The NRL is seeking to improve the lives of Indigenous and Torres Strait Island people, by leveraging our reach and influence to educate and improve understanding of Indigenous culture and issues among non-Indigenous Australians.
Whether it’s the scoreline, metres gained, or the length of a field goal, rugby league is a game driven by numbers.
Let’s reframe the numbers synonymous with our game, to help educate non-Indigenous Australians about the challenges faced by many Indigenous & Torres Strait islanders, and importantly, what the rugby league community is doing to help address them.
The NRL is working hard to help, particularly in the areas of education and employment.
Rugby league is a “bridge builder” between cultures that has been breaking down barriers since Indigenous men forced to live under oppressive conditions on Aboriginal reserves had embraced the game after its introduction to Australia in 1908.
ARLC commissioner, Professor Megan Davis, a proud Cobble Cobble woman, outlined the historical connection between league and Aboriginal communities during a powerful speech to launch this weekend’s Indigenous Round.
Davis said the game had helped bring First Nations people and “Arrivals” together at a time when racist government policies were trying to destroy Indigenous culture and that relationship had led to 12 per cent of NRL players now being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
Gold Coast captain Jamal Fogarty has first-hand knowledge of why it is important for the NRL to promote statistics about Indigenous education and employment during this weekend’s Indigenous Round.
Fogarty, who was a youth worker before reviving his NRL career with the Titans last year, has been involved with the Indigenous community in Beaudesert and estimates only a small percentage of students will attain their HSC.
“At the moment they have got 180 Indigenous students attending the local high school and we have got between 15 and 25 on track to complete Year 12,” Fogarty said.
“As an NRL player if I can play a small part to get one or two kids to stay at school then hopefully that goes a long way to giving them something to do to give back when they are older too.”