ROUND 11 is Sir Doug Nicholls Round and the league is celebrating the contribution of and the culture of Australia’s First Peoples.

This week against Hawthorn in Launceston, Port Adelaide will be wearing a special guernsey featuring an Aboriginal design by Paddy Ryder and his uncle Kevin Bynder.

We thought it would also be a good chance to look back over our Indigenous guernseys from recent years.

2013: Fast and Furious Emus - Jingili

This guernsey was worn by Port Adelaide in Darwin in a game against the Western Bulldogs.

The emu is the totem of the Jingili language group - the region of the Northern Territory where Port Adelaide player Jake Neade was raised.

The emu emblem used on the guernsey was designed by the Kulumindi Art Centre in Neade’s hometown of Elliott, approximately 700 kilometres south of Darwin, in conjunction with Barkly Regional Arts.

The guernsey not only represents Neade’s language group, but also the established and ongoing special relationship Port Adelaide has with the Northern Territory, with a number of its players throughout its long history in the AFL and SANFL originating from the top end.

2014: Valerie Ah Chee's guernsey - Bindjareb

Brendon Ah Chee's mother Valeire designed Port Adelaide's 2014 AFL Indigenous Round guernsey.

“Mum wanted to represent support networks, family and relationships,” Brendon Ah Chee said in 2014.

“The design basically represents relationship with their team mates, with each other, their respective lands because we come from all over the place and it’s important to remember our home country."

2015: Tree of Life - Kaurna

Aunty Barbara Wingard designed the Power's 2015 AFL Indigenous Round guernsey. 

She explained at the guernsey's launch that the jumper represents the entirety of the Port Adelaide Football Club.

“The seven roots represent our seven Aboriginal Port Adelaide players – who they are, where they are from, their people’s past present and future."

“The ground represents where we all live: our beautiful earth, river and seas.

“The trunk represents our power, skills and knowledge of life.

“The branches represent our hopes, dreams and goals.

“The four seasons are represented in the top part of the image – we reach out to all people no matter what season of life they are going through: autumn, winter, spring or summer.

“And as the trees all come together, we make one forest – players, families, coaches, supporters, and community.”

2016: Bambara - Jandai

Karl Amon designed Port Adelaide's 2016 Sir Douglas Nicholls Indigenous Round guernsey. 

“Bambara means ‘journey’ in my language group, which is the Jandai language group from the Noonuccal people on North Stradbroke Island,” Amon says.

“The journey it talks about is the one taken by each of our eight players towards the club, the way that they’ve become part of the club.”

2017: Nathan Krakouer’s referendum recognition - Minang

Nathan Krakouer designed Port Adelaide’s 2017 Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round guernsey, as modelled by the club’s indigenous players.

“I placed the year 1967 on the front of the guernsey, which is the year Australia had a referendum where 90% of the country voted for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to be included in the Australian population,” Krakouer said.

“I placed boomerangs in the guernsey, shorts and socks to represent our people hunting, fighting and protecting each other like we do at Port Adelaide.

“And the hand prints are in recognition of the traditional art Aboriginal people have made for thousands of years.

“They would put a mixture of ochre, water and animal fat into their mouths and blow it across their hands onto a surface.

2018 – Ryder’s river representation - Whadjuk-Yuet-Badimia

Designed by Paddy Ryder’s artist uncle Kevin Bynder, the guernsey will be worn this week in the official Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round against Hawthorn as well as in Round 12 at home against Richmond.

The design features a big camping place situated in the middle of the guernsey representing the Port Adelaide Football Club with the pathways connecting and leading the players there.

“The story shows the ten indigenous players on the list and where they come from all around Australia and the centrepiece represents the Port Adelaide Football Club,” Ryder said.

“It shows the ten players and Kenny sitting around and having a chat at the Port footy club and some of the elders looking down and protecting the players and the club.

“You see some representation of the water that surrounds the Port Adelaide area, the Port River and the beach as well.”

Below that are kangaroo tracks, symbolising the kangaroo as a totem but also its role as a traditional food, which is hunted and shared with family.

The top section of the guernsey features circles, representing the football community of Port Adelaide and those past and present who have helped build the club.

Black and white dots between the circles represent the Magpies in the SANFL and there is a nod to the lightning bolt of the Power.