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There was a moment in the Dolphins’ preseason when Josh Kerr laughed at any suggestion of his captaincy credentials, chortling there was no chance coach Kristian Woolf would appoint him as the club’s leader.
Yet soon after, he was called up on stage as co-skipper of the Indigenous All Stars in their triumph of their Maori counterparts, offering the inspirational words “culture elevates culture”.
“I didn’t know I had to do a speech, I’d never been a captain before so I didn’t realise I had to get up on stage,” Kerr jokes.
“I was shaking and stuff – ‘oh, thank you, Harvey Norman’.”
But Kerr’s pride in his Indigenous roots had not always been so obvious.
Growing up, he reveals he simply wanted to fit in at school, and was not so willing to express his cultural background with admiration.
“I’ve been very blessed in my life, but when I was going through school I was probably ashamed at points in time to identify as proudly as I was as an Indigenous Australia,” Kerr says.
“The thing is I now feel embarrassed looking back on that and being that kind of person I was. But it was probably one of the best things for me because you learn to be proud within yourself.
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“When you get older, and you realise the impact you can have on the younger generations, that’s what made me really want to dive in and be a great leader to my family and cousins.”
Kerr will enter this week’s NRL Indigenous Round the same larrikin and charismatic presence which has made him an endeared figure to media, but now driven by a higher purpose.
As an ambassador for Deadly Choices, the 29-year-old has cast a keener eye on issues impacting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture – namely the angst generated this year regarding Welcome to Country.
The prop cuts a more frustrated demeanour when discussing his anger at social media critics of the ceremonies – “I’m sick of hearing ‘why do I have to listen to Welcome to Country?’”
But while he laments it’s “crazy that there’s still a lot of that going on in the world”, he stresses his role as an Indigenous leader and advocate was to help educate the “arrogant” sceptics of the impact racial vilification has caused.
And he implored the rugby league community to not limit their education on Indigenous culture and issues to NRL rounds dedicated to such awareness and celebration.
“You don’t really like looking back at the past and all those atrocities that happened, however you need to have that bit of pain, look back and say ‘how can we do better?’” Kerr says.
“Everything seems impossible until it’s done. I would just love to be able to leave a legacy knowing I did my part for my kids when they grow up to make sure they’re not ashamed, and they’re very proud of who they are.”
Josh Kerr is fighting for a new deal.Credit: NRL Photos
Kerr will enter Saturday’s clash with the Roosters at Suncorp Stadium to begin his final stretch with the Dolphins, as the club confirmed he had not been re-signed beyond his 2025 deal.
He will instead return to the Dragons, where he played his first 68 games, on a two-year contract.
While Kerr was ushered into the Queensland Maroons’ fold for their State of Origin game three preparations, Woolf said in July the squad’s plethora of injuries – including forwards Daniel Saifiti, Tom Gilbert, Thomas Flegler and Max Plath – had opened doors for other prospects to make their case for extensions.
“It [the salary cap] is evolving all the time, what this year has given us with the injuries we’ve had is a real opportunity for other guys to step in and have a presence, and put their own mark on the team,” Woolf said, while expressing hope they could squeeze Kerr into their roster.
“Some guys have put their hands up to say they need to be in this club going forward.”
Despite his desire to remain in Redcliffe, Kerr refused to get caught up in the hysteria of his next move, believing whenever he did his form plummeted.
He now stands a key pillar in his side’s finals charge, averaging 85 running metres a game off the bench at a time when he and his fiancé welcomed their first child – Atlas – into their lives.
“I’ve had this drama before where I’ve been in contract negotiations and I start really overthinking things,” Kerr admitted last month.
“I start trying to do things in games. At the start of these contract negotiations I said, ‘what’s the go’ and I started not playing too good.
“I’ve got my family … [but] I know what it does to my head if I think about it, or it’s on my mind.”
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