Being Rugby League mad for more than 30 years, there are three weekends that stand out for me on the yearly calendar — the October long weekend for the Koori Knockout & Murri Carnival, and the NRL's Indigenous Round and All Stars match.
There's nothing better than reading all the buildup stories all week in the press — hearing of life journeys, families and histories, connections to Country, and just the pride that comes through when everyone describes the feeling of being an Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander person.
I was down in Melbourne this year for the Round but I did watch all the games, including the Raiders' loss on the iPhone while walking the streets of St Kilda and nearly falling over a few times.
Anyway, here's the moments that made me flex up with pride this year.
G.I leading out the Storm
The champion Storm and Souths back has always been a favorite player, I even we used to watch him scruff up the under 16's comp in Newcastle a while back.
Although my old man would have much rather seen Greg lead out the Rabbitohs, I thought it was a wonderful touch to see the champion back at the club where he burst onto the scene as a teenager in the early 2000s.
I bet the Dhungutti man was tonguin' to rip into Manly too!
Selwyn Cobbo using the corner post as a Yidaki
I love just about everything that this young Wakka Wakka fulla from Cherbourg does, but I definitely felt like jumping up shadowboxing when he busted out this try celebration after the Broncos scored against the Titans.
Like most, it took me back to the inaugural Indigenous All Stars match on the Gold Coast seeing flashbacks of Wendell Sailor, Preston Campbell, Johnathan Thurston, and Blake Ferguson performing a similar routine. Was a terrific moment to watch live.
It was even more special after reading that young Cobbo organised tickets for 100 mob from Cherbourg to come along and see him do it.
And after the weekend, he also got a new jumper too — gee he's solid!
Selwyn Cobbo has been electric in 2022 and has been rewarded with a Maroons jumper. Hope he kills it, but not so much the whole team ;) Source: AAP
Ezra Mam's first NRL try
In that same match, another young gun had his own moment.
Teenager Ezra Mam, in his second match in the halfback jumper usually occupied by Adam Reynolds, crossed for his first NRL try as the Bronx mounted a 20-point comeback to put the Titans away.
The jubilation on his face as he jumped up in the air afterward was terrific to see, and I can't see how Brisbane would be taking him out of this side now — he's electric.
Ezra Mam, yet another young gun unearthed by the Broncos. Source: Getty Images AsiaPac
AJ breaking Souths' tryscoring record
What a strike rate — flying Rabbitohs winger Alex Johnston has 147 tries from just 178 NRL games — he is lethal.
The man known as 'AJ', who was close to leaving the club a couple of years back, has now eclipsed the tryscoring record of another Redfern legend, Nathan Merritt, with a hat-trick as his team stood all over the Tigers with a second-half blitz.
He is also only 27 years old too — so if his body holds up with no major injuries, we could see him challenge the all-time record set by Ken Irvine, who has 212.
AJ has 147 tries from just 178 games - wow. Source: AAP
The jumpers, and the yarns behind them
I know, it's not exactly a moment, but I love seeing the jerseys each year and the stories from everyone who had input on them.
From the Rabbitohs' honouring our matriarchs; Coree Thorpe's Rainbow Serpent-inspired Storm jumper; the Sharks' representing the totems of six of their senior players; and the Knights' that showcased the totems of the people and lands stretching from the Hawkesbury River to the Queensland border and into western NSW.
Worimi man Gerard Black designed that one, so I may be a touch biased in saying I reckon that was the best — good mob those Worimi fullas!
The Canberra halves getting a run together
And finally, I thought it was terrific to see Mununjali man Jamal Fogarty finally run out for the Green Machine on Sunday. A knee injury ripped the first 11 games off him, but now he's there to link up with Wiradjuri brother Jack Wighton in the halves.
The Raiders also have the speedy Xavier Savage at fullback, Sebastian Kris in the centres and Adam Elliott at lock — plenty of black excellence.
And just saying, the last time they had two Aboriginal halves, they made the grand final!
Koori / Murri halves combo Jamal Fogarty and Jack Wighton took down Ryan Matterson but they couldn't sink the Eels. Source: AAP
