WAFLW: Subiaco’s Indigenous guernsey shows club and cultural history

Subiaco will proudly wear an Indigenous guernsey designed by one of the team’s own.

Iesha Farmer comes from a family with a long history of football, including two of her uncles in former AFL talent Jeff, and former Subiaco Lion Allistair Pickett.

The Subiaco WAFLW player practises art when she’s not running out in the maroon and gold, and was appreciative of the club in how they approached the round.

“It was nice of them to ask me to do the Indigenous jumper design,” Farmer said.

“Then the smoking ceremony and welcome to country over the weekend was beautiful to see as well.

“Just acknowledging our culture that round was awesome.”

The design takes the maroon and gold of the traditional jumper, but has it structured in a different fashion.

The right side of the guernsey has patterns representing the lakes of the area, from Lake Monger and Lake Herdsman, all the way to Joondalup.

Farmer said the representation of the Lakes was due to the Noongar people in the past who used to survive around the bodies of freshwater. 

“I thought it would be a good jumper that represents the city area and connects to my culture and my people.”

Farmer said the yellow sash which contains five dots represented the five Indigenous WAFLW players at the Lions in herself, Tiah Toth, Nyra Anderson, Tara Garlett, and Kaiya Paull from the Rogers Cup side.

The sash has 17 lines across it, which shows the number of years the Lions have been under the Subiaco district.

On the back, there are three dots representing the club’s three women’s sides, and there are dots throughout the design in the similar style of the traditional guernsey.

Farmer said the club means a lot to her, given both the family connection and how close the group is as a whole.

“Seeing the whole footy team is something I look forward to every week,” she said.

“It’s nice to have them, it’s like my second family.”

The family feeling was evident last weekend, where Farmer in her first League game kicked a goal, thanks to an unselfish handpass from Nyra Anderson.

The whole team got around her to celebrate, in what she described as a feeling she’s never had on a football field before.