The Sydney Swans AFLW Marn Grook match this season in Round 7 of the competition will see the team run out in the club’s first Indigenous Round guernsey designed specifically for the AFLW team.
Adding further significance to the occasion, the guernsey has been designed by current Sydney Swans player and proud Ningy Ningy woman Aliesha Newman.
Talented on and off the field, in recent years Newman’s artistic skills have been showcased across the AFL, AFLW and VFL competitions. The 27-year old has previously designed guernseys for Melbourne and Williamstown football clubs and has a long list of players across the league that she has designed boots for.
The process of designing the incredibly detailed, eye-catching Sydney Swans Marn Grook guernsey has been a long one in which Newman designed in consultation with the club and several local Elders.
Seeing her design on the fabric of the guernsey for the first time was an emotional moment and one that filled her with immense pride and joy.
“I am pretty excited. I saw it for the first time in the flesh and it looks a lot better seeing it in person than when I was designing it,” Newman said.
“I was almost in tears when I saw it for the first time, it looks unreal.
“The colours pop and look so much better in real life and I am so happy with it.
“And while the design is colourful and beautiful, behind the artwork, there is a deep meaning and a deep story of family and connection.”
The design is a nod to the Swans rich history, connection between the AFLW team and an acknowledgement to the people who have helped every individual player get to where they are.
“[The design] is based around community and connection and there are a lot of elements,” Newman said.
“I spoke to a few Elders here in Sydney to try and get an understanding of what they are about within their own community and putting that into the jumper.
“The circles represent the 29 yarning circles, which are the 29 clans within NSW, with different colour shadings to symbolise the differences between community as well as the different blues throughout to represent the waterways within NSW.
“The centre yarning circle represents us, the AFLW team, with each circle outside that representing the people that have helped us get to where we are today; our families, our friends, our coaches and support staff, Sydney Swans administration staff, the AFLW community and supporters, the AFLW team and our own individual journeys.
“Within my art, I also like to put in a nod to your past so you don’t forget where you come from. So the circles are really a way to acknowledge the people that came before you and helped you get to where you are.
Last year, in the Swans AFLW inaugural season, the side wore the club’s original Marn Grook guernsey designed by Lisa Sansbury, mother of Sydney Swans champion, Adam Goodes. It was the club’s first Marn Grook jumper, first launched in 2014 and depicted where the city meets the sea, telling the story of Indigenous people coming together around Sydney’s harbour and estuaries.
Newman said it was an honour to design this year’s and will be an emotional moment when the team pull it on for the first time in Round 7.
“Putting on the jumper last year, and it being Adam’s mothers design, had a lot more significance to it than any other round,” Newman said.
“Walking out onto the SCG in it was a first, and it was a lot of firsts last year, but it was one of the more special rounds I played in last year, having that extra connection.
“It was unreal to wear last year’s design but to have the opportunity to do this design this year, present it to the group and see them put it on for the first time will be a pretty emotional moment for me.”
The Sydney Swans AFLW Indigenous Round guernsey is now available for purchase via the Swanshop.
The Swans will host Hawthorn at Henson Park on Saturday, October 14 in Round 7. Get all the details you need to know ahead of the clash via our Match Day Hub.
