kids encyclopedia robot

NSW Koori Knockout facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
NSW Koori Knockout
Sport Rugby league
Inaugural season 1971
Winners & Host Newcastle All Blacks (2023)
Most titles Redfern All-Blacks (8 titles)
Broadcast partner NITV, SBS
Related competition

The NSW Koori Rugby League Knockout carnival is one of the biggest Indigenous gatherings in Australia. The winning team gains the right to host the next knockout. Organisers created the knockout to provide further access for Indigenous players to state rugby league.

The carnival is a significant annual event in Indigenous Australian culture and sport. It is a rugby league competition that brings together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teams from various communities across New South Wales. The event typically takes place over the October long weekend. The Koori Knockout not only showcases talented rugby league players but also serves as a gathering for Indigenous communities to celebrate culture, heritage, and community pride. It is a highly anticipated event, with teams competing for the title, and communities coming together to support their local teams.

The first knockout was held at Camdenville Park, St Peters, on the October long weekend of 1971 with seven participating teams. The knockout celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022.

History

Concept

The Knockout emerged from the new and growing mostly inner-city Sydney Aboriginal community in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The emerging political movement in Redfern for self-determination and justice, increased opportunities arising from post-referendum federal government initiatives and greater employment prospects in the industrial areas of Sydney influenced Aboriginal families' migration to the inner-city, particularly South Sydney. The Knockout emerged within this complex economic and social context. It was initiated by six men, and one woman, affiliated with Koorie United: Bob Smith, Bob Morgan, Bill Kennedy, Danny Rose, Victor Wright, the late George Jackson, and Barbara Flick. They formed Koorie United in response to the rapidly expanding Sydney Aboriginal community. The established Sydney-based Aboriginal sides, the Redfern All Blacks and La Perouse Panthers (or Blacks as they were sometimes called), were aligned with the South Sydney football district. There were many Aboriginal men looking for a game of football and so Koorie United formed joining the rival Newtown Jets district, with sponsorship from Marrickville Council, where some of the committee members worked.

The Koorie United committee were connected through kinship and the shared experience of relocating to the city. Bob Morgan, Danny Rose and Bill Kennedy hail from the New South Wales north-western town of Walgett in Gamilaroi country. Bob Smith and Victor Wright had relocated from Kemspey on the New South Wales north coast, and while the late George Jackson was based in Sydney, he also had connections with Gamilaroi as his wife was from Coonabarabran. Barbara Flick hails from Collarenebri.

Following a meeting at the Clifton Hotel, a well-known gathering place for Kooris in Redfern in the 1960s & 70s, the Koorie United committee proposed holding a statewide Knockout competition. Prior to this there had been many town-based knockout football and basketball competitions. However, the establishment of the Knockout set out with some different objectives. Bob Morgan says:

Our concept at the time was to also have a game where people who had difficulty breaking into the big time would be on show. They could put their skills on show and the talent scouts would come and check them out.

The Knockout was formed with a view to providing a stage for the many talented Aboriginal footballers playing at the time who had been overlooked by the talent scouts. Although there were some notable exceptions, like Bruce (La Pa) Stewart playing on the wing for Easts and field goal specialist, Eric Simms, with South Sydney, Aboriginal footballers experienced difficulty breaking into the big time. It was thought the Knockout would provide a chance for Aboriginal footballers to get noticed, where for reasons of racism and lack of country-based recruitment they were overlooked. There was also some talk of entering an all-Aboriginal side in the National Rugby League competition. But the instigation of the Knockout was intended to be far more than sporting competition, as original committee member Bob Morgan said:

The Knockout was never simply about football, it was about family, it was about community, it was getting people to come together and enjoy and celebrate things rather than win the competition football.

The first knockout

In 1971 Koorie United hosted the first knockout at Camdenville Park, St Peters, which attracted seven teams: Koorie United, Redfern All Blacks, Kempsey, La Perouse, Walgett, Moree and a combined Mt Druitt / South Coast side. It was won by La Perouse United. The tournament remained at St Peters until 1975.

Venues

With Kempsey winning the Knockout in 1975, the first non-Sydney side, it was decided that the winning team would host the Knockout the following year, and the tradition began.

The Kempsey Knockout was a memorial to the late Victor Wright Senior, a long-time supporter of the Knockout and of Aboriginal Football. The original winning trophy was donated by the Foundation for Aboriginal Affairs.

The inscription on the trophy reads, NSW Koorie Sports Committee Annual Football Knockout Perpetual Trophy, donated by the Foundation of Aboriginal Affairs.

BAC Walgett became the first team to win the Knockout on three consecutive occasions. Their first win in 1988 (at Newcastle) resulted in some controversy regarding the tradition of the winner hosting the carnival, questioning the capacity of a small remote country township (population around 2200) to stage such a major event. With upwards of 6000 footballers, 50-odd teams and officials, supporters and family coming to town in 1989 for the three-day carnival, the Walgett community carried the day and went on to win it at Walgett in 1989 and again in 1990. The BAC management team chose to stage the carnival in Sydney in 1991 for its 21st anniversary.

