Mypolonga Anzac guernsey pays tribute to the community’s veterans
The Tigers have taken to the field wearing stylish new threads, interwoven with meaning, during the RMFL’s Anzac Round in 2025.
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When Mypolonga’s footballers ran out onto Karoonda Memorial Oval on Saturday, they did so with 110 years of Anzac history hanging on their shoulders.
The club’s new Anzac Round guernsey, presented to players at training on Thursday night, pays tribute to the district’s military veterans.
The design features poppies covering the Tigers’ usual gold sash, a symbol of remembrance; the silhouette of an Australian serviceman; and, on the back, the words “lest we forget”.
Most poignantly, listed on the front of the guernsey are the names of all the men from Mypolonga who have served their country in wartime.
Club president Jason Stewart said the project – a collaboration between the football club and Mypolonga RSL – had been years in the making.
“To see it on the players, running around on the ground, is just massive satisfaction,” he said.
“Like I said to the players … they might not know many of the names, or any of the names, on the guernsey, but those families will be there at the games and they know what it means.”
He was particularly proud that the RSL’s financial support had allowed the club to create a design which did not need to have any other sponsor logos on it.
“It’s purely about respect and recognition,” he said.
“It’s about spreading a message, not making money.”
The guernsey will also be reversible, with an Indigenous design on the inside intended to be worn during the River Murray Football League’s First Nations round.
Mypo will have a bye in that round this year.
Mr Stewart thanked David Gotch at Intersport for liaising with the manufacturer to get the guernseys made.
Medal will honour Llewellyn family
Continuing another Anzac Round tradition in the RMFL, the medal for the best player on the ground in Mypo’s match against Mallee Districts will be presented with a medal in honour of a local serviceman.
This year’s edition will honour Alwyn “Rasty” Pearce Llewellyn, who served during World War II.
Born in 1920, he began playing football with Mypolonga at the age of 17, was named the association’s most improved junior player the next year, and won A grade premierships in 1938 and 1939.
When the war broke out, he joined the Australian Army and served for three years with the 2/9th Field Regiment in the Middle East and South East Asia.
After hostilities ceased, he returned home, married Margery McCulloch and settled on a dairy farm at Monteith and returned to football with the local club, winning the Mail Medal as the association’s best and fairest player in 1946.
Monteith dropped back into the B grade competition in 1948 but won the next four premierships at that level, with “Rasty” named B grade best and fairest and leading goal kicker in 1950.
He finished his playing career back at Mypolonga, where he won one more B grade flag, after his family moved to another farm there.
Mr Llewellyn’s son Don, a former player, and grandson-in-law Simon Peacock, the president of Mypolonga RSL, were both on hand at the footy clubrooms for the guernsey presentation on Thursday night.
The club presented Mr Peacock with a guernsey in recognition of the RSL’s support.
Items associated with Mr Llewellyn’s service will remain on display at the Mypolonga Combined Sports Club for the next week, including at the next Saturday home game against Mannum, so that community members can take a look, and take pride in the service he gave to the nation.
Mypolonga’s footballers and netballers took on Mallee Districts at Karoonda Memorial Oval on Saturday.
