Western Bulldogs midfielder Lin Jong was 15-years-old when he first picked up a football.

With a father from East Timor, and a mother from Taiwan, neither was familiar with Australia’s indigenous game, but through the power of sport, Jong was able to make friends and forge a career.

“You know, I was such a different face, and I was very different to everyone,” he told SBS World News this week.

“But it was just an easy transition into feeling like I really belonged on the team.”

It’s the kind of settlement journey that the Western Bulldogs’ ‘Ready, Settle, Go’ program aims to replicate. Over 18,000 migrants have come through the program so far since its inception in 2007.

But the program is about more than just sports, although introducing the participants to football, netball and badminton and other sports is important, it also provides valuable advice on health, wellbeing, leadership, social connectedness and more importantly a pathway into the Australian culture.

“It's a tool to bring people together to engage in the community and I guess socialise with different cultures that you might not, usually,” Jong said.

Jason Johannisen arrived in Australia as a seven-year-old from South Africa, and it was playing sport that helped him settle in to his new country.

“That's the great thing about the Australian community, it is very culturally diverse and there's a lot of different community backgrounds and stuff like that, and that's what's great about footy, that it can bring everyone together,” he said.

It’s an idea that James Kot, who arrived in Australia not knowing a word of English, understands well.

“I didn’t know where to go, I didn’t have any friends,” he told SBS’s Sarah Abo.

“For myself, when I first came, I didn't know where to go, I didn't have any friends, I didn't know Australia well.”

“For me to be here, it's really safe, it keeps me away from all the bad stuff.”

For more information about Ready, Settle, Go and the Western Bulldogs Community Foundation, click here.