SUNDAY was a memorable day for Narrm’s Lily Mithen.
Not only did the long-time Demon celebrate 50 games in the red and blue but she ended the day with an important post-match moment.
Mithen was awarded the club’s JoogBoo Birlirre Award which is presented to the Demon deemed best afield during the AFLW’s Indigenous Round.
The award was first introduced in season six by former Demon Krstel Petrevski and the club’s Indigenous Projects Officer Matthew Whelan.
This year’s award was an artwork designed by Emma Bamblett, a proud Indigenous woman of the Wemba Wemba, Gunditjmara, Ngadjonji and Taungurung mobs.
The piece depicts the importance of women in the game of AFL. The curved symbols throughout the artwork represent women and their role within the team and their leadership within the game.
The circles connecting with the straight line represent community and coming together. The curved lines with the red dots and the green sections with lines represent their powerful influence for young women in the community.
The coolamons placed throughout represent nurturing and caring.
The JoogBoo Birlirre Award has now become a much-loved tradition among Narrm’s AFLW program and will continue to be celebrated in future seasons as a way to acknowledge both the club's Indigenous history and the talent across the team.
Mithen was presented with the artwork following a standout performance in her milestone match collecting a game-high 23 disposals, 16 kicks and seven tackles.
For the duration of AFLW Indigenous Round, the Demons will be rebranded as the Narrm Football Club. Narrm is the Aboriginal name for Melbourne which comes from the Woi Wurrung language, spoken by the traditional owners of the city and its surrounds.
