The 20th instalment of Dreamtime is here!
This Saturday, the 25th of May is the 20th instalment of the Dreamtime game between Essendon and Richmond. The game is a celebration of Indigenous culture within Australian Rules Football, and the MCG turns into a canvas that represents Indigenous and Torress Straight artwork.
The first contest, played during NAIDOC Week in 2005, ended in a 26-point win for Richmond. Including the first game, Richmond leads 12 to 7 in all Dreamtime games.
The winning team is awarded the Kevin Sheedey Trophy, named after the legend Essendon Coach, who was instrumental in the creation of the game, as he saw it as a platform to honour Indigenous players around the league. In 2006, they introduced the Yiooken award, awarded to the best player during Dreamtime. Yiooken (pronounced yie-yoo-ken) is a word from the Woiwurrung language, meaning ‘dreaming’.
The first contest, played during NAIDOC Week in 2005, ended in a 26 point win for Richmond. Including the first game, Richmond leads 12 to 7 in all Dreamtime games. Last year Essendon broke a streak of 8 in a row for the tiges, and will now be wanting to start of a streak of their own, against a struggling Richmond outfit, hurting after a 119 point loss against Brisbane. Essnedon however, are sitting second and will be dreaming of breaking their finals curse.
Dustin Martin is the only player to have multiple Yiooken medals, winning the award in 2016 and 2017, joining legendary names such as Hird, Cotchin and Watson, and Indigenous stars in Shai Bolten and Shane Edwards in winning the award.
This year Essendon and Richmond will be playing with the “Koethuka Kakur” which is replacing the Iconic Sherrin for the second weekend in a row. Proud Torres Strait Island artist Ben Davis is the creator of the 2024 Sir Doug Nicholls Round Game Ball. The name of this piece is ‘Connection’, symbolic of the connection within football and Indigenous cultures. Proceeds from our 2024 SDNR range will be donated to Ben’s charity of choice; Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA)
The 2024 Sir Doug Nicholls Round range is available here.
