All-Aboriginal Rugby League Teams

Sean Fagan of RL1908.com

A few critics of the NRL's All-Stars game (2010) have pointed towards the bringing together of an Aboriginal team as some sort of reverse racism.

Such a stance ignores that "All Aboriginal" teams have long been a part of rugby league, and that these sides were not borne of exclusion, but of Aboriginal footballers wanting to play the game with and against each other.

Barambah "All Aboriginal" team of the 1930s Dozens of All-Aboriginal teams were formed across NSW and Queensland in the 1920s and 30s. [Image courtesy of State Library of Queensland]

In the first half of the 20th century the greatest impediment to Aboriginals playing rugby league was not the code and access to clubs, but government controls that restricted the free movement of Indigenous Australians - most Aboriginals were forced to live in "Reserves" and "Mission stations."

Cherbourg's Frank Fisher (grandfather of Olympic gold medallist Cathy Freeman) was a particularly fine footballer of the 1930s. Playing at five-eighth, 'King' Fisher starred in representative teams for Wide Bay in 1932 and 1936 against touring Great Britain teams.

After the 1936 match, in which Fisher scored a great try, the Lions' captain Gus Risman is reputed to have declared that Fisher was the best individual player his team had encountered on the whole of the tour. So impressed was Risman that he promised have his home club (Salford) send out a contract offer to Fisher as soon as he returned home to England.

The contract from Salford duly arrived, but Fisher was refused permission by the Queensland Government's "Protector of Aborigines" to leave. It was suggested that as the famous Aboriginal cricketer Eddie Gilbert had already been given leave from Cherbourg, Fisher's request was rejected by authorities reluctant to approve another, and then be faced with an avalanche of men wanting to pursue opportunities in cricket and rugby league.

Fisher played all his football with the Barambah (Cherbourg) Mission team, just one of the dozens of All-Aboriginal teams that were formed in the 1920s and '30s far and wide - amongst the many across NSW and Queensland were sides in Condobilin, Moree, Sydney, Tweed Heads, Beaudesert and as far north as the tiny Palm Island community near Townsville. The most favoured team nicknames were "Boomerangs" and "All Blacks."

Despite their confinement and the hardships it brought, it was recognised by many within the Aboriginal communities themselves that the playing of sport could provide some positives. With traditional activities of hunting, battles (both real and games) and ceremony denied to them by government authorities, much of the skills and sentiment were transferred to playing sport, particularly rugby league - elements of which mirrored the Indigenous ball-passing and running game variously known through parts of NSW and much of Queensland as 'Purru' or 'Buroinjin'.

With time on their hands, the Mission leaders had the men undertake training for rugby league every day, with hour long sessions each morning and afternoon. Understandably, this did much to raise the fitness and combination of the teams.

The Mission sides regularly played against each other, with many travelling to nearby towns to take on the local clubs or touring teams from the city. Some of the All-Aboriginal teams became highly sought after opponents, taking bookings weeks ahead. Eventually, many of these All-Aboriginal teams became part of local club competitions.

In 1933 the Gabba ground in Brisbane hosted a match between Mission teams from Barambah and Woorabinda for what was billed as "the Aboriginal Championship of rugby league." With more than 5,000 fans cheering the teams on, Frank Fisher's Barambah men won this high-scoring and entertaining game 37-26.

In 1973 the desire for Aboriginal teams to play against each other led to the founding of the annual NSW Aboriginal Knockout Carnival. Now recognised as more than a gathering of football teams, the tournament serves as a strong community service as a giant gathering, or as it has been called, "a big rugby league corroborree." The Carnival is the largest annual social meeting of Indigenous Australians.

In February 1973 the first Aboriginal representative team (chosen from players in NSW, Queensland and the Northern Territory) toured new Zealand under the captaincy of Penrith's Ron Mason - the team won seven of their nine matches. All-Aboriginal teams also played in the Pacific Cup in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The 1996 World Sevens tournament in Sydney saw the inclusion of the Aboriginal "Dream Team" under the captaincy of Manly's Cliff Lyons. Later that year an "Australian Aboriginals" team toured Great Britain. In 1999 Lyons was part of the Aboriginal team that played 2 games against the Papua New Guinea 'Kumuls'.

The 2008 World Cup was opened with a preliminary match between an All-Aboriginal team (chosen from NRL clubs) against the New Zealand Maori. The pre-match exchange of war dances culminated in a tense stand-off that exemplified the passion held by both sides. It made the next step obvious - the time had come for an All-Aboriginal team to take on the best of the NRL's rest.