SFNL: Port Melbourne Colts has leaned on some club legends to design its maiden indigenous kit

A pair of club legends and a promising young designer have put their minds together to create Port Melbourne Colts’ maiden indigenous jumper. See design and what it means here.

Port Melbourne Colts’ will wear a celebratory kit this weekend.

Port Melbourne Colts is set to honour the ground it stands on with a debut indigenous jumper.

Designed by club legends Les Taylor and Matt Burke, and drawn by 14-year-old Maxx Stevens, the jumper is symbolic of the club’s values on and off the field.

The Colts will wear the predominantly red strip this weekend as a celebration of NAIDOC Week.

Taylor, who still remains prominent at the club after a fine career, explained the process that went into the design.

“When Elton (Football Operations Manager Elton Stevens) sort of asked if I wanted to have an input in the design, I had done nothing like this before,” he said.

“It’s what I thought Port Colts is from my time there – it’s like a meeting place, that’s the symbol place on the front, for men and women, I put the signs on the top, always welcome.

“Then you have the shield and spears as warriors, it’s a meeting place but then we go into battle on the field.

“I wanted something to represent the port, by the water, so that’s the turtle on the back.

“I wanted to show what I got out of Port Melbourne, it’s such a great place.”

Colts captain Justin Taylor (L) and coach Josh Caddy in the one-off strip.

Jumper back

Stevens, son of Elton, said he was given specific requests for parts of the jumper and allowed to tap into his “creative ideas” for the rest.

“The idea of the indigenous jumper came up and I got asked if I wanted to help in that,” he said.

“Since then I just started designing it and here we are now.

“I did it on an iPad and I think the time said seven hours, maybe eight.

“I drew up a little jumper and it went away from there; my dad was in the group that sparked the idea, he sent a few pictures my way.

“The circle in the middle is a gathering place and they wanted boomerangs and people on it to say footy as a gathering place.

“Other than that, it was up to my creative ideas.”