Redfern celebrates All Blacks' first premiership in 28 years

Redfern is celebrating after its team the All Blacks scored its first premiership win in 28 years in the Sydney Combined Competition.

TRANSCRIPT

Malarndirri McCarthy: Redfern is celebrating after its team the All Blacks scored its first premiership win in 28 years, in the Sydney Combined Competition.

Commonly referred to as RABs, it's the oldest Aboriginal rugby league club in the country, officialy founded in 1944

Yesterday, a packed Redfern Park was treated to an opening ceremony before the grand final contenders lined up for the national anthem sung in language.

Steve Mungindi has more.

Steve 'Mungindi' Ellis: An energy packed game saw the Coogee Wombats score across the line first, but it wasn't long before the Blacks hit back with a superb try under the sticks

With strong on and off field guidance, Redfern has come thorugh tough times to get to where they are now.

Luke Freudenstein, police superintendent/RABS waterboy: There's a lot of these young fullas, all they want to is to play footy and become good sportsmen, go to school and do work. They're not offending anywhere near as much as what they used to, and the respect between the police and the Aboriginal community couldn't be better. We're mates with them and they are certainly mates with us.

The team's manager Greg Davidson explains the journey that he and the side have been on since coming on board.

Greg Davidson, Redfern All Blacks manager: It's about three and a half years ago Shane Phillips came to myself and also Dean Widders and said would you like to be involved in the Redfern All Blacks, he had a bit of a vision, and Dean and I had a bit of a yarn and said yeah, yeah, if you do it I'll do it, and then that's where it all started and so it's been a three year journey and it's been a long and, you know, quite exciting pathway

By half time in yesterday's game, the Blacks were leading 24 to 12, and for the rest of the match they never looked back.

When victory finally came the Blacks got up 42 to 24, and players and fans celebrated a win almost three decades  in the making.

An boriginal Elder: It is my pleasure to be here today, to get the invitation, and it is my great pleasure in 1945 to join the Redfern All Blacks when I was 17 and had my first game.

After a 28-year drought the Redfern All Blacks have brought the trophy back to the black heart Australia.

I'm Steve Mungindi in Redfern, warming up for the Koori Knockout, NITV News.


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3 min read
Published 31 August 2015 4:04pm
Updated 1 September 2015 11:42am
Source: NITV News

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