THE Port Adelaide Football Club is proud to announce it will be known as the Yartapuulti Football Club for all future games played during Sir Doug Nicholls Round, AFLW Indigenous Round and SANFL First Nations Round.

The decision to rename the Port Adelaide Football Club for these significant occasions further elevates First Nations culture and language onto the national stage to educate, generate awareness and encourage productive and meaningful conversations. 

The change to Yartapuulti has been developed with extensive consultation with the Kaurna Language Committee, Kaurna Senior, and past player, Uncle Mickey Kumatpi Murrutya O’Brien, and Aboriginal Programs Manager and AFLW Player Development Coach, Braedon Talbot, who has also played an important role educating the staff and playing groups on the significance, reason and meaning behind the name Yartapuulti. 

The change will also mean that for the first time in the AFL two teams who have adopted their Indigenous name will play each other, when Yartapuulti plays host to Narrm under lights at Adelaide Oval on Friday, 19th May to launch Sir Doug Nicholls Round.  

Port Adelaide’s decision follows both Melbourne and Fremantle Football Clubs who have previously renamed their clubs. 

For this week, the club will also introduce a special Yartapuulti Football Club logo, which will take pride of place across all digital activations and in-stadium signage at Adelaide Oval for the duration of the Round. 

The logo has been carefully crafted by Brooke Rigney-Lively (Kaurna, Ngarrindjeri artist) in collaboration with Ochre Dawn, a 100% First Nations owned and managed creative agency, dedicated to celebrating art, culture and heritage in commercial projects.  

The three lines located around the edge of the logo represent songlines, the River Torrens which runs next to Adelaide Oval and the Port River, which is integral to the identity of the Port Adelaide Football Club.  

The songlines represent the connection to stories from this place to First Nations peoples' stories across South Australia.  

The kangaroo and ibis tracks follow these songlines as two representatives from Kaurna Dreaming, and the cross hatching represents weaving connectedness of the waterways to those stories.  

Kaurna Senior, Uncle Mickey Kumatpi Murrutya O’Brien explained the meaning behind the name and its tie to the location of Port Adelaide’s homebase. 

“In Kaurna, ‘Yarta’ means place or land and ‘Puulti’ means sleep or death, which is the name the Kaurna people gave the land around the Port River,” he explained.  

“As a Kaurna person that was born here on this Peninsula, I am thankful and grateful to Port Adelaide, not only for the opportunity they gave me as a player at this wonderful club but also this opportunity to share my culture and this connection to this place being Yartapuulti – the place of sleep”. 

Port Adelaide Chief Executive Officer, Matthew Richardson said he is proud to unveil the new name change, marking a significant moment in the club's history.  

“Port Adelaide has a rich heritage of Indigenous players who have represented our club over many years and are intrinsic in the great eras of Port Adelaide,” Mr. Richardson said. 

“In addition, our industry leading Indigenous programs are changing lives and helping to close the gap. We are delighted this week aligns, as it always does, with the Santos Aboriginal Power Cup - the longest running sports education program which is making a real difference for young First Nations people.  

“Throughout the 16 years the Santos Aboriginal Power Cup has run, Year 12 school completion rates have increased from below 50% to 96% in the schools that undertake the program. We are incredibly proud of this.  

“This initiative is about celebrating Indigenous culture and the important role it plays in Australia’s game.  

“The opportunity for Yartapuulti Football Club to open Sir Doug Nicholls Round against Narrm Football Club and the significance of that moment is not lost on us. 

“It is a great privilege and honour, and for that to also include the 550 students who’ll complete the Santos Aboriginal Power Cup in that week makes it even more special”.  

Port Adelaide’s Power Community Limited (PCL) has run the Santos Aboriginal Power Cup Program in schools across the state, including the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY lands).  

This program has been identified by the State Government as a key factor in helping close the gap and services 62 schools throughout metropolitan, regional, and remote South Australia.  

Each year before the club’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round clash, the Grand Final of the Santos Aboriginal Power Cup program is played as a curtain-raiser on Adelaide Oval. This is followed by more than 550 First Nations students performing a special cultural dance.  

“For the first time in 16 years, PCL have arranged for program participants located in the APY lands to travel down to Adelaide to take part in this moment,” Mr. Richardson said. 

“I couldn’t think of a more fitting moment for our club to be the Yartapuulti Football Club”. 

Yartapuulti Football Club will also feature in the club’s second Sir Doug Nicholls Round clash against Richmond at the MCG on Sunday, May 28.  

Port Adelaide intends to continue this in the AFLW Indigenous Round, and future Sir Doug Nicholls Rounds beyond 2023. 

The club will reveal its Sir Doug Nicholls Round guernsey in the coming weeks.