NT Thunder Football Club (NTFC) is delighted to launch the 2018 Thunder Indigenous guernsey in Darwin today.
The jumper will be worn by not only the senior NT Thunder team but also all indigenous teams in the NT Thunder Academy including the Kickstart team playing in the National Diversity Championships in Sydney which begins this Sunday 14 April.
The jumper was designed by former NT thunder and AFL player Nathan Djerrkura, a Yolngu man from the Wangurri clan who lives in the remote Arnhem land town of Yirrkala.
Djerrkura, who played four matches for Geelong in 2009-2010 before two years at the Western Bulldogs, also designed the Geelong Football Club indigenous guernsey in 2016 and is a well-known indigenous artist.
He says during the wet season he enjoys sitting on his veranda watching the spectacular storms roll in over the ocean.
“When the lightning strikes the water, it lights up the sky and the ocean followed by a monstrous roar that shakes the earth.
“I like to relate this to our Territory Thunder teams and how they light up the oval and the crowds with their speed, freakish skills and monstrous physical attack on the ball.
“The black area of the jumper represents the night sky. The lightning bolt represents the lightning and storms rolling in over the ocean. The wave patterns represent the ocean. And the back of the jumper represents the hard turtle shell that our opponents cannot break or destroy” Djerrkura said.
NT Thunder player Phillip Wills said he was looking forward to wearing the new guernsey for Indigenous round in NEAFL Round 4 against Redland in Alice Springs.
“It’s an exciting new design which recognises and celebrates our Indigenous culture through story telling.”
NT Kickstart player Alwyn Davey junior said he was honoured to be in the first team that wears the guernsey at the National Diversity Championships in Sydney next week.
“It’s not only an honour to represent the Northern Territory but to also unveil the new indigenous guernsey when I run out with my teammates is exciting” he said.