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Sir Doug Nicholls Round

Players observe a war cry representing each club and performed by Indigenous groups in 2019
Sport	Australian rules football
First season	2007
Country	Australia
Related competitions	AFL

The Sir Doug Nicholls Round is an annual event in the Australian Football League which celebrates the culture of Indigenous Australians and the contribution of Indigenous Australian players to the sport.

First established in 2007 as the Indigenous Round, the event was renamed in honour of pioneering Indigenous player and politician Sir Doug Nicholls in 2016. The event was originally staged over a single round of home-and-away matches; since 2019, it has been staged over two rounds. The centrepiece of the Sir Doug Nicholls Round is the Dreamtime at the 'G match, played annually between Richmond and Essendon at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on a Saturday night during the round.

Clubs adopt Indigenous symbols during the round, including wearing specially designed guernseys featuring Indigenous art, and adopting Indigenous versions of their club names.

The AFL Women's competition has an equivalent event, named the Indigenous Round, staged over two rounds each season.

History

The organised Indigenous round has its origins in two stand-alone fixtures from the early 2000s. The first, the Marn Grook Match, was an annual fixture between Sydney and Essendon in Sydney to contest the Marn Grook Trophy; named after the Indigenous football game of marn grook, it was first played during National Reconciliation Week in 2002, and its first iteration was the inaugural AFL game played at Stadium Australia. The second was the annual Dreamtime at the 'G match, first played between Richmond and Essendon in their home-and-away match played during NAIDOC Week in 2005. At both games, the clubs staged events and pre-match celebrations with the aim of recognising Indigenous culture and the contribution of all Indigenous players to the AFL.

In 2007, the annual Indigenous Round was established by the AFL, extending the celebration of Indigenous culture and players to all matches across the round. The inaugural round was staged from 25 to 27 May 2007, recognising the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Australian referendum (Aboriginals), as well as coinciding with the National Day of Healing on 26 May and National Reconciliation Week from 27 May to 3 June; the round is scheduled on or around that calendar week every year. The Dreamtime at the 'G match has served as the central event of each Indigenous Round since its inception, played on the round's Saturday night. The Marn Grook Match continued to be contested in Sydney's annual home match against Essendon outside the Indigenous Round until 2013; since 2014, the match has been incorporated into the Indigenous Round and is contested between Sydney and one of its Indigenous Round opponents.

In 2016, the round was renamed after Sir Doug Nicholls, pioneering Indigenous player who had played for Fitzroy in the 1930s, who served as governor of South Australia, and who is the only VFL player of any race to have been knighted. In 2019, the event was extended to cover two consecutive weeks of the season; both rounds are still known as by the singular name Sir Doug Nicholls Round.

In 2021, the AFL Women's competition first introduced its Indigenous Round, also covering two weeks of its home-and-away season. The women's round is not named for Nicholls, retaining the name Indigenous Round.

Observances

Guernseys

Each year, each club wears a specially commissioned Indigenous guernsey during the rounds, each of which is an Indigenous artwork based on the club's usual guernsey design. In most cases, one or more new guernsey designs are created each year for the occasion, often designed by one of the club's Indigenous players or an artist connected to the club. Richmond was the first club to wear a special Indigenous guernsey, adding Indigenous patterns to its gold sash for the Dreamtime at the 'G match starting in 2011; in 2013, Fremantle wore its first indigenous guernsey and Adelaide wore its normal guernsey design amended to the black, yellow and red colours of the Aboriginal flag; the current practice was then adopted by all clubs starting from the 2014 season. The umpires also wear indigenous shirt designs, first doing so in 2015.

In 2020, the league took a position in the Aboriginal flag copyright issue, deciding not to enter a commercial agreement with the clothing company which owned the copyright over its use on clothing following consultation with its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Council. The Commonwealth later acquired the copyright to the flag in 2022 and it can now be used on guernseys without charge, the flag has not returned to guernseys as of 2023.

Indigenous club names

Since 2022, clubs have rebranded during the Sir Doug Nicholls and AFLW Indigenous Rounds, adopting Indigenous names which they use in place of their usual location names throughout. Melbourne was the first club to do this in 2022, and as of 2024 there are six clubs which have adopted the practice. Names are developed in consulation with local Indigenous groups and experts. The names and years of use are summarised below.

Matches in the Northern Territory

Since 2007, different clubs have had deals in place to play one or two games per year in the Northern Territory, either at Marrara Oval in Darwin, or Traeger Park in Alice Springs. The demographic proportion and Australian rules football participation rates of Indigenous people in the Northern Territory are higher than any of the states, and it has thus been common, although not universal, for some of these games to be held during the Sir Doug Nicholls Round. In 2020, Marrara Oval hosted the Dreamtime at the 'G match, when the city of Melbourne was unable to due to a COVID-19 pandemic lockdown; and the 2024 AFLW Dreamtime match was fixtured for Marrara Oval, with the league in discussions to make this a permanent fixture.

Other

Since the first Indigenous Round in 2007, it has been customary for each pre-match ceremony to include a Welcome to Country, and performances by local Indigenous groups. Regular painted ground markings, sometimes including advertisements, are replaced with Indigenous symbols and flags throughout the round.

