Worimi artist Gerard Black was standing on a beach with his pop, elder Uncle John Ridgeway, when it came to him.
"I could just see the water in front of me, the sand, the land and the sky coming up over the hills and the mountains," he said.
"That alone sparked the idea of having a design that connected to all of those things, and connected to all of the spirit and the culture within the region."
Mr Black's design will be worn by the Newcastle Knights NRL team, when they run onto Gumbaynggirr land, Coffs Harbour, against the Cronulla Sharks this afternoon.
"What you see on that jersey is, when I'm standing in the sand at that moment with my toes in the sand, and I'm looking out, that's how I see it," he explained.
"I see how everything interconnects with one another in an ancient sense, from an ancestors before us and how it follows through today.
"How my uncles and aunties and my pop represent culture, and for future generations within myself, and me passing it on to my little ones."
Thirteen totems, thirteen nations
Mr Black's home nation, the lands of the Worimi people, expands over parts of the New South Wales Central Coast and Hunter Valley.
His design for the Knights' kit includes the dolphin tail Worimi totem, alongside the totems of twelve other nearby Indigenous nations.
Gerard said representing Indigenous peoples from the Central Coast up to the Queensland border, where Knights fans were abundant, was important to him.
"I know how important our totem is to us and that connection that it has," he said.
"I can relate and feel what the other nations would feel with that connection with their totem as well, so I tried to have that same passion and that same level of respect, as I designed each one of their totems.
"Everyone's represented, everyone's respected.
"And you can feel, like with our totems, that's a piece of our soul and our spirit connected to that. Our spirits are part of the jersey."
Gumbaynggirr showdown
The NRL's Indigenous round kicked off on Thursday, with the Panthers beating the Broncos on the lands of the Yuggera and Turrbal people, in Queensland.
The Knights and Sharks will take their clash to regional New South Wales, with the game to be played on Gumbaynggirr land in Coffs Harbour.
Knights fullback Lachie Miller grew up in Coffs Harbour and said it was incredible to play at home in such an special round.
"It makes you feel like you really want to play for that jersey … it's really important to us to play for everyone," he said.
Knights centre Dane Gagai, a Torres Strait Islander man, said the round was one of the most important on the calendar.
"It's important not only for the players and the fans, but just for the culture and acknowledging the traditional owners and myself being Torres Strait Islander, acknowledging that I'm on Aboriginal land," he said.
"I've got a lot of proud Indigenous Aboriginal mates and to be able to wear this jersey is something massive."
Mr Black hopes the team feels the power of the story he has told in the jersey's design.
"[It's about] capturing that story and giving the player something to be proud of, giving the community something to be proud of as well and feeling represented," he said.
"There's a lot to capture there, but I hope I've done it beautifully and everybody loves it — and the Knights go out and feel that energy that it's got inside it"
