Festivals such as the Murri Carnival and the Koori Knockout provide a chance to reaffirm connection to community, but also offer players a career stepping stone

Every spring, as September draws to a close and the NRL grand final is played over the October long weekend, thousands of Indigenous people in Queensland and New South Wales come together to contest the Murri Carnival and the Koori Knockout. Together, these two rugby league tournaments represent the largest gathering of Indigenous people in the country, eclipsing all other cultural festivals.

Established in 2011, the Murri Carnival is the much younger and more formal little brother of the Koori Knockout, which began in 1971. For the past six years the Carnival has been run by the Arthur Beetson Foundation and hosted at Redcliffe Dolphins’ home ground in Brisbane.

Former Queensland and Australian player Tony Currie came up with the idea after attending the Koori Knockout in Armidale while working for NITV’s Barefoot Rugby League Show in 2009.

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“I thought, how good is this, we should have something similar,” explained Currie. “I wanted complete endorsement from the governing body in Queensland, making sure that all insurances were in place, and using rugby league as a catalyst to improve employment opportunities, education and all those social issues we have in our communities.”

Arthur Beetson, the first Indigenous captain of Australia and the inaugural captain of Queensland in State of Origin, was an ambassador for Currie’s fledgling carnival in 2011. When Beetson passed away later that year, Currie handed over responsibility to the Arthur Beetson Foundation.

Beetson’s eldest son, Brad, is a board member of the foundation. With more than 50 men’s, women’s and Under-15 boys sides involved this year, he believes 2017 is the biggest carnival yet. “It’s part of Aboriginal history, getting together for sporting events,” he said. “People travel from all over Queensland, from as far north as the Torres Strait.”

Funded by federal and state governments as well as corporate sponsors, part of the Murri Carnival’s social dividend is its commitment to health and educational outcomes. To be eligible for the carnival every player is required to get a 715 Health Check and the Under-15s must have a 90% school attendance rate.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sone of the Murri Under-15 side which will tour Papua New Guinea in December. Photograph: Jackson Canuto

Over the years Queensland has produced some of the best Indigenous players, from the first Indigenous Kangaroo, Lionel Morgan, through to the likes of Colin Scott, Sam Backo, Joe Kilroy, Steve Renouf, Gordon Tallis, Justin Hodges, Johnathan Thurston and Dane Gagai. Another objective of the Murri Carnival, according to Brad Beetson, is continuing this pipeline of Indigenous talent into NRL, Queensland and Australian sides. Every year the foundation selects an Under-15 squad for an overseas trip. In previous years the destination has been Fiji and New Zealand. This year the group will go to Papua New Guinea.

They will leave in December in order to coincide with the end of the school year, but according to Beetson, in years gone by when the trip was directly after the carnival, hopeful kids would turn up with their passports ready to travel. After the overseas experience, the best of these juniors are then selected for the Murri Under-16 side that plays against the Koori Knockout Under-16 side before the Indigenous All Stars match.

One of the graduates of this Murri Under-16 side is Ash Taylor, who was selected in 2011 and is now the starting halfback for the Gold Coast Titans. Another recent graduate is Brisbane Broncos rookie David Fifita, who this year was touted by Fox Sports commentator Andrew Voss as “the best schoolboy forward I have ever seen in over 20 years of calling the competition.” Beetson is proud of the role that the Murri Carnival has played in Fifita’s development. “He’s probably the best junior in Australia at the moment,” said Beetson. “And he’s just a quality human being as well.”

Nathan Appo (@Elusive_Sausage) 6 years ago my little bunji Ash Taylor represented the QLD Murri 16's before the Indigenous All-Stars. 2night he partners JT in the halves pic.twitter.com/XoObDkO7FV

While the Murri Carnival is a career stepping stone for some, for most it is a chance to catch up with friends and family and reaffirm connection to community. From Wednesday to Saturday, four fields and the main ground at Dolphin Oval in Redcliffe were in constant use as thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men, women and juniors played for their chosen teams.

