SATURDAY’S NAIDOC Round will take on special significance for Woorinen’s Arnold Kirby, with the proud Wamba Wamba man having an extra reason to celebrate his ancestry with the recent birth of his first child.
Along with partner Baylee, Kirby welcomed his first child Archie into the world just two weeks ago, and the 27-year old is quickly settling into family life.
As the years pass, Kirby will look forward to sharing his family’s stories with young Archie.
For Saturday, it will be with his teammates and the wider public that Kirby looks forward to celebrating his heritage with, when Woorinen host Nyah-Nyah Wets United as part of the Central Murray’s NAIDOC Round celebrations.
“(NAIDOC Round) means a fair bit to me, you get to play footy with your family and mob, but more importantly we’re able to get exposure for all the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander boys and girls that play footy and sport in general,” Kirby told The Guardian this week.
“It’s an ideal way to celebrate our heritage and it’s a good base to bring everyone in our community together.
“It means a lot to me being Aboriginal and being able to pass on not only my stories, but also my family’s stories for future generations – that’s very important for our mob.
“NAIDOC Round is one way we can help share our stories, especially with the footy jumpers and the special designs, which allow people to tell their stories and give people a better understanding of where we come from.
“It’s always an honour to put on a footy jumper for any club, but it’s extra special when one of your brother boys has designed it.
“To learn their story and know where they’ve come from, and for them to express themselves in that way, it’s a real honour.”
The Tigers last year played in jumpers designed by Caylan Lyons.
This year they will play in the club’s original NAIDOC Round jumpers that were designed by former club champion Maurice Day.
It won’t be the first time Kirby has played in the Day-designed jumper, but it will be his first time for a couple of seasons, having returned to play with Woorinen this year after plying his trade with Sebastopol in the Ballarat Football Netball League last year.
With young Archie on his way, it was an easy decision for Kirby to return to play with the Tigers, the club where he said he felt most comfortable.
“It’s good to be back at Woorinen, it’s a real family club and everyone makes you feel really welcome,” he said.
“With Archie having arrived, the club have been really supportive of me and my partner Baylee as well, which made it a really easy decision to return.”
Although Woorinen started the season as one of the teams to beat, Saturday’s match against NNW United, who they co-incidentally hosted in last year’s NAIDOC Round, shapes as a season-defining one following losses to Tooleybuc-Manangatang and the Mallee Eagles.
Those results have left the perennial finalists precariously placed in fifth position and at risk of falling out of the five.
Kirby acknowledged his team’s need to get the job done.
“It’s a massive game for us, and whether we win or lose, it will nearly decide our season,” Kirby said.
“We’ve put ourselves in a bit of a predicament having lost our last couple of games, but those results also show how tight the competition is and that anyone can beat anyone on their day this year.
“We just have to start playing our best footy and we need to start doing it this week.
“(NNW United) are always a challenge and I’m sure there will be plenty of feeling in the game, especially with ‘Nicko’ (Nick O’Neill) and ‘Murph’ (Jason Murphy) over there and with them having knocked our boys out of the finals last year.”
