Demons to adopt Narrm change
MELBOURNE Football Club will adopt its traditional Indigenous name for two rounds in a move players believe will prompt important conversations.
The Demons will be known as Narrm Football Club in a shift to the Indigenous name for Melbourne this month, with the club’s AFL Women’s outfit to also play as Narrm in its Indigenous round.
Premiership defender and Indigenous Demon Steven May said he was “extremely proud” of the initiative, which will see an entire rebrand of all club logos and jumpers for rounds 10 and 11 for the league’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round recognition.
“It’s something I never really thought was going to happen,” May said. “Just to be recognised during those two rounds is always special for our friends and family back home … to be called an Indigenous name like Narrm for the couple of weeks is really special.
“It’s a great initiative by the footy club.”
May, who hails from Larrakia land in the Northern Territory, said “we’ve come a long way” to be embarking on such a shift, which he hopes prompts further conversation and education around Indigenous culture.
“Just the awareness that it brings … there’ll be little kids here, watching us play and asking their parents what the name means,” he said.
“That’ll start conversations, and the flow-on effect from that is huge. The only way we can get better with education is through teaching and raising awareness, so this is another step along the way to help fasttrack that.”
Club chief executive Gary Pert said the “very big step” to rename the Demons as the Narrm Football Club would raise both awareness and “debate”, but he said the entire branding shift was a significant step in the club’s history.
“It’s an exciting announcement … something that we haven’t done before,” Pert said.
“This is all about creating awareness and creating the conversation. Maybe even debate. I’m sure there’ll be some people that love the idea of us taking Narrm – the Indigenous word for Melbourne and a word that’s been used for thousands of years by the indigenous communities of this region.”
Players from both teams will wear a jumper designed by young artist Ky-ya Nicholson Ward, which depicts Bunjil, Wurundjeri’s creator spirit in the form of a wedge-tailed eagle, Birrarung – or the Yarra River – Boorimul (emu) footprints and the names of past and present Indigenous Demons players.
The club also consulted with the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation in relation to the rebranding, given Narrm can also be spelled Naarm.
Club great Aaron Davey travelled from Cairns to launch the move, which Pert said had been in motion for two years.