The Port Adelaide Football Club will wear a modified version of its AFL Indigenous round guernsey as part of the SANFL’s 2021 Indigenous Round when it faces Central District in Round 13.
The guernsey, designed by local artist Elle Campbell is named “Kangaroos on the Coast” and is based on a painting she created depicting an area of the state’s South East, which is special to her family.
“Mum sent me a video and some photos of some Kangaroos coming out of the scrubland down at the burial ground at Kingston in the South East,” Ms Campbell explained of the inspiration behind her striking design.
“The colours at the bottom represent the burial ground. The brown colours, the yellows colours all represent the sand, the soils, and the trees my family have planted there.
“The red and the black represent my ancestors who are buried there.
“The Kangaroos are coming down from the burial ground to have a dip in the water on a warm day, leaving their footprints along their path.”
Ms Campbell is proud to see her design on the Port Adelaide Football Club guernseys as part of the Indigenous Rounds in 2021, which celebrate Indigenous culture and the special contribution Indigenous players have made to Australian Rules football.
As modelled by defender Joel Garner, the modified SANFL guernsey has replaced the green and blue dots with grey and white dots to distinguish it from the AFL jumper and better reflect the club’s SANFL colours.
It is a special week for Garner, who is among the 63 Indigenous footballers to have represented the club at AFL and/or SANFL level.
“It’s a really proud moment, I think it’s good recognition for all the players that have gone before us, the way they’ve paved a path for how it is today,” he said.
“I went for Hawthorn as a kid so I liked Buddy Franklin and Cyril Rioli and at Port Adelaide we had Gavin Wanganeen as a real trailblazer.
“He was our inaugural captain of the Power in the AFL and now he sits on the board at the club as the first Indigenous former player to do so at an AFL club.
“We’ve had 63 players to play for Port Adelaide and hopefully there’s more to come.”
Port Adelaide will face Central District at Elizabeth from 2:10pm on Saturday.
