Sydney Swans players and staff visited the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence in Redfern on Monday, as part of the club’s Marn Grook celebrations. 

The club has been playing Marn Grook at the SCG since 2002 to celebrate First Nations peoples and culture, and will play Carlton on Friday night as part of the AFL's Sir Doug Nicholls Round.

Staff and players participated in a range of cultural activities led by community members, which included a welcome to country, education in fire, dance, social and emotional wellbeing, as well as a lesson on the history of Redfern. 

Indigenous Strategy and Player Development Manager Jarred Hodges described the day as one of respect, learning, and celebration of First Nations culture and heritage.

"It's a great opportunity, being Sir Doug Nicholls week to really immerse ourselves in culture," Hodges said.

"It's the first time, I think, in the history of the club where we've had the AFL team, the AFLW players all together with our football departments and our commercial and corporate staff so to all come together as one here on Wangal land is a pretty special moment in the history of our club as we keep moving forward.

"It provides an opportunity for people to come safely, to learn about our history, to learn about our people and I guess one of the things that I try and educate is how we can learn from our first people in a modern context."

AFLW player and Larrakia, Noongar, Wongi and Nunga woman Zippy Fish said the club coming together to celebrate Indigenous culture was important. 

"It's great, our club is one big community, and then we're going out into the community and learning more about the Indigenous culture," she said

"I think the Indigenous players who have played have really brought some spark to the game, so it's great to celebrate that."

Forward Corey Warner said he found the day a valuable experience. 

"We've been doing some cultural activities, we did some fire making and did some dancing earlier on as well," Warner said.

"Certainly have enjoyed it, it's been a bit of a different experience, but I think the whole club enjoys these sort of days."

Earlier this month, the Sydney Swans unveiled their new Marn Grook guernsey. The guernsey will debut on Friday, while Sydney’s women’s team will wear the same guernsey for the AFLW’s Indigenous Round later in the year.