Recognising the Indigenous Round
The NRL celebrated the Indigenous round last night in show-stopping fashion with a double-header at Suncorp Stadium in front of a sold-out crowd.
52,347 excited fans flocked to the Queensland caldron to witness the first double-header in five years between three of the top four sides in the competition.
The round 10 fixtures also honoured the Indigenous round, which celebrates the recognition of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and players, with more than 130 NRL players representing their culture.
Former Brisbane Broncos captain, Queensland Origin great and Indigenous representative player, Justin Hodges, believes it was essential to highlight the Indigenous round and make it something that is recognised in Australian sport.
“If you look at most of the Indigenous boys, they really, really are talented athletes and to be accepted in today’s society as a sportsmen and professional athletes that’s an absolute blessing,” he said.
“They had the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people dancing and they obviously had the boys wearing the Indigenous heritage round jerseys,” he said.
“People got to speak, people had to listen to what the ‘R’ meant, obviously the Recognise and all for the Indigenous people trying to get recognised in the Australian constitution,” he said.
“It’s not just about the Indigenous, it’s about the non-Indigenous people too, coming along and accepting it and also watching, trying to learn our culture and watch our culture,” he said.
“If you look at the players that we have in the game at the moment, we have some of the best players in the world, if you look at Johnathan Thurston, Greg Inglis and Sam Thaiday and all these guys, they’re big role models and that’s why the kids want to play rugby league,” he said.
Manager of Marketing and Communications at the Brisbane Broncos, Stephen Buckley, suggests that it is important to have a strong affiliation with Indigenous communities, especially with the club having a significant number of Indigenous players in its 28-year history.
“Whenever the Indigenous round comes by, we always put effort into promoting that on our website and social media,” he said.
“It’s hard to judge the impact because a lot of people get swept up in the game on the night, especially with having a double header, so I tend to think that the power comes in the lead up week to that game and sharing the stories on our website and social media,” he said.
“The Indigenous round double header was a bigger game and it got more attention but I think the games were so exciting that it was hard for people to celebrate the Indigenous round and there is nothing wrong with enjoying a game of rugby league or enjoying a game of sport,” he said.