The Sydney Swans hosted cultural awareness sessions for the Club’s corporate partners and supporter groups on Tuesday, which are held annually in the lead-up to Marn Grook at the SCG.

Sydney will face Carlton on Friday night in an opener to the AFL’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round.

The Round celebrates the Indigenous roots of Australian rules football and the impact a long list of Indigenous players have had on the game, 17 of which have donned the red and white.

Reconciliation Action Plan committee member Scott Dalby said the importance of cultural awareness training was enormous.

“It’s one thing advocating for a cause and another to truly understand what you’re advocating for,” Dalby said.

“Without the solid foundations that come through cultural awareness training you probably aren’t addressing the key factors you probably should be.

“It’s a lot more than purely just the performance and the match and watching Lance Franklin run around in a beautiful guernsey – it’s also about behind the scenes and the education that goes along with that.”

Cheer Squad, L@SS and the Rainbow Swans attended the training for supporter groups. 

Earlier in the day, Citi, CSG, Dexus, Equifax, Kaplan, Kennards Hire, McDonald’s, Nike, QBE and Volkswagon took part in the training for corporate partners.