Round ten of the NRL competition will see all 16 clubs play in new jerseys as the league celebrates its Indigenous Round.
The Bulldogs are a club that respects and celebrates indigenous culture. Players and the team will wear a jersey on Thursday night that has been designed by an Aboriginal Girls Group from the Chifley College Mount Druitt Campus.
The story behind the design of the jersey is inspiring.
The girls from Chifley College felt that it was important that the jersey design appealed to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous supporters alike, so made sure the design used traditional symbols and techniques to retell the proud history of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
The design started with brainstorming the history of the club, including the following points: the Bulldogs’ eight premierships, playing in the NRL competition for 82 years, going from the Berries to the Bulldogs in the late 70’s and the domination of the Bulldogs in the 80’s.
The jersey design included all of these important parts of the Bulldogs story.
The Aboriginal man represents the Aboriginal people that have played in the team. The boomerangs in his hand tell the story of the Bulldogs being a strong team and that they are always fighting back for a win.
The dog prints and human prints walking together side by side represents the players and supporters entering the stadium as men, then all coming together to be Bulldogs.
There are eight meeting places on the jersey. These show the Bulldogs community coming together to watch the Bulldogs win eight grand finals.
There are 82 dots that represent how many years the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have been in the NRL competition.
The type of blue that was chosen in the bottom pattern and meeting places was inspired by the blue of the Bulldogs. The use of black, red and yellow in the design reflects the Aboriginal Flag. The green, together with white and blue, reflects the colours of the Torres Straight Island flag.
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs will be out to forge an important victory when the North Queensland Cowboys visit ANZ Stadium on Thursday 11 May.
The Cowboys will be no easy beat for the Bulldogs and it's sure to be another classic encounter when the two sides clash.
