bolton as a front-half player, a nod to his development as a small forward.
While he often attends centre bounces and stoppages in the front half of the ground, Bolton rarely veers into defence for stoppages. Just seven of his 58 total first disposals from stoppages have come in the back half of the ground.
Bolton’s ability to use the ball and create opportunities for his teammates is far more valuable closer to goal when he can be isolated against smaller or weaker opponents.
While Bolton is known for his high-flying marks, it is also his ability on the lead and in shoulder-to-shoulder contests that stands out. Bolton has developed into a genuine target up forward for the Tigers beyond just crashing the bottom of packs.
His subtle bodywork and preparation for the ball arriving is what sets Bolton apart.
Of course, the bottom of packs and contests might be where Bolton does his best work. Similarly to his work in stoppages, few are as skilled at reading the bouncing ball at the foot of marking contests and in one on ones than Bolton.
While he is not a major accumulator in terms of possessions, he does translate the ball he gets into scores for his team. This year, Bolton is averaging just shy of two goals a match and is inside the top 10 for score involvements per match.
When Richmond scores, Bolton usually has had a hand in things on the way.
All up, Bolton is an attacking player at the top end of the league, across all components of the game.
As Richmond enters the final part of the year holding onto a spot in the top eight by percentage, the Tigers need Bolton to fire to have a shot of staying there. If things break right, Bolton should have his first All Australian selection at the end of the year as well.
For Bolton and Richmond, the boordahwan is also what the Noongar people call the nitja (present).
