There was a beautiful moment during the 2022 Origin Energy Premier League First Nations Round when the Panthers met the Sutherland Stingrays pre-game to present them with a Message Stick before their game at Netball Central.
It was an exchange which came after careful consideration. The Panthers wanted to ensure the moment had its due respect.
“The Panthers Board had discussed First Nations Round early this year,” Jenny Walker says.
“The Board wanted not just a token moment on the night but rather an authentic time from the teams acknowledging First Nations.
“The Panthers Board felt it was important that we had time with the players and coaches to build an understanding of Reconciliation and Country.
“With players who come from Country it was a focus of the Board to recognise the importance of their family and heritage.”
Message Sticks are a form of communication used traditionally by Aboriginal People to send messages between Nations, Clans, Language Groups, and even within Clans.
The message on the stick read: “From Darug Land we bring this message to you from Dharawal Land. This message stick is given to you during National Reconciliation Week 2022”.
“This was to recognise Reconciliation Week and to acknowledge the Lands each team came from and a start to have meaningful recognition of First Nations Round, culture, histories and Acknowledgement of the past and working towards Reconciliation,” Walker added.
For the Panthers, it was not about tokenism, but a way of embracing the theme of Reconciliation Week: Be Brave. Make Change.
“The captain of our Opens team and players read out the message that was about Reconciliation.
“The team were proud to be involved and it had meaning to the actions, not just tokenistic:
“Through mutual respect and shared understanding, Reconciliation can live in the hearts, minds and actions of us all on the netball courts and in our lives.
“So, let us Be Brave to tackle the unfinished business of Reconciliation so that we can
“Make Positive Change to achieve Reconciliation for all Australians.”
