Walyalup (Fremantle) great Jeff Farmer's journey through football on display as Indigenous jumper unvieled

West Australian

13-05-2025

He was one of the AFL's and Walyalup's (Fremantle) most exciting small forwards of all time, and he's back in the spotlight with Jeff Farmer's football journey behind the Dockers' latest Indigenous jumper.
Affectionally known as the wizard, Farmer played 131 games for Walyalup after returning home from Melbourne, kicking 224 goals and now with the help of his family in Father Jeff Farmer Snr, Mother Iris and in collaboration with Roger Hayden wants to tell his story through this design.
His journey his referenced with the three meeting places across the bottom of the jumper, starting in his hometown, Tambellup, before branching out to Naarm (Melbourne) and Walyalup (Fremantle).
'The main idea was to keep it really simple and tie everything into where I'm from - Tambellup, the Great Southern - and then tell a bit of a story about my journey, both personally and through football,' Farmer said.
'To put something out there that, year to year, generation to generation, our family can see and hear - this story that ties my life, my footy life and then obviously the combination of being able to play at Fremantle.'
The jumper features the red, green and white colours of the original jumper Farmer wore on debut while also referencing the Palinup, Kalgan and Gordon-Frankland Rivers, which run through Goreng, Menang and Kaniyang Noongar Country in the Great Southern region.
'The 3 rivers run through the tribal lands of Kaniyang, Menang and Goreng… so being able to link that up felt really important,' Farmer said.
'The water system is a major player, especially for fresh water for our tribes back in the day, and our tribes pretty much followed those water systems, rivers and lakes.
'Not only for drinking water but also for the food sources they attracted like fish, turtles, ducks, kangaroos, emus and lizards. That's how our people survived for thousands of years.'
However, perhaps the jumper's most striking feature is the addition of two Djiti-Djitis (Willie Wagtails).
One represents Farmer's childhood town, Tambellup, which features Djiti-Djitis on its entrance sign, while the second represents Noongar stories and symbolises how he was guided to the AFL.
'The stories we were told - that the Djiti-Djiti is an eavesdropping sort of bird,' Farmer said.
'I tie that in with my own story: dreaming as a little boy in Tambellup about playing in the big league, and these birds overheard those dreams.
'If you ever watch those birds, you're almost mesmerised and put in a bit of a trance by how they move. They seem to be dancing, which draws you in and makes you want to follow.
'I put them in there as birds that heard me over speaking about my dream and then them guiding me over to meeting places.'
Like last year's design, the jumper includes the name of every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander player to have ever been listed at the Club, with its newest member, Shai Bolton on hand to show off the design.
'The two big things here are the seven players - or as I call them, the seven brothers -Roger Hayden, Troy Cook, Steven Koops, Antoni Grover, Des Headland, Dion Woods and myself, standing on probably the most iconic landmark of the Great Southern: the Stirling Ranges and Bluff Knoll,' Farmer said.
'We're standing on the peak of Bluff Knoll - proud. It's a landmark in history with the number of Indigenous players we had.
'On the back I really wanted to make sure that that history continued. We were able to make sure that any male or female that represented the Fremantle Football Club, their name was put up here.'
Fremantle will be known as Walyalup for Sir Doug Nicholls Round.