Weekly Times |
SHEARERS, woolgrowers, agents and studmasters are uniting to celebrate the rich heritage connecting the wool industry and Australian Football.
The idea for our native game came to Tom Wills while on his pastoralist father’s sheep station, Lexington, near Moyston in Victoria in the mid-19th century.
Since that time the wool industry and football have been closely knitted together.
From placing the natural fibre into football supporter gear to country football wool blend ‘MerinoPerform’ playing tops, the wool industry has been a huge part of AFL.
To celebrate the connection between the wool-growing community and football Australian Wool Innovation has compiled images and stories for a video, launched at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show.
AWI partnered with The Football Almanac to collect imagery and stories of woollen football jumpers along with nominations for the Ultimate Wool Team for those who have contributed significantly to both wool and football.
Those already nominated for the Ultimate Wool Team include woolclasser Anthony Daniher, from Sydney and Essendon, indigenous shearers Phil and Jim Krakouer, from North Melbourne, and Merino studmaster Ross Ditchburn, from Carlton.