Indigenous players in NRL spotlight for NAIDOC Week
The NRL has marked a half-century of celebrating NAIDOC Week by putting a spotlight on Indigenous players in the game over the past 50 years.
And fans can vote on who they believe are the best Indigenous players of the past 50 years in both the men’s and women’s game.
Vote here:
South Sydney, arguably the NRL’s indigenous team given their location, today launched their Indigenous jersey to mark NAIDOC Week.
Souths said the jersey was a tribute to the people who built this movement: the Elders who stood firm, the organisers who made space, the artists who turned resistance into expression, and the communities who keep showing up, year after year.
And it was also about the future, the next 50 years.
Designed by proud Wahlabul Man, Uncle Joe Walker, every stitch a tribute to the people who built this movement. Every element of the jersey carries meaning, from the five panels across the front to the totems along the hem.
Each patterned panel on the jersey represents a decade of NAIDOC, tracing fifty years of culture, resilience and celebration.
50 men and 20 women have been nominated with some legendary names included in the list for the best Indigenous players in the game.
Arthur Beetson, regarded as the best forward of the 20th century, ‘Artie’ is so far the only Indigenous player with Immortal status.
Four-time Parramatta premiership winner Steve Ella, the man they called ‘Zip Zip’ may not get the same recognition as some of his teammates from the 1980s dynasty period, but he was one of the most exciting and lethal stars of his generation.
The Arthur Beetson statue outside Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Bursting onto the scene with the Broncos as a teenager, Steve Renouf appeared destined for stardom from the moment he stepped into first grade.
And there are few players, if any, more synonymous with the proud Manly club than Cliff Lyons, who was one of the best ball-players of his time.
For the women, Katrina Fanning was one of the NRL’s inaugural Hall of Fame inductees from the women’s game in 2024 and is the only Indigenous female member of that elite club.
Other names include Sam Backo, Arthur Beetson, Tony Currie, Laurie Daley, Steve Ella, Terry Fahey, John Ferguson, Cliff Lyons, Steve Renouf and Dale Shearer.
In the women’s game Teresa Anderson, Jenni-Sue Hoepper, Caryl Jarrett, Loretta O’Neill and Tracey Thompson are included.
