For the first time in club history and in a landmark event in its yawa (journey), St Kilda Football Club will proudly go by the Boon Wurrung name of Euro-Yroke across this year’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round, marking the occasion with two separate guernseys as part of the celebrations.
The adoption and translation of Euro-Yroke (pronounced yoo-roe yoo-roe-ck) for Sir Doug Nicholls Round was made possible with the assistance of Boon Wurrung Senior Elder N’arweet Dr Carolyn Briggs and Boon Wurrung Elder and language specialist Aunty Fay Muir.
The history of and the club’s connection to Euro-Yroke are commemorated in this season’s two striking designs created by proud Wagiman man and Indigenous artist, Nathan Patterson, both of which highlight the story of the Saints’ homeland and those who have contributed to the yawa to-date.
Natural elements of Euro-Yroke are reflected across each tri-colour design, beginning with the water and waves of Nairm (Port Phillip Bay), moving to the sandy shorelines and through to the coastal vegetation further in-land; all meeting as one earth under the stripes of Euro-Yroke.
The story continues at the back of the guernsey through the silhouette of Narrm’s (Melbourne’s) hills, with an additional artwork featuring a symbol of mobs journeying to a central gathering point, in this case, the club.
Similar to last year’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round guernsey, the names of the 33 Indigenous players to have represented the Saints at AFL/AFLW level - up until the end of last season - are printed onto the jumper, sitting above artwork of a boomerang and traditional spears in reference to the strength of Euro-Yroke’s First Nations people.
The words ‘Euro-Yroke’ are also printed into the hemlines of the guernsey, accompanying the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags.
Yellow has returned to Euro-Yroke’s colour palette after it was reintroduced last year; the colour first appearing in 1915 as the club abandoned its usual white strip during World War I as a showing of solidarity for Allied Force, Belgium, which had several players serving in the country.
This year’s multi-stripe design is based off the guernseys worn in the Saints’ earliest of days in the VFL, dating from 1897-1914 (white) and 1915-1918 (yellow).
Euro-Yroke will wear the new-for-2024 yellow variation of the guernsey for its home game against Walyalup (Fremantle) in Round 10, before debuting the white variation for its away match-up against Narrm (Melbourne) in Round 11.
