Anakie ready to play in inaugural Indigenous jumper

EXCITEMENT is brewing out in Anakie as the Roos prepare to don their first indigenous jumper, a huge moment for the club in continuing the conversation about the gap in Aboriginal opportunity.

Anakie Football Club will drape themselves in its new uniform next Saturday when they take on Geelong West to kick off NAIDOC Week, and president Heath Menhennet is proud his club is the latest to join a handful of GDFL sides in a growing movement.

“I think it’s a great thing, the acceptance of each other, no matter your creed, nationality or heritage, and that’s the great thing about a football and netball club, you get people from all different walks of life,”
Menhennet said.

“This is one of the more rewarding things that we have done as a club and it’s something that we can continue to do down the track.

“Clubs like Belmont, Corio and most recently Bannockburn who have been a major part of facilitating discussion around First Nations issues, we hope one day we can gather all 12 GDFL sides and have a league-wide Indigenous Round.”

The jumper’s design is the brainchild of senior player Eliot Birch, paying homage to both the Durdidwarrah club in the 19th century and Anakie’s link to Waddawurrung Country.

Birch’s fiancee Alana and children Krue and Madden are also members of the Kungarkan and Gurrinji nations in the Northern Territory and the Badu people in the Torres Strait Islands.

“A lot of Alana’s family are up in Darwin, and they’re a massive part of the Palmerston club up in the NTFL,” Birch said.

“And I watch a lot of it, and they represent the indigenous jumper with pride, and every club up there does it.

“On top of that, we’re watching it in the AFL, the VFL, but at a local level, I don’t see it happening as much.

“I feel it’s something we can do to give back to the indigenous community and create that little bit of awareness for a culture that gives so much to footy at every single level.”

Earlier in the year, Birch was lost for words when he first saw the jumper, saying it had come out better than he expected. The jumper itself took 23 hours to digitise.

“It was a big moment for me when I finally saw the jumper. I couldn’t have imagined it coming out any better,” Birch added.

“To put that jumper on and be able to showcase the culture of my kids and my partner is a massive thing for me, and it’s going to be a very, very proud moment when we run out in
that jumper.”

Anakie’s match against Geelong West will be the last time the club uses its social rooms before works start on a $2.2 million upgrade due to be completed in early 2023.