For the first time in Adelaide’s history, the Club’s AFL, AFLW and SANFL sides will all wear an Indigenous guernsey with the same design this season.

The AFLW side will wear the Indigenous guernsey during the Indigenous Round celebrations along with clash games.

The AFL side will wear the Indigenous guernsey during Adelaide’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round clash with St Kilda in Round 10 and during the SANFL’s Indigenous Round.

This year’s design highlights the coming together of the men’s and women’s teams on their reconciliation journey, as well as acknowledging the impact that the many members of the Crows family have left on the Club since 1991.

The Aboriginal adaptation of the crow sits at the centre of the guernsey, with the Kaurna shield perched proudly on its chest.

The male and female hands which make up the wings of the crow and the fingerprints on the feathers which wrap around the guernsey represent the imprint players, staff, members and supporters have left on the Club over its journey.

Aboriginal male and female symbols sit on its wings, symbolising men’s and women’s players coming together to support, encourage and flourish.

The crow is surrounded by layers of many circles of different sizes, colours, and shapes, symbolic of a meeting place and the Crows community coming together on a shared journey.

A secondary Kaurna shield stands tall at the base of the flight path, surrounded by the footprints of the Crows family whose relentless, consistent, and hardworking attitudes propels the Crows forward.

The guernsey was designed by Eastern Arrernte man Pat Caruso, whose design agency We Create Print Deliver was named NAIDOC SA 2021 Business of the Year Award.

He joins a long list of celebrated previous Indigenous guernsey designers, including past and present players Andrew McLeod (AFL 2014, AFLW 2017, AFL 2019), Ben Davis (AFL 2021) and Eddie Hocking (AFL 2020), as well as artists Elizabeth Close (AFLW 2021), Shane Cook (AFL 2020) and Allan Sumner (AFL 2017).

Caruso said being able to share one of his designs with such a large audience had been an amazing, yet also overwhelming experience.

“Having the opportunity to design something that will share our culture with so many people has been incredible and has become such a massive part of my personal reconnection journey,” Caruso said.

“As the father to a daughter and a son, it was really special to make the first Indigenous guernsey that will bring the men’s and women’s teams together.

“The male and female hands which make up the wings of the Crows are equal parts of the bird, which shows the equality and recognition of both teams.

“When you have equality and recognition, other things follow.

“This guernsey has allowed me to engage with my peers in the community and represent them, so I really want to do them and my family justice.

“(Adelaide Indigenous Programs Manager) Jeremy Johncock gave me fair warning that Adelaide always has the best looking guernsey, so I hope the fans love this one as much as past versions.”

Adelaide AFLW Captain Chelsea Randall said the shared design is reflective of Adelaide’s ‘one club’ mentality.

“Our Club motto is ‘we fly as one’ and I think this guernsey is the really living and breathingdemonstration of that,” Randall said.

“It shows how far we have come over the years and how our Club is really committed to bringing our men’s program and women’s programs together,” Randall said.

“The effort and time and energy that Pat has gone to put his design together for us to wear is just incredible and we are immensely proud to wear this jumper.”

Adelaide AFL player and Narungga, Wotjobaluk and Gunditjmara man Wayne Milera saidplayers were engaged from the outset and worked closely as a group to develop the design brief for the guernsey.

“I really like the design, it’s always a time for the artist to showcase their art and storytelling,” Milera said.

“It’s really bright and bold and stands out, each year they continue to get better and better and Pat has done an awesome job with this one.

“I love the fact that both men’s and women’s teams will wear the same guernsey. We sat down when we were getting ideas for the design and we are one club, so it’s only right that we have the same Indigenous guernsey which shows we are unified.”

The 2022 AFL and AFLW Indigenous guernseys are available now from CROWmania online (shop.afc.com.au), in store at West Lakes or from venue on game days. Additional products will be available to purchase ahead of Sir Doug Nicholls Round.