Demons hail success of Indigenous round

THE Indigenous jumpers worn by the Portarlington Football Club at the weekend have made an impression on footy at both the local and national stage.

Designed by Demons member and Indigenous inclusion co-ordinator Chris Delamont and made in Australia by Starsub Apparel, the Indigenous-themed football jumpers and netball bibs were presented to Portarlington’s football and netball playing group by former AFL player and Indigenous leader Matthew Stokes on Thursday after training.

“Everyone was very impressed by the jumpers, the playing group were very excited by them; some of them wanted to keep them,” Demons president Steve Cogger said.

Two days later, a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony was held just before the reserves game against Modewarre at Ron Evans Reserve.

It was attended by about 300 people, including the seniors, reserves and netball teams of both clubs, several community groups, and many community members.

Didgeridoo player Norm Stanley came to the event in a West Coast Eagles jumper and was convinced to change into one of the new jumpers.

He then wore it not only for the rest of the ceremony but also during his Welcome to Country duties that afternoon in front of a crowd of more than 19,000 at the AFL match between Geelong and Adelaide at GMHBA Stadium.

Mr Cogger said the club was thrilled that Mr Stanley was so impressed by the design of the Indigenous Demons jumper.

“He left it on! To get the West Coast Eagles jumper off him was hard enough, but we thought it was pretty good that he left it on later.”

Mr Cogger said the event went very well in its first year, and Portarlington would keep it going in 2023 and beyond.

“I think we’ve always been a welcoming club, but today we opened both arms to the community.

“We’re committed to doing this on an ongoing basis.

I’ll be presenting to AFL Barwon that during the fortnight of the Indigenous round in the AFL that we maintain that home game as our Indigenous match game, and eventually we’ll be hopefully be able to afford that all our teams will wear Indigenous-designed gear on that day.

“As they say, it’s a journey, and we’re on it.”