Glenunga Football Club to celebrate first Indigenous Round in Adelaide Footy League

A rising Adelaide Footy League division one power will mark NAIDOC Week by celebrating its first Indigenous Round with hopes to inspire and educate its community.

A rising Adelaide Footy League power will host its first Indigenous Round to celebrate NAIDOC Week on Saturday as it prepares to take on a fellow finals contender.

Division one premiership contender Glenunga will mark Indigenous Round with its own celebration at Webb Oval as it clashes with former Crow Luke Brown and Tea Tree Gully.

The side will don a special guernsey designed by Eastern Arrernte artist Pat Caruso with the help of senior First Nations players Abe Davis (former Sturt), Sam Abell and Kai Rankine.

“We’re really happy with how the Guernsey turned out,” Abell said.

“The First Nations players at the club sat down with Pat and talked about the kind of story we wanted to tell with it and we decided we wanted to represent the First Nations players at the club currently and previously and the role they play in protecting and bringing through the juniors as well.”

Glenunga will celebrate its first Indigenous Round in the Adelaide Footy League this Saturday with a specially designed guernsey. The key elements are the spear and hands which represent senior players guiding the club’s juniors. Star Indigenous players Abe Davis (former Sturt),(C), Sam Abell, (R), and Kai Rankine (L). Picture Dean Martin

Glenunga has been a club on the rise in the Adelaide Footy League through recent years, earning promotion to division one at the end of the 2021 season.

The Rams have played an important part in their community throughout their periods of success and Abell said celebrating NAIDOC Week and Indigenous Round was the next step in extending the club’s role and responsibility.

“I’m really proud of the fact we’re celebrating an Indigenous Round, you see it at AFL level and it’s a fantastic celebration of culture and history – it’s one of those things you always look forward to,” he said.

“It’s really important, it’s probably been a few years in the making but we know how integral it is for a community club to do this.

“I think mostly it’s about that educational aspect. There’s still a lot of education and learning to do, there are so many different cultures and histories and it’s really important that we continue to promote that with our celebrations.”

The Rams will take on Tea Tree Gully during its NAIDOC Week event on Saturday. Picture: Dean Martin

Rams president Ben Stapleton said he was proud to be marking Indigenous Round and happy for the First Nations members of the club.

“It’s going to be a great day. We’re going to have a Welcome To Country and smoking ceremony before the senior game and we’re really happy with how the jumpers have turned out as well – we love it.

“Sam, Abe and Kai, you could see their passion and how proud they were to be doing this, which is fantastic.

“As a community club we have an obligation to be a community contributor and this is just another step in that direction.”

While the Rams, a top two side, would be looking to grab a key win over the fifth spot Gullies on Saturday, Abell said he also hoped the club could further persuade the Adelaide Footy League to establish a competition-wide Indigenous Round through its event.

“I think it would be great to have a league-wide round eventually so we hope we can put on a good event.

“It would be a strong step in the right direction of celebrating Indigenous culture in a competition which has had so many fantastic First Nations players.”