The Dockers and Eagles have put First Nations culture front and centre as the AFL on Tuesday launched Sir Doug Nicholls Round, a fortnight of celebrating Indigenous contributions to Australian football.
Named after Pastor Sir Doug Nicholls, 2025 marks the 10th year the league has recognised his contributions to the game and Australia with a dedicated round.
The champion of the game and of human rights and justice played VFL for Fitzroy and state games for Victoria, as well as being a staunch Aboriginal rights activist and the first Indigenous Australian to serve as a governor, in South Australia.
The 2025 theme is Past legacies, future legends, recognising 20 years since the Indigenous Team of the Century was named and 30 years since the introduction of the Peek Rule, widely known as the AFL's anti-vilification and discrimination code.
The Dockers will again be known as Walyalup, and on Tuesday had one high-flying star unveil its Indigenous jumper designed by another who soared similar heights.
Created by exhilarating small forward Jeff Farmer with his father Jeff Farmer Snr, mother Iris and in collaboration with the club's Roger Hayden – another former Indigenous superstar Docker – the jumper was proudly displayed by Shai Bolton and will be worn in fixtures against GWS and Yartapuulti (Port Adelaide), where the club will again be known as Walyalup.
The design honours Farmer's footballing journey and the history of Indigenous people in WA's vast Great Southern region.
Farmer, who played 249 AFL games, including 131 for Walyalup between 2002 and 2008 where he kicked 224 of his 483 career goals, said the design concept reflected his personal and footballing journey from his childhood town, Tambellup.
"We wanted to put something out there that, year to year, generation to generation, our family can see and hear… this story that ties my life, my footy life and then obviously the combination of being able to play at Fremantle," Farmer said.
The colours in the design - red, green, and white - are a throwback to Farmer's original Dockers jumper he wore on debut, and also represent the Palinup, Kalgan and Gordon-Frankland Rivers, three major water systems that run through Goreng, Menang and Kaniyang Noongar Country in the Great Southern.
Featured above the Walyalup and Narrm meeting places are two Djiti-Djitis (Willie Wagtails) that symbolise Tambellup and stories in Noongar culture about the Djiti-Djiti's tendency to eavesdrop on conversations, which Farmer said symbolised guidance on his path to the AFL.
"If you ever travel to Tambellup, whether you're coming into town or leaving, you'll see signs that say 'Tambellup, the town of friendship' - and the emblem is the Djiti-Djiti," Farmer said.
"Dreaming as a little boy in Tambellup about playing in the big league, and these birds overheard those dreams."
"If you ever watch those birds, you're almost mesmerised and put in a bit of a trance by how they move. They seem to be dancing, which draws you in and makes you want to follow."
The bottom of the jumper features Lake Matilda, Poorarecup, Nunijup and Anderson, surrounded by contour lines reminiscent of the landscapes of the Great Southern.
"The three rivers run through the tribal lands of Kaniyang, Menang and Goreng… so being able to link that up felt really important," Farmer said.
"The water system is a major player especially for fresh water for our tribes back in the day, and our tribes pretty much followed those water systems rivers and lakes.
"We have four major lakes in the area in Nunijup, Anderson, Matilda and Poorarecup. At the bottom of the design you can see footprints, symbolising how our people walked to those places - not only for drinking water but also for the food sources they attracted like fish, turtles, ducks, kangaroos, emus and lizards.
"That's how our people survived for thousands of years."
The back of the jumper features an outline of Bluff Knoll and the silhouettes of Fremantle's 'Indigenous Seven'… a then AFL record in 2003 when Farmer and six other First Nations players played together for Walyalup in a game.
Like the 2024 design, this jumper includes the names of every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander player to have ever been listed at the Club, honouring both past and present contributors.
"The two big things here are the seven players, or as I call them, the seven brothers; Roger Hayden, Troy Cook, Steven Koops, Antoni Grover, Des Headland, Dion Woods and myself, standing on probably the most iconic landmark of the Great Southern: the Stirling Ranges and Bluff Knoll," Farmer said.
"We're standing on the peak of Bluff Knoll, proud. It's a landmark in history with the number of Indigenous players we had.
"On the back I really wanted to make sure that that history continued ... and make sure that any male or female that represented the Fremantle Football Club, their name was put up here."
The top of the jumper features a native hibiscus flower, which is known as both the Stolen Generation and the National Sorry Day flower, symbolising strength, healing and resilience.
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West Coast last week unveiled its stunning First Nations jumper, designed by Wongutha man Kevin Wilson and Maduwongga and Noongar woman Taryn Woods, in collaboration with the club's First Nations players.
The Eagles will be identified in rounds 10 and 11 as Waalitj Marawar, meaning 'Eagles of the West', which pays respect to the Wadjuk people of the Noongar nation, the Traditional Custodians of land on the swan coastal plain and east beyond the hills.
