Indigenous All Stars (rugby league)

The Indigenous Australian rugby league team (also known as the Indigenous All Stars or Indigenous Dreamtime team) is a rugby league football team that represents Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. The team was first formed in 1973 and currently plays in an annual All Stars Match against a National Rugby League NRL All Stars team.

History
An Aboriginal v White Australian rugby league game was held in Barcaldine in Western Queensland in 1963. These 'Blacks v Whites' games continued annually until 1984.

The first Australian Aboriginal rugby league team was assembled in 1973 The Aboriginal team managed to win seven of its nine matches in just 10 days, The team consisted of 34 players – 19 from NSW, 13 from Queensland and two from the Northern Territory. They went on to win games against Kiwi premiers Wellington Petone, the only all-Māori team & Auckland club & Te Atatu, which the Aboriginal side won 17–13.

The side competed in the Pacific Cup in 1990, 1992 and 1994. During this period the team contained New South Wales Rugby League first grade players such as Ricky Walford, Graham Lyons, Ron Gibbs, Darrell Trindall, Paul Davis, Wayne Alberts, George Longbottom and Will Robinson.

In the post-1999 NRL season an Aboriginal side managed by Arthur Beetson defeated the Papua New Guinea Kumuls and the future rugby league Immortal was pushing for an Australia Day match against the Australian national team.

On the same day as the All Stars announcement, the league also revealed the NRL Pre-Season Challenge would return in 2024, with the tournament kicking off on February 15 and running across two weekends.

In 2008 World Cup curtain raiser to the Australia vs. New Zealand match included an Indigenous Australian squad playing against New Zealand Māori which featured several prominent NRL players and rising stars, including Chris Sandow, Wairangi Koopu, Preston Campbell, Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Carl Webb.

Preston Campbell, a highly respected Aboriginal rugby league player, was a driving force behind the setup, in 2010, of a curtain raising match between the Indigenous All Stars, and the NRL All Stars. The Indigenous All Stars played what seems likely become an annual match against the National Rugby League All Stars on 13 February 2010. The squad was chosen in part by public vote. Aboriginal NRL player Sid Domic's artistic ability led him to be selected from a field of six artists to design the Indigenous side's jersey, as well as Johnathan Thurston's and Jamie Soward's custom headgear, for the annual All Stars matches.

2019 will see a new format of the Australian Indigenous All-Stars play the New Zealand Māori at AAMI Park in Melbourne on 15 February. It will be part of an All-Stars double header with the women's teams to play the curtain-raiser Māori and indigenous teams to the men's game. With no All-Stars game in 2017 due to the World Cup, the NRL will be hoping the inclusion of the New Zealand Māori side will spark popularity in the fixture. With three Indigenous players also eligible for both teams Dane Gagai, Reimis Smith, Josh Hoffman and Javid Bowen.

First Australian Aboriginal Rugby League Team 1973 Tour
Source:
 * Michael Anderson
 * Neil Appo
 * John Brady
 * Marshall Brown
 * Don Carter
 * Phillip de la Cruz
 * Les Drew
 * Archie Glass
 * Jeffrey Hennaway
 * Larry Hoskins
 * Desi Illis
 * Allen Madden
 * Patrick Marra
 * Ron Mason
 * Ambrose Morgan
 * Thomas Moylan
 * Michael Mundine
 * Steve Ridgeway
 * Clarke Scott
 * Bruce Stewart
 * Wally Tallis
 * Francis Tappin
 * Geoffrey Thorne
 * Neville Thorne
 * Albert Torrens
 * Eddie Vale
 * Terry Wickey
 * Bill Widders
 * Victor Wright

1990-92-1994 Australian Aboriginals Pacific Cup Team

 * Wayne Alberts
 * Paul Davis
 * Ron Gibbs
 * George Longbottom
 * Graham Lyons
 * Will Robinson
 * Darrell Trindall
 * Ricky Walford
 * Jason Wilson (Walgett Rugby League)

