RIVERINA League club Turvey Park will again lead the way for opposition teams with an Indigenous Round celebration at Maher Oval on Saturday.
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The Bulldogs have designed specially made one-off jumpers that it will wear against Collingullie-Glenfield Park in the round six clash.
A special pre-game ceremony will feature Aboriginal dancers, a welcome to the country, didgeridoo playing and flag raising.
Turvey Park was the first AFL Riverina club to recognise AFL’s indigenous Round last year and has built on the event for Saturday.
Turvey Park official Stephen Smith is proud the club is leading the way in indigenous affairs.
“Turvey Park is an inclusive club where all players, not only Koori blokes, feel welcomed and respected,” Smith said.
“Turvey is a proud club, and by being the only club in the RFL to again acknowledge and pay our respect to their past and present Indigenous players by formally celebrating the Indigenous round, just boosts the reasons to be proud.”
Former Turvey Park player Jimmy Egan and Collingullie counterpart Claude Jackson, both proud indigenous men, will toss the coin before the game.
Aunty Isobel Reid will deliver the Welcome to the Country, while Koori dancers from the Holy Trinity Primary School’s Dulbinya dance group will also form part of the celebration.
Smith said the ceremony is something for everyone.
“The Welcomes were originally set up for, say, Wiradjuri, to welcome a neighbouring tribe coming in,” Smith said.
“For the present day, Welcome to Countrys are about welcoming everyone. It’s a clear message that we share the land, and we’re working towards reconciliation.”
The ceremony will take place pre-game on Saturday.