The calls for an Australian Indigenous team have been rejected as the concept has the potential to cause unnecessary division.
Former NRL player Dean Widders spoke of the need for an Indigenous side to play at the Pacific Championships, claiming “we don’t have a platform for our Indigenous players to play at a higher representative level”.
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But Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga poured cold water on the idea amid fears having an Australian Indigenous team play in direct competition to the Kangaroos could ultimately end in a white-only Australian team where no State of Origin players are eligible for selection.
The NRL 360 panel discussed the idea on Wednesday night and nobody was willing to throw their support behind Widders.
Journalist Michael Carayannis said he would “hate to see it” come to fruition while Dan Ginnane was interested in the concept but said it simply “can’t work”.
“I don’t like it, I think Mal summed it up beautifully with ‘I take the view that we’re Australians first’ and that’s the way I look at it,” Carayannis said.
“I would hate to see it. I would hate to see a time where we have an indigenous side play an Australia side because they should all be under that one banner.”
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“The initial idea I find intriguing because this year we have the opportunity to do it because Australia is off to the UK which means they’re not part of the Pacific Championships,” Ginnane said.
“So you could have Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand and Indigenous. You’d get some really good quality footy out of that but what does Latrell Mitchell do?
“He’s in a no-win situation, if he picks the indigenous side he says I don’t want to play for Australia, well now he’s un-Australian and is gonna get hammered. And if he picks Australia because that should come first and now he’s doing something against his people. It can’t possibly work.
“And what happens if it does work, do we go to a World Cup and does Australia play Indigenous.
“It’s like when Australia played Australia A in cricket, it was a disaster, you can’t have it.”
James Hooper said he could understand where Widders was coming from and that it was “a tricky one” but he ultimately backed Meninga.
“I can understand how indigenous players might want to discuss it and air it on a platform and have people have a look at it but I think Mal is the best qualified to speak about it as the current Australian coach,” he said.
“You look at all the champion Indigenous players to have worn the green and gold, Arthur Beetson was the first Indigenous Australian captain in any sport, all the way back to 1970, that’s more than 50 years ago.
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“There is so much (Indigenous) history and heritage already in that jumper, the likes of Gorden Tallis, Steve Renouf, Greg Inglis, Johnathan Thurston, they’ve all proudly worn that jumper.
“I know how hard Mal Meninga works on celebrating not just indigenous cultures but all cultures because everybody comes from different backgrounds inside the green and gold dressing room. I know how hard Mal works on making everyone feel welcome, united and together. It’s a tricky one.”
Braith Anasta was in a similar boat and admitted an Indigenous side would be a “great team”but said it would create unnecessary division.
“I understand it and why those players would want to do that and represent their culture and heritage just like Smoans and Fijians and everyone, right,” Anasta said.
“The concern for me would be it just doesn’t feel right Australia playing an Aboriginal team. In any sport anywhere around the world, when you get to a high level it’s us versus them. And this shouldn’t be us versus them.
“It can cause division and I don’t like the potential of that. They’d be a great team but I think Mal Meninga handled it well.”
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