Bute’s Lachlan Jones will forever have a special family connection to the 2022 Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous rounds.
With the assistance of his aunt Madeleine Dirdi, Jones has designed Port Adelaide’s Indigenous jumper, to be worn against Geelong and Essendon in rounds 10 and 11.
Jones becomes the eighth Port player since 2013 to have input in the design of the club’s Indigenous guernsey, and the first since teammate Sam Powell-Pepper in 2019.
The guernsey design celebrates Jones’s journey of discovering more about his Aboriginal heritage, including the life and legacy of his grandmother.
Its centrepiece is a brolga, the totem of the Yanyuwa people of Arnhem Land, southeast of Darwin.
“It is a huge honour to be given the opportunity to design this guernsey,” Jones said.
“I have been collecting the club’s Indigenous guernsey over the past five or six years so I’m pretty stoked to add to that with this design.”
Jones, who is in his second year at the club, is starting to find consistency at the top level, already playing seven matches this year.
“The brolga represents my people and my totem; we look after the brolga and the brolga looks after us.
“As you can see (on the guernsey) the brolga is taking off and is a powerful creature,” he said.
“The footprints on the front and back and the circles and lines represent my grandmother’s journey (as a member of the Stolen Generation) from her birthplace in Borroloola to her final resting place (in Bute).
“The teal symbols represent the people who have helped along the way.
“You can see the boomerang in the V, the boomerang was and still is an important tool that Aboriginal people use.
“The art represents me, my family, my grandmothers, my people the Yanyuwa people.”