“Marlion’s Story” launched as Richmond’s 12^th Dreamtime jumper

Marlion Pickett together with his partner Jessica Nannup have designed Richmond’s 2022 Dreamtime guernsey, to be worn against Essendon for the return of Dreamtime at the 'G.

The story on the PUMA-made jumper represents Marlion, Jessica and their young family moving from Perth to Melbourne for the start of their Richmond journey and pays tribute to each Indigenous player at the Club.

Marlion’s family totem, The Kaarak, a red-tailed black cockatoo is represented as flying on the design, to signify the families move across Australia.

Fittingly, the jumper will be worn as the Dreamtime game itself departs Noongar Boodjar Country in Perth, to Naarm on Wurundjeri Country in Melbourne for the first Dreamtime at the ‘G since 2019.

The Kaarak is seen flying across Perth’s Swan River on the jumper, representing where Marlion and Jessica’s ancestors fought.

Noongar culture is especially important to Richmond, with Pickett and his teammates Matthew Parker, Shai Bolton and Sydney Stack all having family ties to its customs and traditions.

The large circle on the sash of the jumper represents the places Marlion and family now call home- Punt Road Oval and Richmond, the football club, and the MCG which are the “meeting places” of the Indigenous brothers at the Club today.

The players are illustrated as warriors at the bottom of the jumper and their different journeys to Richmond from all around Australia are displayed in the yellow sash, highlighting the football club as a central place where each can connect, share stories, and play football.

Dreamtime at the ‘G is a platform for the Club to strengthen connections and celebrate Indigenous culture at a national level. In the past 10 years 772,000 people have attended the game and over 10 million have watched on TV.

The 2022 clash will be the first played in Melbourne since 2019, after the game was relocated to Perth and Darwin in recent years due to the pandemic. The highly anticipated return to the MCG will be the 16^th occasion the game has been played at the iconic venue.

Indigenous Richmond players represented on the design:

Shane Edwards (Arrernte)

Daniel Rioli (Tiwi Islands)

Maurice Rioli Junior (Tiwi Islands)

Matthew Parker (Noongar/Yuet)

Shai Bolton (Noongar)

Sydney Stack (Noongar)

Marlion Pickett (Noongar)

Rhyan Mansell (Palawa)

_{The design elements used in this guernsey represent the cultural beliefs of the artist and their community. We acknowledge and respect the many cultural differences between our players and thank them for wearing this design during Sir Doug Nicholls Round.}