An Aboriginal v White Australian rugby league game was held in Barcaldine in Western Queensland in 1963. These 'Blacks v Whites' games continued annually until 1984.[3]
The first Australian Aboriginal rugby league team was assembled in 1973 The Aboriginal team managed to win seven of its nine matches in just 10 days, The team consisted of 34 players – 19 from NSW, 13 from Queensland and two from the Northern Territory. They went on to win games against Kiwi premiers Wellington Petone, the only all-Māori team & Auckland club & Te Atatu, which the Aboriginal side won 17–13.[4]
On the same day as the All Stars announcement, the league also revealed the NRL Pre-Season Challenge would return in 2024, with the tournament kicking off on February 15 and running across two weekends.
In 2008 World Cup curtain raiser to the Australia vs. New Zealand match included an Indigenous Australian squad playing against New Zealand Māori which featured several prominent NRL players and rising stars, including Chris Sandow, Wairangi Koopu, Preston Campbell, Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Carl Webb.
Preston Campbell, a highly respected Aboriginal rugby league player, was a driving force behind the setup, in 2010, of a curtain raising match between the Indigenous All Stars, and the NRL All Stars. The Indigenous All Stars played what seems likely become an annual match against the National Rugby League All Stars on 13 February 2010.[6] The squad was chosen in part by public vote. Aboriginal NRL player Sid Domic's artistic ability led him to be selected from a field of six artists to design the Indigenous side's jersey, as well as Johnathan Thurston's and Jamie Soward's custom headgear, for the annual All Stars matches.[7]
2019 will see a new format of the Australian Indigenous All-Stars play the New Zealand Māori at AAMI Park in Melbourne on 15 February. It will be part of an All-Stars double header with the women's teams to play the curtain-raiser Māori and indigenous teams to the men's game. With no All-Stars game in 2017 due to the World Cup, the NRL will be hoping the inclusion of the New Zealand Māori side will spark popularity in the fixture. With three Indigenous players also eligible for both teams Dane Gagai, Reimis Smith, Josh Hoffman and Javid Bowen.[8]
Teams
First Australian Aboriginal Rugby League Team 1973 Tour
The NRL launched a Festival of Indigenous Rugby League program to take the place of the prestigious pre-season Rugby League All Stars game following every World Cup year. The 2014 Festival of Indigenous Rugby League featured a trial match between the Knights and a non-elite Indigenous team, drawn from the immensely popular NSW Koori Rugby League Knockout and Murri Carnivals in Queensland, as well as the NRL Indigenous Player Cultural Camp, Murri vs Koori women's and Under 16s representative games, a Murri v Koori match, a jobs expo and community visits.
