Past and present Indigenous athletes who have pulled on the famous Collingwood stripes have been recognised in the club’s 2017 Indigenous guernsey.
The jumper, designed by Indigenous artist Elaine Chambers-Hegarty, showcases an intricate take on one of the most recognisable guernseys in football.
Chambers-Hergarty was selected after the call went out on Collingwood’s social media channels to design the uniform the Magpies will wear against Brisbane in round 10.
“I wanted to try and stay within the stripes. That’s what’s recognisable,” the graphic designer told Collingwood Media.
“That’s why I put a lot of the artwork into the stripes.”
Horizontal lines can be seen sitting in each black panel on the guernsey. Chambers-Hergarty explained their relevance to the journeys taken by Collingwood’s Indigenous athletes.
“The faint lines in the background display the travels the players have taken and where they’ve come from through to now,” she described.
“It’s designed to represent players past, present and future.
“The circles are meeting circles. They’re the players meeting at the fields and areas and different sacred grounds around Australia.”
Before becoming a reality, the jumper was approved and brainstormed by Collingwood’s group of four Indigenous players; Travis Varcoe, Daniel Wells, Kayle Kirby and Mitch McCarthy.
The result will be worn by all 22 selected Magpies when Collingwood take on Brisbane at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.
Queensland-based Chambers-Hergarty will attend the game, as well as the Dreamtime at the ‘G clash between Richmond and Essendon the night before.
She will have no shortage of people congratulating her on the result of her design.
“All my friends and family who don’t support Collingwood have all gone and bought one of the jumpers, which is great.
“I’m pretty excited about it.”
The guernsey is available for purchase in the Collingwood Superstore or online. CLICK HERE to browse and purchase now.
Past and present in Indigenous guernsey
The journeys taken by past and present Collingwood Indigenous players is reflected in the jumper the Magpies will wear in this weekend's Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round.