THIS Saturday’s Central West AFL fixture at home will be a special one for the Bathurst Giants who will be wearing locally-designed Indigenous jerseys.
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Created by Bathurst’s Josh Sly, the jerseys will be worn by the senior men’s side in their match against the Dubbo Demons at George Park 1.
In a statement about the jersey Sly said the themes he incorporated into the design were respect, unity and reconciliation.
“The three flags in the middle of the jumper are the Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and the Australian flags, representing all people that make up Australia,” he said.
“The footprints are paying respect to the elders gone before us and also symbolise reconciliation: as a nation we all need to walk together to close the gap between non-Indigenous and Indigenous peoples.
“The goanna (gurudhaany) is the totem of the Wiradjuri nation, traditional custodians of the land, waterways and sky of Bathurst where I grew up and started my cultural journey.”
The jersey celebrates the addition of the Giants senior women’s team to this year’s Central West AFL competition.
“There are two meeting places signified by the concentric circles (upper left and bottom right), one male and the other female,” Sly said.
“The male circle is designated by the spear (dhulu) and hunting boomerang (badhawal) whilst the female circle is designated by the coolamon (gulaman/gulumba) and digging stick (ganhay).”
Giants will undoubtedly play with passion against a Demons team they’ve never been able to take down.
Demons have won all four contests against the Giants over the past two seasons.
Giants coach Mark Kennedy said it will be wonderful to change that statistic while wearing the locally-designed jersey.
“We have a number of Aboriginal players in our club. We have a fantastic background of players in the Central West and this is a great way of recognising that,” he said.
“We haven’t won against Dubbo yet and they’ve picked up a number of ex-Cowra players. Throw those guys into the mix and it could be a really tough game for us.
“They’ve got a number of soccer players now, so they’re big, tall and fit but we’ve just got to use our skills and maintain possession. That’s what it comes down to, it’s as simple as that.
“This should be one of the stronger sides we’ve fielded this year. They’re all looking forward to getting out there and putting the jersey on.”
We have a fantastic background of players in the Central West and this is a great way of recognising that.
- Mark Kennedy