A lifetime Collingwood supporter, Mick was beyond happy to create the design for the 2018 Sir Douglas Nicholls Indigenous Round jumper.
Story of Design by Mick Harding
“The Magpies have got a great song. I liken it to sort of a modern day opera or rock and roll band. They’ve got a beautiful song," Harding explained.
"And all the other surrounding stuff around it represents the possum-skin cloak. Our people have been wearing possum-skin cloaks for thousands of years. I used to make marngrooks out of the possum skins. It’s about our identity and about sharing that with everyone else in the community.
I suppose I didn’t really need a lot of inspiration, being a mad Collingwood supporter since I was a little boy."
Hailing from Gippsland, Harding is a proud Taungwurrung man. As a keen cultural heritage ambassador, his experience includes sitting on the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council, Native Title Services Victoria board and his own Taungwurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation.
Harding said, "When I create something I express my cultural integrity in place, be respectful of interpretation of my culture, and try to share my story as a Taungwurrung Kulin (Aboriginal man from my traditional country)."
You can listen to Mick talking to Travis Varcoe about the design of the jumper
below on Seven Sport.
Mick was excited that the design was also used for the first netball dress for the Collingwood Magpies Netball Team for Netball Australia’s inaugural Indigenous Round, which was held across Round 10 of Suncorp Super Netball (SSN).
You can listen below to Mick talking to Sharni Leyton about the design on the dress.
He also created designs on some of the players football boots as seen below including Steele Sidebottom, Will Hoskin-Elliott, Mason Cox, Jack Crisp and Taylor Adams Photos by AFL photos
We were also excited to have Brodie Mihocek
wear our jumper for his first AFL game.
Some match highlights to watch on You Tube - here