Knockout winners

Year Men's Knockout Winners Women's Knockout Winners Under 17 Boys Knockout Winners Under 16 Girls Knockout Winners
Team Team Team Team
1971 La Perouse United
1972 Redfern All Blacks
1973 Redfern All Blacks
1974 Koorie United
1975 Kempsey All Blacks
1976 Louis St Dodgers
1977 West Kempsey
1978 Redfern All Blacks
1979 Redfern All Blacks
1980 Narwan Eels
1981 Zetland Magpies
1982 Zetland Magpies
1983 Dubbo Pacemakers
1984 Koorie United
1985 Moree Boomerangs
1986 Narwan Eels
1987 Newcastle All Blacks
1988 BAC Walgett
1989 BAC Walgett
1990 BAC Walgett
1991 La Perouse All Blacks
1992 Redfern All Blacks
1993 Redfern All Blacks
1994 Toomelah Tigers
1995 Bourke Weilmoringle
1996 Nambucca Valley Rams
1997 Nambucca Valley Rams
1998 Wellington Wedgetails
1999 Nambucca Valley Rams
2000 Narwan Eels / Louis St Dodgers
2001 Narwan Eels / La Perouse Panthers
2002 Moree Boomerangs / La Perouse Panthers
2003 Cec Patten-Ron Merritt Memorial
2004 Cec Patten-Ron Merritt Memorial
2005 Cec Patten-Ron Merritt Memorial
2006 Cec Patten-Ron Merritt Memorial
2007 Wollumbin Warriors/Newcastle All Blacks Casino
2008 Narwan Eels Casino
2009 BAC Walgett
2010 Walgett Aboriginal Connection
2011 Mindaribba Warriors
2012 Newcastle Yowies Mindaribba Sisters
2013 Newcastle Yowies Newcastle Yowies La Perouse
2014 Walgett Aboriginal Connection Redfern All Blacks Newcastle All Stars
2015 Redfern All Blacks Redfern All Blacks Toomelah Tigers
2016 Redfern All Blacks Redfern All Blacks La Perouse
2017 Newcastle Yowies Redfern All Blacks Illawarra Titans
2018 Newcastle All Blacks Newcastle Yowies Western Koori Eels
2019 South Coast Black Cockatoos Wellington Wedgetails Kempsey Sharks La Perouse
2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
2021 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
2022 Newcastle All Blacks Dunghutti Connexions
2023 Walgett Aboriginal Connection Wiradjuri Aboriginal Rivers La Perouse Panthers

Koori vs. Murri Interstate Challenge

The QLD Murri vs. NSW Koori Interstate Challenge is an annual rugby league game played between the Open Men's winners of the NSW Koori Knockout and Murri Rugby League Carnival.

Year Koori vs. Murri Interstate Challenge
Winners Score Runners-up
2012 Mindaribba Warriors 40–18 Southern Dingoes
2013 Argun Warriors 28–24 Newcastle Yowies
2014 Newcastle Yowies 18–12 Southern Dingoes
2015 Badu Kulpiyam 30–22 Walgett Aboriginal Connection
2016 The Southern Dingoes 26–12 Redfern All Blacks
2017 Redfern All Blacks 34–12 Cherbourg Hornets
2018 Newcastle Yowies 38–26 Dhadhin Geai Warriors

Festival of Indigenous Rugby League

Championships By Team

Open Men's

Teams Wins Years
Redfern All Blacks 8 1972, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1992, 1993, 2015, 2016
BAC / WAC Walgett 7 1988, 1989, 1990, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2023
Narwan Eels 5 1980, 1986, 2000, 2001, 2008
Cec Patten-Ron Merritt Memorial 4 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
La Perouse Panthers 3 1971, 2001, 2002
Nambucca Valley Rams 3 1996, 1997, 1999
Newcastle Yowies 3 2012, 2013, 2017
Zetland Magpies 2 1981, 1982
Koorie United 2 1974, 1984
Louis St Dodgers 2 1976, 2000
Moree Boomerangs 2 1985, 2002
Newcastle All Blacks 2 2007, 2018
Dubbo Pacemakers 1 1983
Toomelah Tigers 1 1994
Wellington Wedgetails 1 1998
Bourke Weilmoringle 1 1995
Kempsey All Blacks 1 1975
West Kempsey 1 1977
Mindaribba Warriors 1 2011
Wollumbin Warriors 1 2007
La Perouse All Blacks 1 1991
South Coast Black Cockatoos 1 2019

Open Women's

Teams Wins Years
Redfern All Blacks 4 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Newcastle Yowies 3 2013, 2018, 2023
Casino 2 2007, 2008
Dunghutti Connexions 1 2022
Mindaribba Sisters 1 2012
Wellington Wedgetails 1 2019

Under 17 Boys

Teams Wins Years
La Perouse 3 2013, 2016, 2023
Newcastle All Stars 1 2014
Illawarra Titans 1 2017
Toomelah Tigers 1 2015
Western Koori Eels 1 2018
Kempsey Sharks 1 2019

Under 16 Girls

Teams Wins Years
La Perouse 1 2019

Trophies

Throughout the history of the Knockout there have been many trophies added. Many of the trophies are memorials. Some of these trophies are dedicated to those who have made a significant contribution to the Knockout and Aboriginal football. These include the William Peachey Memorial Trophy – donated by the Peache family; the Lance Brown Memorial Trophy presented to Bourke/Weilmoringle RLFC, Gary "Mad Mick" Kennedy; McGrady Memorial Shield; Tommo Tighe Memorial Shield; Tabulam Rugby League Football Club Paul Roberts Memorial Shield; Wesley McGrady Memorial Trophy; Vincent Clyde Donovan Memorial Trophy – donated by the South Taree Footballers for the best 5/8 of State Knockout; and the George "Pedro" Squires Perpetual Trophy – donated by the Greenup Family Bowraville.

NRL players to play in Koori Knockout

See also

kids search engine
NSW Koori Knockout Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.