On the eve of the 2016 Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round, Carlton’s playing group was treated to a presentation from Wurundjeri-willam artist Mandy Nicholson.
Nicholson is the designer of Carlton’s 2016 Indigenous Guernsey and spoke to the full playing group on Monday to talk of the significance of the design, which honours Aboriginal icon and pioneer Sir Doug Nicholls.
“I wanted to thank Carlton for the opportunity to do this design and what better person to honour than Sir Doug Nicholls,” Nicholson said.
“I think Carlton are really stepping up and doing a lot of positive stuff to work closely with the local Aboriginal Victorian community.
“It was a real honour to work on this and to honour such a wonderful person in Sir Doug Nicholls."
The players and coaches applaud Mandy Nicholson on her wonderful design. (Photo: Carlton Media)
The Blues will face Geelong on Sunday afternoon at Etihad Stadium as part of the newly re-named AFL Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round. Nicholson said the guernsey acknowledged the life and journey of Sir Doug Nicholls as well as highlighting the concept of reconciliation.
“On the guernsey we have the Dangala (also known as the Murray River) which is where Sir Doug is from,” Nicholson said.
“We have the Birrarung (Yarra River) too so they are flowing together to symbolise unity and also to symbolise the journey of reconciliation between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australia.
“On the back of the guernsey we have the long neck turtle which represents one of his creation spirits. Also on the front is an emu which was another one of his creation spirits.”
Captain Marc Murphy congratulates designer Mandy Nicholson. (Photo: Carlton Media)
Sir Doug Nicholls is the only VFL/AFL player to have been knighted and to have served as a State Governor. The national figure was born at the Cummeragunja Aboriginal Mission in NSW in 1906, but moved to Victoria and played in the VFA with Northcote where he was part of the club's 1929 premiership.
He then later joined Fitzroy in 1932 and played 54 games for the club between 1932 and 1937, and also played two games for Victoria.
The retail guernsey sold out within 24 hours of its release, with proceeds going to the Syd Jackson Scholarship. Carlton fans can still get theirs, with the Club to auction the match-worn guernseys following the Sunday’s clash against Geelong. All proceeds from the auction will go to the Syd Jackson Scholarship.
Carlton Football Club also wishes to thank on-field supplier Nike for its support with the guernsey.
