HISTORY

The NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout

The Koorie United group were responsible for a significant innovation in Aboriginal Rugby League – they instigated the Annual New South Wales Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout Carnival in 1971. The Knockout flowered in the context of the new and growing Sydney inner-city Aboriginal community of the late 1960s and early 1970s and can also be understood as part of a much longer tradition of participation by Aboriginal people in the football code of Rugby League. Since this time the Knockout has grown to a four-day carnival run by and for the Aboriginal community each long weekend in October and attracts about 100 teams in the junior, women's and men's competitions. It is widely described as a 'modern day corroboree' for reasons that will be detailed later, as 'bigger than Christmas', and it is the largest gathering of Aboriginal people in the country.

The idea of holding the Knockout was first discussed at a meeting of Koorie United at a well-known gathering place for Kooris in Redfern in the 1960s: the Clifton Hotel. The Koorie United committee proposed holding a statewide Knockout competition in Sydney and while there had been many town-based knockout football and basketball competitions, the establishment of the Knockout set out with some different objectives.

The first Knockout in 1971, hosted by Koorie United at Camdenville Oval, St Peters, attracted seven teams: Koorie United, Redfern All Blacks, Kempsey, La Perouse, Walgett, Moree and a combined Mt Druitt / South Coast side. For the first few years Koorie United hosted the carnival and it was won by La Perouse United (1971), Redfern All Blacks (1972–73), Koorie United (1974) and Kempsey All Blacks in 1975. With Kempsey the first non-Sydney side to win the Knockout, it was decided that the winning team would host the Knockout the following year. In 2010, 40 years later, there were 100 teams competing at the Knockout, hosted by Walgett and held on the Central Coast.

Over the years, the size and complexity of the event has greatly increased. Bob Smith explained that in 1971 he hand-drew A4 cardboard signs and posted them around Redfern. The nomination fee was $5 and the winner 'took all' of the $35 prize money. In 2010 the entry fee was $1,500 and the winning team collected $60,000 in prize money. There were also second, third and fourth place cash prizes. In addition, the women's Knockout, which for a long time was merely a side event, attracted 12 teams in 2010 with the crowd-pleasing final played on the Monday of the October long weekend. Aside from Sydney, it has been hosted in the rural towns of Dubbo, Armidale, Bourke, Walgett and Moree and in the coastal communities of Lismore, Kempsey, Maitland, Nambucca Heads, Tweed Heads and the Central Coast.

The Knockout carnival can be understood as cultural performance and expression, where kinship-based modes of organisation merge with state-shaped communities, and where people gather for courtship and competition. The football is reminiscent of a four-day traditional ceremonial dance and celebration, but also enables new social and cultural practices to emerge. It is an opportunity for families to gather, reunite as a community and barrack for their hometown and mob, and commemorate past glories and those who have passed on. The Knockout is fiercely contested – world-class, tough football is on display and victory is a lifetime highlight for players and communities.