Pietsch of a jersey: The special meaning behind the Waratahs Culture Round design

NSW Waratahs winger Dylan Pietsch is excited to see his designs come to life when they take the field on Friday against the Highlanders.

Pietsch combined both loves for Culture Round, with the jersey celebrating the 18 First Nations players to pull on the sky blue jersey for the Waratahs.

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"It's really cool to be able to design a jersey for such a prestigious team and to be a part of it as well (in the starting side) is pretty cool," he told reporters.

"The main focus I had is around connection. We build a lot of our team environment around it and the connection with each other and the program.

"I’ve been really focused on that ands trying to emulate that in my artwork.

"I’ve been doing this for about a year so it's pretty cool to do it for the Waratahs."

Pietsch started his own Indigenous art company 'Wulwaay' last year, with the art mirroring his strong connection to his Wiradjuri heritage.

He has done boots in the past as well as some junior clubs, along with looking after the design for the Junior Wallabies jersey for 2023.

"I’ve been painting since I was a little kid and it's become a real passion of mine outside of Rugby," he said.

"I really enjoy just putting on some music and having a canvas there and paint. It started out as a love and then it was like ‘let's see how it goes’ and it's gone really well.

"...It's pretty cool to be able to do a second job I suppose which is fun. Both are fun but this one is a lot more peaceful (laughs)."

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The design for the Waratahs jersey took about ten hours done digitally, with some of the work on canvas taking close to two months to complete.

A key aspect of the jersey is the inclusion of the names of the 18 First Nations players inside the numbers, adding to the connection for Pietsch.

"It is really cool to reflect on the numbers as well," he added.

"You have Cecil Ramalli who is the first First Nations Wallaby so to have him there is pretty cool. To have your name close to him is special.

"It's special to see how many Indigenous players have played for the Tahs…the Waratahs have seemed to have a lot of really good Indigenous players in their space so to be a part of that is pretty cool.

"My name is right next to Triston Reilly who is one of my best mates which is also pretty cool to have as well."