When the Wallabies wore their first Indigenous jersey in 2017, the late Lloyd McDermott pressed the importance of what that step would mean for those to come.
The one-time Churchie schoolboy was a pioneer for Indigenous involvement in rugby and the former Wallaby winger of the 1960s had the determination to get things done.
The first Wallabies Indigenous jersey had a striking design which featured 14 waterholes representing the 14 Indigenous players to play Tests for the Wallabies to that point.
McDermott was one of them. So was Kurtley Beale, who will play at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night when the Western Force take on the Queensland Reds.
What Beale said of the impact of that 2017 jersey applies equally to the specially-designed jersey that the Reds will wear in this game for Indigenous Round.
“’Lloydy’ is no longer with us but I still have in my head what he told me in Brisbane in 2017 when we were preparing to wear the jersey for the first time against the All Blacks,” Beale recounted.
“Don’t underestimate how powerful this is going to be for our generation and the next for our kids and all kids in Australia, especially in the game of rugby.”
Added Beale: “Encourage, inspire and feel welcome in our game…they are big things.” McDermott’s academic and sporting prowess earned the son of a farm labourer a scholarship to the Anglican Church Grammar School in Brisbane.
He was the GPS 100m champion in his final year at school in 1957. He turned speed and skill into playing for Queensland, a Test debut against the All Blacks in 1962 and winning a premiership with the University of Queensland later the same year.
McDermott became the first Aboriginal barrister to be admitted to practice in Australia so his legacy went way beyond rugby before his death at 79 in 2019.
He championed opportunities through the Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development teams to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in rugby.
The “Lloydies” have been playing for over 20 years with their greatest successes coming in sevens tournaments. Quicksilver Australian Sevens ace Maurice Longbottom is just one of many to display his instinctive skills for them.
Former Wallaby Barry Lea had the proud honour of addressing the current Queensland Reds in a huddle at training on Tuesday at Ballymore to relay a little of what Indigenous Round means.
Lea was a pacy finisher. He swooped on a Michael Lynagh cross kick to score the opening try in Queensland’s 1994 Super 10 final triumph over Natal in Durban.
“Back in 1994 there were only a few Indigenous players in rugby,” Lea said.
“Queensland rugby having an Indigenous Round creates more of a pathway for future players. “Sport is a great avenue for a lot of Indigenous kids, boys and girls. It’s not just in sport but the education, life skills, artwork and whatever is possible around it.
“It’s not just about the game itself but families and communities connecting with rugby which has been phenomenal to me.”
There was a little extra meaning to Lea’s hug in the huddle when he reached winger Floyd Aubrey, who had his first run-on role for the Reds in Suva last weekend.
Aubrey hails from Murgon and is a proud Wakka Wakka man.
“The Indigenous jersey is even more special because I know one of the designers, who is a friend of my sister,” Aubrey said.
“Indigenous Round means a lot really. It just gets everyone learning about our culture and getting involved. I’m still learning myself.
“I do feel like I’m representing my tribe back home, the Wakka Wakka tribe.
“You always looked up to other fellas, other Aboriginal fellas, growing up. It’s pretty crazy to now have young fellas looking up to me.
“I try to do my best. I try for my little brother and to be a role model for him.”
On the same day that Aubrey scored his first Super Rugby Pacific try against the Fijian Drua in Suva, his brother Derek was scoring a try in the 7As for Marist College Ashgrove where he is following in his older sibling’s footsteps as a boarder.
Aubrey makes a good point that it is not just non-Indigenous people learning when it comes to Indigenous Round and knowing about the trailblazers of the past.
Young Rhani Hagan is just 17 and carving her own path as a pacy, skilful player in sevens. She already has a gold medal from last year’s Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago since converting from touch to rugby.
“There’s more space to attack in sevens and the chance to travel is something you don’t get in touch or athletics,” Hagan said.
“I’m really proud of my heritage. An Indigenous jersey is just one part of the work that needs to be done to encourage Indigenous kids with rugby."
The importance of role models is powerful.
For Hagan, it is Bo de la Cruz, the first Indigenous woman to represent Australia at touch at senior level and a convert who shared in Australia’s 2009 World Cup Sevens triumph in Dubai.
“She has been an inspiration for a long time. It’s not just what she achieved or taking me for a one-on-one session. It’s her lessons like being proud of who you are and to always remember where you come from.”
By Jim Tucker
