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Indigenous Round is a special time in the NRL calendar but it can be scary for players.
With Australia’s troubled history of dealing with First Nations people and indigenous issues, the importance of representing your culture can be significant, as players want to celebrate their heritage but still have to work on the field.
Timana Tahu, a proud Indigenous man who has enjoyed a great career with Newcastle, Paramatman, NSW and Australia, is now the senior manager of NRL’s Indigenous Elite Pathways. Among his many responsibilities, he has been involved in the organization of the All Stars Conflict as well as in everything that goes on in the tribal round.
He is sympathetic to the responsibilities of the current players in this round
“I think for me, representing the indigenous peoples, it’s not that there’s a lot of pressure, but what has happened in the past and what is happening today, as well as how we are moving forward as a nation – is an important issue. A little bit on the players, ”he said Roar.
“It simply came to our notice then. I’ve probably never felt that way, but I never wanted to disappoint my family or my friends and the aborigines and the Torres Strait Islanders – the ones we represent in this round. “
The Indigenous Round is important for many reasons. It educates and helps everyone to understand more about Indigenous history and culture, brings to the fore the problems and challenges faced by many Indigenous peoples – not only in sports but also in society – and provides an opportunity to come together to help build a brighter one. And a more united future.
It enables players from all indigenous backgrounds to embrace their heritage and represent their people.
NRL and all the clubs do a great job and put a tremendous amount of effort into giving this round the recognition it deserves.
Each team has their own specially made jersey to wear for their game, designed by members of the indigenous community, with a full artwork of story and meaning. We can also witness traditional receptions, performances and celebrations of indigenous culture before the start of each match.
And, of course, we celebrate our great indigenous players like Nico Hynes, Jack Whitton and Josh Ado-Carr.
(Photo by Mark Colby / Getty Images)
During the launch earlier this week, Peter V’landis said the round “reminds us that we must continue to learn, celebrate and improve indigenous culture in our sport”.
“While the indigenous players are celebrating what they have given to the rugby league, we must continue to recognize and understand the challenges of the indigenous community – and continue to address them,” said the ARLC chairman.
The theme of the weekend is, again, ‘Go back, go forward’.
Tahu comes from two indigenous cultures.
“First of all, my mother, who was born in Barket, is a Barkindji woman The Barkindji race has migrated to the Wilcania and Broken Hill areas, and Barkindji means ‘river people’, “said Tahu.
“My father is from New Zealand and he is a M মাori of the Nagapuhi tribe.
“I am just happy to be from these two strong cultures, which is probably why I did so well in sports. I am very grateful for who I am and who I represent. “
He says the theme works on many levels:
“The idea of ’Pass Back, Move Forward’ that we are promoting for this round is very good. The meaning of ‘pass back’ is related to footy terminology and a footy action, but looking back to the past, how we stumbled, but also what we did well as a non-indigenous and indigenous people.
“The ‘Move Forward’ part is where we are today and what our leaders are doing. We always look to our leaders, and the leaders and commissioners of the NRL, and Andrew Abdo and Peter V’landis, are true allies for the Indigenous Round and want to improve it, to raise awareness about it. I think they did a really good job.
“But outside of the NRL, we see what our government is doing on the tribal issue. Our new Prime Minister, at his first conference as Prime Minister, was delighted to see the flag of the Torres Strait Islanders and the Indigenous people behind him – it was a moment of pride.
“It simply came to our notice then. There seems to be a bright future for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples to move forward together. ”
Going forward as one is exactly what the Indigenous Round is all about.