The Sydney Swans are incredibly proud to play in Marn Grook at the SCG as part of the AFL’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round this Sunday, May 30.
The club has been celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture through this match since 2002.
We have a big afternoon planned to honour and recognise the valuable contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players to the game. See some of the match day activity here.
The Sydney Swans have previously had two unique guernseys designed for the Marn Grook game. Ahead of Sunday’s clash, we take a look back at the designs.
Designed by Lisa Sansbury, mother of Sydney Swans champion, Adam Goodes. the club’s first Marn Grook jumper depicted where the city meets the sea, telling the story of Indigenous people coming together around Sydney’s harbour and estuaries.
The red and white parts of the jumper represented meeting places, while the blue represented the water, all illustrated through connected circles to show that the land is connected to the water.
The design was first worn by the team back in 2014, and at the time, Adam Goodes explained the meaning of the detail his mother put into her unique creation.
“When you think of Sydney, we’re pretty much surrounded mostly by water on the east coast, so it’s about us living with and on the land with lots of water around us,” Goodes said.
“The red and white parts are the meeting places, which actually intertwine with the water, which is the blue.
“There are lots of circles on the guernsey, which are all connected, which means that the land is connected with the water.
“There’s a beautiful story in there, and the story is a tribute to my late Aunty Margaret.”
In addition to its unique design, the Sydney Swans Marn Grook guernsey also featured the letter ‘R’ in support of the now completed, Recognise campaign.
Lisa Sainsbury’s design was worn by the team in 2014-2017.
In 2018, the club engaged south coast artist Cheryl Davison to create a new guernsey design.
The guernsey was inspired by the story of Guunyu, a white swan who became black after having his feathers plucked away by jealous birds. The birds left him to die, but a crow came to his aid and cloaked him in the crow’s black feathers, enabling a beautiful black swan to emerge.
Click here for the full story.
The black swan design has been worn since 2018 and the Sydney Swans will wear this design again when they face Carlton at the SCG this Sunday afternoon.
Shop the 2021 Marn Grook Guernsey at the Swanshop HERE.
Click here to view all the match day activity during our Marn Grook fixture.
