IN THE LEAD up to Round 11, Narrm had the opportunity to further its knowledge around Indigenous culture.

In celebration of Sir Doug Nicholls Round, Wurundjeri Elder Uncle Bill Nicholson, and Wurundjeri/Dja Dja Wurrung artist Ky-ya Nicholson Ward, paid the Demons a visit to share some important messages.

“[Uncle Bill] came in and gave a condensed presentation – he said he normally has six hours to do it and he had 45 minutes with us,” Tom McDonald told Narrm Media.

“It was essentially just as much information as he could pack in about his family and Indigenous history, especially around Melbourne, relating to our name change for two weeks to Narrm.

“There were some good and bad aspects of it to hear, but all really interesting stuff.”

The Demons then learned about what their 2022 Indigenous guernsey represents, which McDonald considered to be incredibly valuable.

“We also got to hear from Ky-ya about the jersey design for the weekend and the story behind why she put certain things on there,” he said.

“I always love the design but you’re not really sure what’s actually on there and why it is, so it was cool to hear the story behind that.”

The awareness around Sir Doug Nicholls Round has continued to grow in recent seasons, and McDonald says it is something the playing group is honoured to be a part of.

“For the Indigenous boys, they’re so proud to see their culture represented on the jersey,” he said.

“For the non-Indigenous guys, we just feel really special that we get to run out with these guys and get to see them do things like the coin toss.

“They just lead the club for the couple of weeks, and to see the smile on their face is the part that makes me so happy.

“It’s just awesome to be involved in it.”

The Narrm Football Club is one of the leaders in the AFL when it comes to Indigenous education, strongly led by its Indigenous Projects Officer, Matthew Whelan.

On top of the cultural awareness session earlier in the week, club staff will be undertaking a Marngrook Making Workshop hosted by Bella Atkinson, a Wolithiga woman from the Yorta Yorta nations, on Friday.

In the coming weeks, there will also be an opportunity for players and staff to visit the Australian Sports Museum exhibit, featuring Narrm’s history in the AFL, with all 13 guernseys on display.

And while the efforts the Dees have gone to have assisted McDonald’s understanding in this space, he acknowledges that he’s only “just scratched the surface”.

“Look, I wouldn’t say I’m a lot more knowledgeable because there’s so much more,” he said.

“As [Uncle Bill] said yesterday, he could go for another five hours and we’d barely touch on anything.”

For more information, visit the Narrm Hub here.

For the duration of Sir Doug Nicholls Round, the Melbourne Football Club will be rebranded and referred to as the Narrm Football Club.