The Story Behind the 2021 Indigenous Jumper

WWTFC have been fortunate to have current player, Connor McLeod and his dad Andrew design our 2021 Indigenous Guernsey, which will be worn by Reserves & League on the weekend of 3^rd of July for Indigenous Round, and again on Round 14 for NAIDOC Week.

The design of the jumper was inspired by Connor’s old Eagles training guernsey from early 2000’s, with the intention of composing a piece that reflects the way WWTFC connects to community through the story.

There are many different elements that make up the guernsey, some of those are explained below.

The dots in circle formation at the top of the guernsey in green represent the coming together of people, with the larger circle piece depicting Oval Avenue, a place our players, staff, sponsors and supporters call home.

Included through the design are the totems of our current Indigenous players, with Deakan Jackson and Tyson Stengle’s totem being represented as the Eagle, Mishai Wollogorang has been represented through the Emu feathers on the bottom of the guernsey and Connor and Jase Burgoyne’s totem the Crocodile is embedded as armour a few times within the design to represent protection.

Andrew says the Warrior Head placed at the bottom of the guernsey pays homage to the past of where the Eagles have come from; and hopes to be able to connect past, present and future people to the Club and allow us to honour our past history.

The Eagle represents us, the Woodville West Torrens Eagles, in this pose flying high above in all of its beauty scanning the landscape for prey.  Inside the feathers are a representation of the different challenges of the winds we face in the west and how we must adjust and adapt to the changing elements during the footy season. The matting at the top of the Eagle represents coming together, often we would sit on mats made from coconut fibres listening to stories told by our families as a way of staying connected with one another.

Connor & Andrew have left no stone unturned with their design, incorporating the history of the Eagles with 30 dots across  to represent 30 years since the amalgamation. The 4 larger dots within the Eagle represents the success of the Club and our 4 premierships. The chest plate across the Eagle represents a protection element for when our players go into battle; these chest plates are now often worn during ceremonial dance. The drums within the eagle’s tail represent a call to arms for all of our people, the sounds of our hearts and that adrenaline spike as together we fly. While the spear head through the tail depicts that of a warrior.

Andrew says the aim of the design is for all people connected to the Woodville West Torrens Football Club to feel like they are part of the story. Connor says it is special to share our culture with my team mates and Club, and that it’s going to be a proud moment to see the boys run around in the guernsey.

Pre-orders for the guernsey will are open NOW until 22nd of June 5PM. Purchase yours HERE.

There will be a 2nd round of pre-orders again at 9AM on the 28th of June for 48 hours; this will ensure you receive yours by NAIDOC Week Round.

All match worn guernseys from Reserves and League will also be auctioned online on the 12th of July.

Video shot by ARAY Media

Audio by Pernix

Photography by On The Ball Media