Geelong and Port Adelaide will kick off the Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round at Simonds Stadium on Thursday night.

The Cats will be wearing a special guernsey created by local indigenous artist Nathan Patterson, which tells the story of the region and the Wathaurong people.

“I really wanted to do something that spoke to the traditional custodians of the land, the Wathaurong people and I wanted to make it community focused too so it was something supporters can get behind,” Patterson said.

Patterson, who has also designed Indigenous guernseys for Essendon, Collingwood and Richmond in the past, said his design has strong links to the Geelong landscape.

“I wanted to make it Geelong focused so that people that saw it recognised the landmarks in the design, so I’ve added the You Yangs, the Barwon River and Corio Bay,” Patterson said.

“The centre piece represents a meeting place.

“In the circle is a silhouette of the You Yangs, below the mountains is the Barwon River which flows into the ocean.

“Behind the You Yangs is the rising sun, representing Kardinia Park, which in Waddawurrung language means “the first ray of light.”

Tomorrow night, a live Welcome to Country will be performed pre-game by Corrina Eccles, a traditional Wadawurrung woman and custodian along with the Deadly Dancers.

Former Geelong player Mathew Stokes will ring the historic Kardinia Park bell as the players enter the arena and local Indigenous artists from the Wada Nyooroo cultural art program will form a guard of honour to welcome the Cats onto the ground.

This cultural art program, sponsored by Barwon Water, allows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to connect with the community through art and storytelling.

The students will showcase bollards which they have painted as a part of the program. In June, these will be installed permanently in an Indigenous garden at the club. 

Geelong captain Joel Selwood and Port Adelaide captain Travis Boak will be accompanied to the coin toss by an Indigenous teammate who will then take part in an exchange of traditional gifts.

Indigenous children from the Geelong and Barwon South-West region will take to the field to compete in an Auskick game at half-time.

The Cats proudly have five Indigenous players on the club’s 2017 playing list - Steven Motlop, Nakia Cockatoo, Quinton Narkle, Brandan Parfitt and Jamaine Jones.