In 2017, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Australian Aboriginal referendum, ten indigenous players changed their guernsey numbers to either 50 or 67 during the Sir Doug Nicholls Round. The 67s were worn by Lance Franklin, Cedric Cox, Daniel Wells, Steven May, Zac Williams, Shaun Burgoyne and Shane Edwards.

An AFLW Indigenous Round Honouree is announced for each season. To date these are as follows:

• 2021: Joy Murphy Wandin AO
• 2022 (Season 6): Alicia Janz
• 2022 (Season 7): Pam Pederson ("Aunty Pam"), a Yorta Yorta woman, the youngest daughter of Sir Doug and Lady Gladys Nicholls
• 2023: Ebony Abbott-McCormack, Northern Territory footballer and advocate

See also

• Indigenous All-Stars (Australian rules football)

References

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2. Callander, Sean (2005). "Football Dream". AFL Record (Round 15): 12–13.
3. Karen Lyon (6 July 2005). "Tigers, Bombers conjure 'Dreamtime at the 'G'". Melbourne: The Age.
4. David Adamson (2002). "The AFL comes to Stadium Australia". AFL Record. p. 60.
5. ^ "Building bridges - Special edition Celebrating Indigenous contribution to our game". AFL Record. 2007. pp. 4–5.
6. "EVERY AWARD (WINNERS & BACKGROUND)". Hardballget. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
7. "AFL to honour Sir Doug Nicholls in 2016 Indigenous round". The Guardian. 28 October 2016. Archived from the original on 29 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
8. "Sir Doug Nicholls Round". afl.com.au. 23 December 2019. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
9. ^ "2023 AFLW Indigenous Round honouree named". afl.com.au/aflw. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
10. Grieve, Charlotte (22 May 2019). "AFL Indigenous guernseys revealed and the stories behind them". The Age. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
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14. "Adelaide Indigenous Jumpers". Footyjumpers. Retrieved 26 May 2024.; "Brisbane Indigenous Jumpers". Footyjumpers. Retrieved 26 May 2024.; "Carlton Indigenous Jumpers". Footyjumpers. Retrieved 26 May 2024.; "Collingwood Indigenous Jumpers". Footyjumpers. Retrieved 26 May 2024.; "Essendon Indigenous Jumpers". Footyjumpers. Retrieved 26 May 2024.; "Fremantle Indigenous Jumpers". Footyjumpers. Retrieved 26 May 2024.; "Geelong Indigenous Jumpers". Footyjumpers. Retrieved 26 May 2024.; "Gold Coast Indigenous Jumpers". Footyjumpers. Retrieved 26 May 2024.; "GWS Indigenous Jumpers". Footyjumpers. Retrieved 26 May 2024.; "Footscray/Western Bulldogs Indigenous Jumpers". Footyjumpers. Retrieved 26 May 2024.; "Hawthorn Indigenous Jumpers". Footyjumpers. Retrieved 26 May 2024.; "North Melbourne Indigenous Jumpers". Footyjumpers. Retrieved 26 May 2024.; "Melbourne Indigenous Jumpers". Footyjumpers. Retrieved 26 May 2024.; "Port Adelaide Indigenous Jumpers". Footyjumpers. Retrieved 26 May 2024.; "Richmond Indigenous Jumpers". Footyjumpers. Retrieved 26 May 2024.; "St Kilda Indigenous Jumpers". Footyjumpers. Retrieved 26 May 2024.; "South Melbourne - Sydney Indigenous Jumpers". Footyjumpers. Retrieved 26 May 2024.; "West Coast Indigenous Jumpers". Footyjumpers. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
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16. Henderson, Anna (21 August 2020). "Ken Wyatt encourages AFL fans to 'drape' the Aboriginal flag around them to protest copyright stoush". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
17. "Is $20m for the copyright of the Aboriginal flag a fair deal?". ABC News. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
18. "Every AFL club's indigenous guernsey for 2023 Sir Doug Nicholls Round revealed". Fox Sports. 15 May 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
19. "Sir Doug Nicholls Round: Team Name Changes 2024". Australian Football League. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
20. "Crows announce name change for Sir Doug Nicholls Round". Adelaide Football Club. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
21. "Presenting the Walyalup Football Club". Fremantle Football Club. 21 February 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
22. "Welcoming Narrm Football Club". Melbourne Football Club. 16 May 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
23. "Introducing the Yartapuulti Football Club". Port Adelaide Football Club. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
24. "We are Euro-Yroke: Announcing our new name for Sir Doug Nicholls Round". St Kilda Football Club. 8 May 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
25. "Yalukut Willam Signs". City of Port Phillip. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
26. "Eagles announce SDNR name change, and is the curse broken?". Australian Football League. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
27. ^ Vivian, Steve (1 February 2024). "AFL in discussions to move AFLW Dreamtime game from Melbourne to Darwin". ABC News. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
28. Barrett, Damian (31 July 2020). "The Dreamtime NOT at the 'G: Sir Doug Nicholls headline act gets new stage". AFL.com.au. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
29. "AFL partners to support Sir Doug Nicholls Round celebrations with grass signage". Australian Football League. 14 May 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
30. "Players number tribute to indigenous breakthrough". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. 24 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
31. "NAB AFLW Season Seven Indigenous Round launched and AFLW Indigenous Round Honouree named". afl.com.au/aflw. 5 September 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2024.

• Australian Football League
• 2007 establishments in Australia
• Indigenous Australian sport