GFL umpires don unique Indigenous strip in celebration of Sir Doug Nicholls Round

Goldfields Football League umpires have embraced the spirit of the Sir Doug Nicholls Round, celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and contribution to Australian Rules by donning specially-designed strips in round five.

The unique uniforms were unveiled at Wednesday night’s league clash between Mines Rovers and Railways and will be on display again on Thursday night at Digger Daws Oval when Boulder opposes Kambalda.

GFL Umpires’ Association president Brenden Ah-Kim said the concept, which honours former GFL umpire and Aboriginal Elder Edward Johnston, was 18 months in the planning.

“The brief was to keep it simple,” Ah-Kim said.

“So the artist (Donna Johnston) went to work and has really come up with a great design featuring the soaring galah.”

Donna Johnston said he family’s history had been incorporated into the final design.

“Piyarrku is a Martu word for the pink and grey galah,” she said.

“It is our family totem, the Jones family totem.

“My grandmother, the late Edward Johnston’s mother’s name was Jean Johnston (nee Jones) — she was a Martu woman from Wiluna, but spent most of her life living in the Goldfields region.

“Even though I was born in Kalgoorlie and grew up in Wangkatha country, I am also Martu.

“I wanted to use the Piyarrku for this design because it represents us as a family on our Martu side.”

She said it was logical to use a pink and grey galah as the centrepiece.

“As anyone would know, the Piyarrku is a well-known bird in Australia and you will often see this bird in and around Kalgoorlie-Boulder and the Goldfields region,” she said.

“My grandfather Reg Johnston, Edward’s father, is a Wangkatha man, well-known to Aboriginal people in the Goldfields.

“As an artist, I wanted to create a simple design that represented and identified Uncle Edward by using our family totem.

“It was a privilege to be able to create and use this design on the umpires’ shirts which also represents his time and commitment given to the Goldfields Football League Umpires’ Association.

“Both the Johnston and Jones families looked up to Uncle Edward — he was an important family member, a well-respected man and a well-known Aboriginal umpire in the Goldfields-Esperance region.”