Collie football legend Stephen Michael has footy fans abuzz ahead of rare TV appearance

Collie football legend Stephen Michael is set to make a rare media appearance when he features as a guest on the popular Channel 7 football program, The Front Bar. Michael, pictured, will be behind the bar as a guest alongside former St Kilda legend Nicky Winmar on tonight’s edition of the show, which is hosted by sports presenter Andy Maher and comedians Sam Pang and Mick Molloy. Michael, still considered one of the best footy players to have never played in the VFL, was picked up by South Fremantle (after growing up in Kojonup) as part of the club’s Great Southern recruiting zone. Having settled in the league side at the Bulldogs, he went on to win the 1980 Sandover Medal and a WAFL premiership in the same year before becoming the first Indigenous captain of the All-Australian team in 1983. Now settled in Collie, Michael’s sons Mat and Talan both play for the Collie Eagles and the former ruckman and WA legend has also given his name to the Stephen Michael foundation, run by the South Fremantle Football Club. Michael will appear alongside Winmar, who also has ties to the area, having had a stint with the Eaton Boomers in 2002. Winmar joined the SWFL club at the age of 36, nine years after making national headlines for lifting his St Kilda jumper and pointing to his skin in a stand against racism during a game against Collingwood at Victoria Park. The pair feature on the show ahead of the AFL’s Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round, which coincides with National Reconciliation Week.