IT IS not lost on Sylvia Nulpinditj just how significant this weekend is.
"I'm going to be making history," she says, via the phone, from Darwin.
A proud Milingimbi woman, Nulpinditj has more than 10 years' experience as a broadcaster.
Despite this, there's still room for firsts.
On Saturday night, the 58-year-old will re-write the history books, becoming the inaugural Indigenous woman to call a match in her native tongue of Yolngu Matha.
"I have been working for Yolngu Radio for a lifetime," Nulpinditj says.
"It has prepared me for this moment, to one day do my job in the mainstream with full confidence."
Nulpinditj will join forces with Baykali Ganambarr and William Gumbula in the commentary box at TIO Stadium in Darwin when Gold Coast plays Hawthorn, a match she says the whole town is getting excited for.
"People are getting around it, and coming from far and wide," Nulpinditj says.
"Bringing AFL rounds to Darwin and the Northern Territory is special."
Ganambarr and Gumbula – originally from Elcho Island – made the trip down from Arnhem Land to Melbourne to broadcast Dreamtime at the 'G for Yolngu Radio last weekend.
The journey was captured by the AFL for a documentary which will be released on the AFL On Demand platform later this year.
Gumbula says it was an "amazing" experience, even if the weather wasn't exactly to his liking.
"The weather was killing me down there," Gumbula says, with a wry laugh.
While the 30-year-old is keen to make the pilgrimage to the Dreamtime match an annual event, Gumbula believes Saturday's experience at TIO Stadium will be equally as special.
"Especially with it being Indigenous Round," he says.
"There will be heaps of people there, family and community.
"Everyone's travelling to Darwin."
