St Kilda Football Club is proud to unveil this season’s AFLW Indigenous Guernsey, which will be worn across the next fortnight as the competition celebrates the annual Indigenous Round.
Created in commemoration of the club’s Ganbu marnang n’uther boolong – the Boonwurrung translation of '150th year' – and those who have contributed to its story, the guernsey represents the yawa, or journey, of the club and its First Nations players and their families.
Designed by Indigenous artist Jade Kennedy of the Noongar Nation (Wadjak, Willman, Kaartdijin & Bibulman), the AFLW-specific guernsey is a clash variant of the jumper first worn by St Kilda’s AFL side as part of this year’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round and NAIDOC Week celebrations.
The family totems of J’Noemi Anderson and Natalie Plane from Warumungu and Kamilaroi Country respectively feature on the back of jumper, alongside the totems of the AFL players Bradley Hill, Jade Gresham, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, Marcus Windhager, Isaac Keeler and Jack Peris.
The eight totems encircle the names of all First Nations Saints who have played a senior game for the club, representing the collective past and present, along with the foundations they have laid towards a proud future, of which Anderson and Plane are leading the way in.
These are accompanied by traditional gathering place and journey path symbols to further reference the club’s yawa.
For the first time in the AFLW, both the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags feature on the front of the jumper.
St Kilda will wear its 2023 Indigenous Guernsey in Rounds 7 and 8 against Greater Western Sydney and Walyalup (Fremantle) respectively, and was worn previously in Round 2 against Essendon as its away kit.
