2024 AFL SDNR Rounds Preview
The 2024 AFL Sir Doug Nicholls Round kicks off this Thursday, the 16th of May, with Gold Coast hosting the Geelong footy club at their second home and the country’s most northern capital, at Darwin’s TIO Stadium.
An opportunity to celebrate and recognise the enormous contribution that Indigenous and First Nations people have contributed to our great game, SDNR will span over Rounds 10 and 11, with the traditional Dreamtime fixture occurring in the second week.
Each club have released an indigenous guernsey which will be used across the two rounds, with six clubs changing their names for the round with Naarm (Melbourne), Waalitj Marawar (West Coast), Yartapuulti (Port Adelaide), Walyalup (Fremantle) and Euro-Yroke (St Kilda) rebranding over the two weeks. That culminates with Sherrin once again rebranding from the iconic name, to have Koethuka Kakur printed onto the ball, designed by proud Kusu man of the Saibai and Waiben Islands Ben Davies, and translates to ‘ball’ in the Kalaw Kawaw Ya dialect.
Round 10 has an important test for the Swans as they host Carlton on Gadigal land in a game between two powerhouses. Carlton needs to win to avoid dropping out of the top 8 with almost half the season being played. Collingwood face a resurgent Kuwarna who with a win, would close the gap with the pies for the final finals spot.
Round 11 sees Walyalup face the Pies in another test for Collingwood against a team within touching distance of their finals spot, with a win for the reigning premiers creating a gap. The round also sees a potential grand final match up, with GMHBA Stadium on Wadawurrung land hosting Geelong and GWS, with both teams coming off surprise losses in round 9, they will want to avoid another loss to secure a top 4 spot.
Sir Doug Nicholls Round runs from Thursday May 16th to Sunday May 26th, and football fans are able to check out the SDNR range here, which includes the Kathuka Kakur game ball, with proceeds of sales going to the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA).