Aaron Naughton and Caleb Daniel are among the Western Bulldogs stars who will wear boots hand-painted by Redan footballer and Wurundjeri-Yorta Yorta man Cooper Craig-Peters for their clash with the Gold Coast Suns at Mars Stadium on Saturday.
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Craig-Peters plays for the Bulldogs' VFL side, giving him the insight to craft designs specific to each player.
"I play with Charlie Parker through the VFL and know the way he plays is very emu-ess, so I put on some emu footprints," Craig-Peters explained.
"Caleb Daniel is pretty fundamental to the team - he's great with connecting with his feet, so his boots feature the river connecting to a lot of campsites.
"Aaron Naughton is in the air a lot, so I put boomerangs and some dotting on his to represent space, while Bailey Dale's have kangaroo feet because he's a powerful player.
"Cody Weightman's have flags on the tip of the boots to represent the flag being freed."
Kirby Bentley, a proud Noongar woman and Bulldogs VFLW coach, has also hand-painted boots that the Bulldogs will wear as a way of further recognising Sir Doug Nicholls Round.
The Bulldogs will wear a guernsey designed by former player Lindsay Gilbee, featuring reflections of his family history and the Boandik people of Mt Gambier.
On the front of the guernsey, the middle features the Blue Lake (Waawar), with people gathering along its banks.
Below that are the footsteps of the traditional owners as they move across waterholes gathering fresh water from the limestone coast.
The three gum leaves represent connection to Country, while the boomerangs and spears symbolise traditional hunting practices with kangaroo, emu and goanna tracks.
The back of the guernsey depicts three meeting places, which represent Gilbee's family, community and the club, while the possum footprints represent his totem, with gum leaves.
The guernseys will be auctioned off after the game with proceeds going towards Indigenous community programs.
Ballarat will also be the stage for history, with Adam Treloar set to play his 200th AFL match on Saturday.
Treloar said running out onto Mars Stadium with two-year-old daughter Georgie will be the proudest moment of his career.
"Georgie's never been on an AFL oval with me, so she's going to come down (from Queensland) and run through the banner with me on Saturday which will probably be my proudest moment," he said.
"There might be a few tears here and there because my family will be there in the crowd too. It might be a bit cold for Georgie down in Ballarat, but I'm extremely excited to have her run out with me."
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