Eighty-seven-year-old Sydney Swans ambassador Sister Anne Gardiner AM laughs “as I grow younger the road is becoming a bit too rough”, but age hasn’t yet stopped the lion-hearted Northern Territory resident from giving her all to the Indigenous community.

Sisters Anne and Mary on Tuesday visited the SCG for a tour of the Swans’ headquarters, getting a glimpse of the famous Paul Kelly Race, change rooms, SCG turf, various club departments and even the five premiership cups.

She had just bumped into young star Isaac Heeney in the hallway of the Football Department, and she would meet evergreen veteran Jarrad McVeigh later in the day, but the 2017 Senior Australian of the Year managed to spare a moment to tell Swans Media about the heart and soul she’s pouring into the Top End.

Sister Anne established the Patakijiyali Museum on Bathurst Island off the coast of the Northern Territory in the early 2000s with a whole-hearted vision to preserve the rich Aboriginal history, language and culture of the Tiwi Islands.

After working as a school teacher on Bathurst Island between 1953 and 1997, Gardiner could have been forgiven for leaving the blackboard and chalk to ride off into the sunset.

But the member of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, whose passion for the museum remains as strong as ever almost 20 years after bringing it to its feet, insists it’s too important a project to leave.

In fact, she's already raised $200,000 for a grant and needs another $50,000 to round out work on the museum.

“I’m there to walk beside the Indigenous community,” Sister Anne said.

“They are very proud and they show their dignity when they bring people to the museum and point out different things. They are learning their culture through the many wonderful things in the museum – and their culture, like many Aboriginal cultures – is quickly deteriorating. So it’s vitally important that someone helps them maintain the museum.”

Sister Anne still gives her heart to the museum despite the fact she handed over its keys to two Tiwi women in 2017.

The museum displays records of important information about the Tiwi dreamtime, the Catholic mission, the role of the Tiwi people during World War Two, as well as the islands’ deeply engrained sporting heritage, which is particularly founded in Australian rules football.

An interactive set-up has also been developed to help Tiwi students learn about their history, language and culture.

Sister Anne's tour of the SCG gave her a taste of another hallowed venue, and she offered a glowing review of what she saw at the Swans.

“This tour was out of this world,” Sister Anne said.

“I never dreamt that what I saw this morning is what it takes to get all those boys out on the field – the countless people working in various roles behind the scenes. I hadn’t realised. Ignorance!”

Sister Anne took the chance to express the honour of her Swans ambassadorship, and she also made one wish she wants Sydney’s players to keep in mind.

“I’m very proud to be an ambassador of the Sydney Swans,” Sister Anne said.

“I am loyal to the Sydney Swans and I hope that one day some of the Sydney Swans players will visit Bathurst Island.”