Clubs change names for indigenous round

By PETER ROWE

AFLW clubs will change their names to translations in Traditional Owner’s language across Indigenous Round this weekend.

2024 Indigenous Round, will be held across Week nine and Week 10 of the 2024 NAB AFLW Premiership Season and kicks off on Thursday on Cairns when Melbourne play Hawthorn.

The annual Dreamtime match will take place on Saturday, 26 October in Darwin for the first time, as Richmond and Essendon go head-to-head.

For the first time the Adelaide Crows will be known as Kuwarna (pronounced goo-wun-na), St Kilda will be known as Euro-Yroke (pronounced yoo-roe yoo-roe-ck), and the West Coast Eagles will be known as Waalitj Marawar (pronounced wah-litch mara-wah).

For the second consecutive year, Fremantle will be known as Walyalup (pronounced wul-yul-up) and Port Adelaide will be Yartapuulti (pronounced Yarta–pole-tee).

For the fourth straight season, Melbourne will be known as Narrm (pronounced na-arm).

Kuwarna is the Kaurna translation for the word ‘crows’ and Euro-Yroke is the Boon Wurrung translation for ‘St Kilda’. Waalitj Marawar means ‘Eagle of the West’ in the local Noongar language.

Narrm derives from the Woi Wurrung language meaning Melbourne, Walyalup is the Noongar name for the Fremantle region, and Yartapuulti comes from the Kaurna language meaning the land surrounding the Port River.

All AFLW Umpires will wear uniforms celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures that have been designed by Noongar Wandandi Boodja man and AFL umpire, Joshua James.

All 18 AFLW clubs will wear their own specifically designed Indigenous guernseys across Indigenous Round.

Each club has worked closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to design guernseys that tell stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ culture, history, traditions, and resilience.

‘Spirit Strong, Game On’ is the theme for the round, which recognises the resilience and strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The theme honours Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ traditions, cultures and enduring spirit, as well as their ongoing impact and legacy in Australian Rules Football and society.

AFLW General Manager Emma Moore said she was pleased to see the footy community come together to celebrate the AFLW Indigenous Round, highlighted by the inaugural Dreamtime in Darwin match.

“We are proud to have the AFLW community unite for the fifth AFLW Indigenous Round, and as part of the celebrations we are excited to bring the marquee Dreamtime match between Richmond and Essendon to Darwin for the first time,” Moore said.