Swans’ indigenous jumper has heritage and history

The indigenous guernsey the Lismore Swans will be wearing not only for Sir Doug Nicholls Round but also the remainder of the 2021 season. Photo: Lismore Swans

THE new guernseys arrived only 24 hours before their Sir Doug Nicholls Round match but it was worth the wait for the Lismore Swans.

The club’s indigenous jumper looks spectacular and it will be officially unveiled at Oakes Oval on Saturday when the Swans host Sawtell/Toormina.

The great design isn’t just a one-off either. The Swans will be wearing it every week for the rest of the season.

Even more exciting about the jumper is the fact it was designed by one of their own.

Talarra Berry has been a member of Lismore’s women’s team since it started in 2017 and she has previously designed one other indigenous jumper for the club.

The 20 year-old who was born in Bundjalung country said the jumper represents the history of the club as well as the traditional owners of the land, the Widjabal Wia-bal people.

“Laura (club president Laura Cahill) spoke to me about it and she asked me to show both the traditional owners of our ground as well as the history of our club,” Talarra said.

“It’s just the journey of the two clubs coming together to make one club.”

Cahill said the history of the club isn’t overly old but it’s indeed rich.

“The Lismore Swans Australian Football Club came together as a combination of the Lismore Roos and the Goonellabah Swans and the design encapsulates this movement and shows our current meeting place, where we are now, as the Lismore Swans,” Cahill said.

The president added that the club wanted to play in something that was able to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land that the Swans play footy on every weekend.

“I was told that the Kangaroos wore blue and white so the blue on the jumper is the Lismore Roos moving toward the Goonelabah Swans,” Talarra said.

“The circles represent the ground that we play on as well as all of the people.

“The club is based around being one big family and that’s pretty much my inspiration for the design.”

When the players caught the first glimpse of the new design they were thrilled with the result.

“We would like to thank Talarra for her amazing work,” the president said.

The Swans will be playing two matches at Oakes Oval against Sawtell/Toormina for the Sir Doug Nicholls Round. The women will be playing at 12.20pm while the first bounce for the seniors is due at 1.50pm.

A special ceremony celebrating the occasion and the local indigenous history will be conducted in between the two matches.