What’s happening this Sir Doug Nicholls Round

By Alice Barker

For 13 years, round ten of the AFL season has been dedicated to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island culture and their contribution to the sport.

It wasn’t until four years ago the round was named in honour of former Fitzroy player Sir Doug Nicholls who was a pioneering campaigner for reconciliation in Australia.

Nicholls had a humble start in the league, learning the game barefoot in his community but footy soon became more important to him than learning how to read or write.

Being the only indigenous in the league in the late 1920s, his professional career began on shaky grounds as he was met with severe racial prejudice.

His impressive determination saw him overcome the racial bias, and instead Nicholls blazed the trail for all native Australians hoping to partake in this sport.

This weekend, clubs and competitions across Queensland will celebrate Sir Doug Nicholls Round through various events pre and post-match, with special acknowledgement to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the sport.

In QFA Division One HART Sport Cup, Springwood will host Caloundra for an afternoon of celebration, with reserves from 12pm and seniors at 2pm.

Springwood have become renowned for their regonition in Sir Doug Nicholls Round and 2019 is no different with the indigenous group, Yerongpan, dancing and performing a traditional Smoking ceremony from 1:30pm.

The half-time break will see a traditional song and dance performed as well as the Under 10s game with players wearing indigenous jerseys.

The Springwood field will be transformed with an Aboriginal flag artwork and the Rhan Hooper Trophy will be presented with the conclusion of the senior game.

Springwood’s Rhan Hooper is a proud Australian native, after leaving the Brisbane Lions in 2007, Hooper now boasts 85 games for the Pumas, in that time he has kicked 175 goals.

Springwood’s indigenous guernsey , designed by Hooper, has the theme of family and holds a special place in Hooper’s heart.

“This jersey is really special to me, as you can see on the photos, there’s two handprints, one of them is my daughter, and one of them is my son,” said Hooper.

Elsewere, Mt Gravatt will host Sandgate this Saturday, with a unique pre-game ceremony as Mt Gravatt’s Jesse Green performs a traditional dance at the ceremony.

The Mt Gravatt side will wear indigenous jerseys and the field will display the Aboriginal flag.

The QAFL competition will also see Morningside visiting the Western Magpies where a with a pre-game Smoking and Welcome to Country ceremony will be held.

Half-time indigenous dancers will also perform and the Magpies will be sporting their traditional guernseys.

Sir Doug Nicholls Round will flow into next weekend too with the Wilston Grange fixtures in both the QAFL and QAFLW at Hickey Park.

Teams across the day will wear indigenous guernseys designed by Grange QAFLW player Emm MacNeill.

SATURDAY 25^th MAY

SUNDAY 26^th MAY

SATURDAY 1^st JUNE