And main attraction Lance Franklin was invited to both.

``I thought it was a good opportunity to let Buddy know it was happening and see if he wanted to come along,'' said Nala Mansell, state secretary of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, who welcomed footy patrons in the Tasmanian Aboriginal language of talawa kani.

``It was the first time the traditional language of our ancestors has been used at the stadium and to be able to have it telecast across the country is a great opportunity to hear the language spoken just as proudly now as by our ancestors 200 years ago.''

Aboriginal children from around Launceston formed a guard of honour as Ms Mansell spoke fluently in the rarely-spoken language to the crowd of 12,959.

``Being the indigenous round gives us the opportunity to celebrate the contribution that Aboriginal players have made to the sport,'' she said.

``A lot of these kids look up to players like Buddy Franklin and here was an opportunity to rub shoulders with them, see what they contribute and realise that anything is possible. It was great for up-and-coming footballers to see how far they can go.

``Buddy and Chance Bateman have held clinics for Aboriginal kids in Launceston and it's great to see that they don't distance themselves from that community but encourage kids to get involved.''

The fixture was an appropriate focus for the Aboriginal community, with both teams' lists including seven indigenous players - Franklin, Bateman, Shaun Burgoyne, Cyril Rioli, Bradley Hill, Amos Frank and Derek Wanganeen for Hawthorn and Jonathon Griffin, Antoni Grover, Stephen Hill, Michael Johnson, Michael Walters, Jordan Wilson-King and Joel Houghton for Fremantle.

Nineteen indigenous players wore specially designed indigenous round boots over the weekend, with Rioli's featuring the colours of the Aboriginal flag alongside his name and number.