The Richmond Football Club will wear its 2015 Dreamtime guernsey in Friday night’s clash with Hawthorn at the MCG, in support of Adam Goodes and the Indigenous community more broadly.
“This Club values diversity, and given the events surrounding Adam Goodes recently, the Club felt it timely to restate that commitment publicly by wearing our Dreamtime jumper against Hawthorn,” said Richmond CEO Brendon Gale.
“We want to support Adam Goodes, who has been a wonderful ambassador for our game and his people. The vast majority of football fans acknowledge and respect that fact.
“More broadly, our game has done a lot to build understanding and respect, and it is important we take a stand when we think that is at risk of being eroded. Our leadership group felt strongly enough about it to wear the Dreamtime jumper on Friday night.”
The Club would like to commend its official apparel partner, BLK, for supplying the new set of guernseys at short notice, for this Friday’s match.
The Richmond Football Club makes a significant investment into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth, through the Korin Gamadji Institute based at Punt Road Oval.
The Club’s commitment has been recognised by Reconciliation Australia, who recently promoted the Club’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) to Elevate status – making it one of only eight organisations across Australia to be recognised for its leadership in such a way.
“Our Club has worked hard over a long period of time in partnership with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. We simply weren’t prepared to be a bystander on this issue, and Friday night allows us to ensure that isn’t the case,” Gale said.
“We would also encourage our fans to wear their Dreamtime guernseys that the Club has developed over the past five years, as a show of support.”
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said the broad football community had become tired of the treatment of Adam Goodes.
“I played against him and I have coached against him, and he has given our game extraordinary service,” Hardwick said.
“We have all had enough, and I’m pleased our Club will make an important statement on Friday night.”
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