The full diversity of Murris in Queensland are represented at the carnival. There are First Nations teams such as the Mununjali Eagles, urban sides like Inala Wangarra Panthers, island teams like the Dunwich Darkies, regional sides such as Oakey Redbelly Blacks from the Darling Downs, South West Dos United from Charleville in the far west and Arafura Heat from the north. There are also a few memorial sides, and mission teams from Cherbourg, Woorabinda, and Yarrabah.

At the Murri Carnival the Yarrabah Seahawks are also known as Yarrabah Guyala, which means “seahawk” in language and is the totem for the community. Before the games and when they defend their line, players can be heard calling out “guyala” to one another in a show of strength.

Home to roughly 2,500 people, Yarrabah is a former Aboriginal mission situated on the Coral Sea more than 1000km north of Brisbane. The club fields teams from juniors through to seniors, although due to the huge distance and the massive travel costs, only the men’s senior side made it to this year’s Murri Carnival.

“The council supports the club throughout the year,” explained Yarrabah mayor Ross Andrews. “For Indigenous carnivals there are sponsors from here and there, donations, and everybody loves rugby league so much they chip in their own money to travel.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Some young fans enjoy the 2017 Murri Carnival. Photograph: Jackson Canuto

On the weekend before the Murri Carnival, the Yarrabah Seahawks won the senior premiership and the reserve grade for the first time since the club entered the Cairns competition 17 years ago. Considering many of their local rivals such as Innisfail, Tully and Mareeba have rich leagues clubs, it was a remarkable achievement. The Seahawks coach, Edward Prior, believes the return of former Queensland Cup player Hezron Murga, as well as the leadership of captain Milton Mossman, made a big difference.

Palm Islander Vern Daisy, one half of the legendary Daisy brothers that dominated North Queensland football in the 1970s, was excited to see the Seahawks triumph. “Yarrabah is similar to Palm Island – they love their football,” he said. “It took them a number of years to win a grand final, but what’s more, they had three teams in the final. The reserve grade and the A-grade players came up victorious. We’ve been talking about it at the carnival.”

The first patron of the Yarrabah Seahawks, 83-year-old Arthur Malcolm, said “it was wonderful to see the people of Yarrabah come together as a unit”. Malcolm, who was the first Aboriginal bishop in the Anglican Church of Australia, was born in Yarrabah in 1934 and can remember the dormitories of mission days, the spear fishing and playing barefoot rugby league. As a community elder he follows the team everywhere and gives the players pre-game pep talks. “I said to the players before they went out, when you see flags around the ground and people cheering you on, you’re playing for yourself but you’re also playing for your community,” he said. “The pride of our community.”

Vincent Schreiber, a fifth-generation tribal King of Yarrabah and a self-described “jack-of-all-trades”, echoes Malcolm’s view. Schreiber, 52, has seen the tension that sometimes divides the different clans and tribes in the community. Rugby league, he believes, eases those tensions.

“In the generations before we had fighting between clan groups,” he said. “But now we’ve got different clan groups coming into one to make a big group. No matter what happens after the football finishes, they’re still brothers. That’s where the strength of the community comes from – it’s not just one family, it’s the community as a whole.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Yarrabah Guyala at the Murri Carnival. Photograph: Jackson Canuto

Missing several of their key players and still recovering from the celebrations that followed their famous premiership win, the Yarrabah Seahawks bowed out at the playoffs. In the end, the Brisbane Natives beat Gundalu Gadyu in the women’s final, and Dhadhin Geai Warriors – a sensational Torres Strait Island side featuring NRL players Eldrick Lee and Travis Waddell – put on a masterclass to beat the SEQ Indigenous All Stars 48–0 in the men’s final.

With the Murri Carnival finished and the Under-15 side selected for 2017, this weekend the 47th Koori Knockout will be played in Sydney. NITV commentator Brad Cooke, who has called both the Murri Carnival and the Koori Knockout for years, says these tournaments are vital to the future of the sport.

“The Under-15s event at the Murri Carnival and at the Koori Knockout is the pinnacle of the future of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island rugby league,” said Cooke. “At the moment in country areas the sport is dying. But teams are still playing rugby league in these Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities. And they’re saving the game of rugby league, not just the future of the Indigenous All Stars teams. Not enough credit is given for that. More than 12% of players in the NRL are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Where are they coming from? They’re coming from here at these carnivals.”