1999 Australian Aboriginals

 * Cliff Lyons (c)
 * John Buttigieg
 * Owen Craigie
 * John Doyle
 * Justin Doyle
 * Alf Duncan
 * Peter Ellis
 * Damien Higgins
 * Lee Hookey
 * Damian Kennedy
 * Kevin McGuinness
 * Dennis Moran
 * John Simon
 * Robbie Simpson
 * Blaine Stanley
 * Mark Tookey
 * Albert Torrens
 * Carl Webb
 * Dean Widders
 * Coach - Arthur Beetson

2014 Festival of Indigenous Rugby League
The NRL launched a Festival of Indigenous Rugby League program to take the place of the prestigious pre-season Rugby League All Stars game following every World Cup year. The 2014 Festival of Indigenous Rugby League featured a trial match between the Knights and a non-elite Indigenous team, drawn from the immensely popular NSW Koori Rugby League Knockout and Murri Carnivals in Queensland, as well as the NRL Indigenous Player Cultural Camp, Murri vs Koori women's and Under 16s representative games, a Murri v Koori match, a jobs expo and community visits.

2024 Player Pool

 * National Rugby League (Australia)
 * Selwyn Cobbo (Brisbane Broncos)
 * Ezra Mam (Brisbane Broncos)
 * Jordan Riki (Brisbane Broncos)
 * Tristan Sailor (Brisbane Broncos)
 * Kotoni Staggs (Brisbane Broncos)
 * Reece Walsh (Brisbane Broncos)
 * Jamal Fogarty (Canberra Raiders)
 * Sebastian Kris (Canberra Raiders)
 * Hohepa Puru (Canberra Raiders)
 * Xavier Savage (Canberra Raiders)
 * Josh Addo-Carr (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs)
 * Bailey Biondi-Odo (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs)
 * Braidon Burns (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs)
 * Joshua Curran (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs)
 * Blake Taaffe (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs)
 * Nicho Hynes (Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks)
 * William Kennedy (Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks)
 * Jesse Ramien (Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks)
 * Braydon Trindall (Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks)
 * Josh Kerr (Dolphins)
 * Edrick Lee (Dolphins)
 * Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (Dolphins)
 * Jacob Alick (Gold Coast Titans)
 * Jayden Campbell (Gold Coast Titans)
 * David Fifita (Gold Coast Titans)
 * Brian Kelly (Gold Coast Titans)
 * Alofiana Khan-Pereira (Gold Coast Titans)
 * Jason Saab (Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles)
 * Reimis Smith (Melbourne Storm)
 * Bradman Best (Newcastle Knights)
 * Dane Gagai (Newcastle Knights)
 * Adam Elliott (Newcastle Knights)
 * Reuben Cotter (North Queensland Cowboys)
 * Scott Drinkwater (North Queensland Cowboys)
 * Zac Laybutt (North Queensland Cowboys)
 * Jamayne Taunoa-Brown (North Queensland Cowboys)
 * J'maine Hopgood (Parramatta Eels)
 * Daine Laurie (Penrith Panthers)
 * Tyrone Peachey (Penrith Panthers)
 * Jacob Gagai (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
 * Alex Johnston (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
 * Latrell Mitchell (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
 * Shaquai Mitchell (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
 * Isaiah Tass (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
 * Cody Walker (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
 * Jack Wighton (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
 * Jack Bird (St. George Illawarra Dragons)
 * Tyrell Sloan (St. George Illawarra Dragons)
 * Connor Watson (Sydney Roosters)
 * Brent Naden (Wests Tigers)
 * Aidan Sezer (Wests Tigers)


 * Super League Europe
 * Josh Drinkwater (Catalans Dragons)
 * Aidan Sezer (Huddersfield Giants)
 * Robert Lui (Leeds Rhinos)
 * Nathan Peats (Leigh Centurions)
 * Joel Thompson (St Helens R.F.C.)
 * David Fifita (Wakefield Trinity)
 * Greg Inglis (Warrington Wolves)
 * Jai Field (Wigan Warriors)
 * Bevan French (Wigan Warriors)