{"id":53992,"date":"2025-08-08T22:52:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T22:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/53992\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T22:52:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T22:52:13","slug":"indigenous-round-nrl-nrlw-match-officials-round-23-round-24-round-6-round-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/53992\/","title":{"rendered":"Indigenous Round, NRL, NRLW, match officials, Round 23, Round 24, Round 6, Round 7"},"content":{"rendered":"

NRL and NRLW match officials are taking part in acknowledging Indigenous Round this year, with the referee squad also wearing special jerseys to mark the occasion.<\/p>\n

The special jerseys were launched in the opening game of Indigenous Round between Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos.<\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n \"Referee
\n
\n
\n Referee Grant Atkins wears his Indigenous Round jersey during the game between Storm and Brisbane.
\n \u00a9NRL Images
\n
\n <\/p>\n

Designed by Gomeroi artist Jacobi Fernando (16) and Barkindji artist Connor Rose (16), the artwork has been inspired by Dreamtime stories from their mobs.<\/p>\n

The right side of the front jersey depicts the story of Thinawan the Emu and Gurrgurrgaagaa the Kookaburra, a central story in the Gamilaraay Nation about the kookaburra\u2019s first laugh, friendship and The Milky Way.<\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n \"Young
\n
\n
\n Young artists Jacobi Fernando and Connor Rose .
\n \u00a9Supplied
\n
\n <\/p>\n

In speaking about his inspiration for the art, Fernando shared the stories he was taught:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pursuit enabled me to connect back with Elders, contacting my own Uncle Bud (Paul Spearim) back in my hometown of Moree, NSW, to pass on that knowledge through voice, as our people never used to write. We were taught through song and language.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis experience enlightened me in gaining a further understanding of the environment, nature and people around me.<\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n \"Peter
\n
\n
\n Peter Gough and Wyatt Raymond.
\n \u00a9Supplied
\n
\n <\/p>\n

\u201cOn the left front side to the back of the jersey, it shows the story of the Sky Father, also known as Baiame, who chased the Black Kuuya (Fish), because he broke law and balance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis story tells us how the Ngunnhu (Brewarrina fish traps) and the Paaka (Darling River) were made.<\/p>\n

\u201cBaiame the Sky Father walked the earth shaping the rivers and creating the mountains with his big hands. He made the trees stretch tall and made the birds sing loud, but he also gave law, balance and purpose to all creatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the Black Kuuya was strong and proud and he refused to follow Baiame’s laws. He stirred up the mud, and scared the smaller creatures, claiming the river for himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo Baiame chased Kuuya. He ran along the banks of the river and with each step, he formed deep waterholes and sharp bends.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere he turned sharply, and the river twisted and couldn’t catch him at first, so he created fish traps to slow and catch Kuuya. Kuuya grew tired so he stopped in a fish trap and he listened and the Black Kuuya bowed his head to listen to Baiame.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom that day on, he swam slowly and helped clear the river, eating dead leaves and stirring the mud just enough to keep the waters moving.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, when Barkindji people see the dark flash of a black fish in the river’s bend, they remember Baiame’s great chase and the law of balance that flows in every stream.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n \"Indigenous
\n
\n
\n Indigenous Round match official jerseys.
\n \u00a9Supplied
\n
\n <\/p>\n

Inspired by the ongoing support and mentorship provided by their St Gregory\u2019s College mentor Mr Humphries; Fernando and Rose have visited with current NRL match official Kasey Badger, whose husband and former top-level NRL referee Gavin Badger is of the Dunghutti mob. The pair said the art making process was \u201cvery beneficial\u201d for them both, allowing them to reconnect with culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe opportunity to display (our art on the big stage) brings great joy to Jacobi and myself, opening towards a brighter future as young Indigenous artists,\u201d Connor said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The match officials will wear the special jerseys across the two weeks of Indigenous Round in the NRL and NRLW.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NRL and NRLW match officials are taking part in acknowledging Indigenous Round this year, with the referee squad…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53993,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-53992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}