Yartapuulti Football Club has unveiled its 2023 AFL Indigenous guernsey, which will be worn to open Sir Doug Nicholls Round. 

The annual, league-wide event will take place across Rounds 10 and 11, with the Power set to don the special guernsey in games against Narrm (Melbourne) at Adelaide Oval and Richmond at the MCG. 

This year’s striking design was a collaboration between two-time Port Adelaide premiership player Peter Burgoyne and Adelaide artist Laz Gein. 

The guernsey depicts several generations of Burgoynes including Peter’s son and current Yartapuulti player, Jase Burgoyne and Mirning and Kokatha elder Peter Burgoyne Snr, who played SANFL football for Port Adelaide in the 1970s. 

“I stand here a proud Mirning, Kokatha and Warai man,” Burgoyne said. 

“One of the three generations of Burgoynes that played here on Kaurna land. History, culture and family all connect to this club, and this land.”  

The front of the guernsey centres around a beautifully intricate eagle, with its wings forming the classic ‘V’ shape and its feathers also represented within the playing numbers on the back of the jumper. 

“The eagle represents a cultural totem of my grandfather and was passed on to me,” Burgoyne said. 

“The eagle in our language, Ngat Ngat Mi, is a significant Warai clan totem. It has cultural significance to my grandfather Gabe Hazelbane and to his descendants who are all Warai traditional owners, which is located 80 kilometres south-west of Darwin.  

“This eagle is the main centrepiece of the design, to pay respect to my grandfather, who passed away during Covid, and we couldn’t attend his burial on our Gulngarring homelands due to borders being closed. 

“The seven feathers symbolise my children, my world. As you can see, they are falling off the eagle, which is my grandfather, and we are descendants of him.” 

“The sunrise above my playing number seven represents my great, great grandmother, also known as Tjundia, which means sunrise in my other language group being Mirning.  

A majestic southern right whale is shown across the back of the strip, with emu tracks surrounding it on either side.

“The whale is a sacred animal, a cultural totem of my grandmother,” Burgoyne said.

“These totems carry a special spiritual significance that must be looked after. These tracks are my family’s journeys we’ve lived, and the journeys ahead.” 

Burgoyne Snr. elaborated on the inclusion of the southern right whale, the emu, and the importance of both animals to his family. 

“My cultural heritage goes back to the Great Australian Bight and the Nullarbor which are the Mirning people, the land of my grandmother Isabelle Burgoyne (née Lawrie), the whale dreamers of the far west coast.  

“The whales, travel from the south pole every year from May to June and they come up to the Great Australian Bight. That’s where they have their babies every year – to us, it’s a nursery and one of the wonders of the world. Then, in late October, early November they travel back to the south pole. They’ve been doing this for centuries and still continue to do this today. 

“My grandfather, his dreaming is the emu, which we call Kayala. He grew up in the desert country, moved to the west coast and met my grandmother and that’s where our family and the Burgoyne name has come from.” 

Sir Doug Nicholls Round was established by the AFL to highlight Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contributions to Australian football and to elevate First Nations culture onto the national stage. 

It also gives Indigenous people with connections to clubs an opportunity to showcase their artwork, their stories, and the stories of their families. 

Replica guernseys in adult and youth sizes are now available at the Port Store at Alberton Oval and online, along with a range of apparel including adult unisex hoodies and t-shirts and 100 per cent merino wool scarves. Click here to shop the range.

Player-worn guernseys will be auctioned off after the game, with 100 per cent of the proceeds going back into Power Community Limited’s Aboriginal programs. 

The Port Adelaide Football Club will be known as the Yartapuulti Football Club for all future games played in Sir Doug Nicholls Round, AFLW Indigenous Round and SANFL First Nations Round to further elevate First Nations culture and language onto the national stage to educate, generate awareness and encourage productive and meaningful conversations.