Subiaco’s Round 13 home game to celebrate NAIDOC Round

The Subiaco Football Club is proud to celebrate NAIDOC week during round 13 at Leederville Oval on Saturday July 8th.

The players will be wearing Indigenous jumpers designed by former Lion Des Headland and artist Kevin Bynder.

Meanwhile, Whadjuk elder Neville Collard will be in attendance to perform a smoking ceremony prior to the League match.

Subiaco has a storied history of Indigenous players.

Cyril Collard and Des Davis played for the club in the 1950s, with Geoff Clark and Greg Kelly playing in the 70s and 80s.

From the late 90s onwards, there has been even stronger representation.

Rob Hansen Sr played 38 games for the club, while a fresh-faced Des Headland appeared on the scene in 1998 before he was drafted to Brisbane.

Neil Marshall, who played 82 games for the club, featured from 1999, the start of a generation of superstars.

Allistair Pickett represented Subiaco on 177 occasions, winning the Sandover Medal in 2002 and 2004 to go down as one of the greatest players in the history of the club.

Greg Broughton played 94 games for the club alongside stints at Fremantle and Gold Coast, while former Eagle Adam Cockie played 102 games for the Lions.

More recently, Brandon and Bailey Matera combined on several occasions at the Lions.

Meanwhile Liam Ryan, Tyler Brockman, and Tyrell Dewar have gone on to begin their careers in the AFL, following success in the Subiaco system.

In total, 11 Lions with Indigenous heritage have gone on to AFL clubs, including Robbie Hansen Jr who was taken in the 2023 Mid-Season Draft to North Melbourne.

Back at the club, there are 17 players across all grades with an Aboriginal background, including three in the women’s program.

The jumper to be worn by the players depicts the waterways in the Subiaco region and how they’ve been looked after.

The clapping sticks are symbolic of dance and celebration, representing the joys of playing football.

The two circles are representative of the Esperance and Goldfields regions, the two country zones for the Lions.

The middle depicts the woggle, representing a snake which is believed to be the creator of the land.

There are seven circles which represent the seven clubs associated with the football club, and the dots show the people from history who have supported the club to create a foundation for its success.